A question about rods for serious spider-riggers.

[kyfishman]

Over the years I've spider-rigged with about every trolling rod made. Fished many a crappie tournament with Wally Marshall 12 and 14 footers, and now have 8 BnM Pro Trollers, 12 ft. All these rods are much ballyhoood and bragged on....and they all have good points, no doubt. But...the Wally Marshalls are pretty brittle on the ends and break easily. And the same can be said for the new CrappieMax rods at BassPro. And the BnM Poles, while they are good, are NOT as hefty and strong as they are advertized to be. So....I'm wondering about the Whitey Outlaw Sante Elite series rods in the 12 and 14 foot models. I compared a 12 footer with both the BnM Pro Troller and the CrappieMaxx rods the other day at BPS and the Sante rod seems to have much more backbone than either of the other two. I also like the fact that there are no eyes on the rod (the line runs down the center of the rod). Understandably, that would give you fits if a line were to break out on the water and you had to "re-thread" it.....but I run braided line on all of my trolling rods (and then tie on a leader out of 6 or 8 lb P-Line Flourocarbon), so line breakage is not a real consideration with me. Is there anyone on here who has ever tried one of the rods as a trolling rod (in the 12 or 14 ft category). If so, what do you think of it? I'd love to get some opinions before investing the money in a set of them.

[skeetbum]

I only had some experience with that style of rod and mono, it wasn't a BnM. The inside of the rod had enough friction to warrant changing line lots more than normal. BnM might have that worked out. The recent ones I saw for sale had a stainless wire for rethreading the line, making it lots easier than the older ones. I'm interested in the outcome of other folks experience also.

[kingkrappie]

if you're not satisfied with the backbone of the pst, then the santee elite will definately not work, regardless of how they feel, the santee elite is the same blank as the bucks ultra light, and they don't come in 14's, the only rod with more backbone than the pst is the tightline special crappie maxx, if you're breakin those poles, i don't know, tons of folks pull 5 oz sinkers and 3 inch bandits and land catfish and whatever else with em, you could go to fiberglass, they won't break but you lose a lot of sensitivity and they're heavier, nothing's unbreakable though.

[gobbler]

bud you need to get you some SOUTHERN CRAPPIE RODS, they are made from carbon and kevlar, they are very tough yet still light wieght and have a great action, we fish the 14' and 16', with the 14' being our prefered rod, they are priced right and locally made here in nc. i have no offiliation with them, they are just the best rods long rods i have used, the durability is unmatched. you want be disapointed in them.

[BigRiverMarine]

bud you need to get you some SOUTHERN CRAPPIE RODS, they are made from carbon and kevlar, they are very tough yet still light wieght and have a great action, we fish the 14' and 16', with the 14' being our prefered rod, they are priced right and locally made here in nc. i have no offiliation with them, they are just the best rods long rods i have used, the durability is unmatched. you want be disapointed in them.

Got a contact number?

[kyfishman]

Thanks Gobbler, I'll check them out.

[kyfishman]

Hey Gobbler, I talked with Ed at Southern Crappie Rods this afternoon....and have to say I'm really impressed with what I've learned about the rods. I'm anxious to get my hands on one. Ed said he has sold out of the rods (which speaks well for them) and that he is expecting his shipment of new rods is about 4 weeks. I'd be interested to hear from others who have used these rods.

[CAPP]

Gobbler is correct with SC Rods,the 14' are the best.My main reason is the tip has enough flex that the fish doesn't feel the hook and open his mouth and you miss him.I use 16' Wally's but when Ed's come in I will change.He let me borrow 2 to fish some tournaments with to compare and I'm sold.He has a website Southerncrappierods.com check it out.

[mitrisin]

Newbie here, Can the SC Rods be used for pushing and pulling cranks also? What about jigging timber? I'd like to keep down the number of rods in the boat.

Mike