10 and 12 ft rods versus 5' 6 ultra light rods

[crappienewb]

I am A newbie to crappie fishing and have been using two 5' 6" ultra light rods hanging off the front of my
14' sea nymph but me wanting to be like the pros I ordered two 10' and two 12' rods now I am having second thoughts about this decision
being that I already dont have alot of room on my boat

What would you guys suggest? I do want to rig 4 poles in the front and have to out the sides towards the middle of my boat that my fiance can manage.

[LA CrappieMaster]

I am a newbie also, but I think buying the longer poles will be great. It will allow you to get further away from the boat when they are easily spooked plus the different lengths will assist in not creating a four pole knot.

[filletfetish]

In a smaller boat, in my opinion, you want your rods to be at least a few feet shorter than the boat. It makes landing big fish easier, especially if you're alone. It's also easier to rig a rod with the tip closer, at least for me. If you've got a long setup, the reel may end up dangling in the water. My first spider "rig" was a 14' duck boat...9' and 10' rods fit very nicely.

I sure like to get my bait as far in front as possible, but sometimes you can only do so much and still keep the sanity.

[skeetbum]

I handled the Wally Marshall rods with canary yellow coloring on them and found the action good in the 10' ones I handled. They were about $20 withuot a reel and $26 with where I saw them. Grab what you can afford and work from there. I like the 12' but that's just me. Some folks go with 16's but I don't have the need. Yet. The 12's keep lines away from the trolling motor just fine. BnM make quality poles that have replacement tip sections available and a good customer service reputation. I have several with no issues so far.

[crappienewb]

Thanks for the replies. I had already purchased 4 uncle bucks crappie rods from bass pro still waiting for them to come in but I was have second thoughts about have 10-12 ft rods on such A small boat.

[throwback]

Thanks for the replies. I had already purchased 4 uncle bucks crappie rods from bass pro still waiting for them to come in but I was have second thoughts about have 10-12 ft rods on such A small boat.

I should have read your post instead of just reading a few posts and the title. My bad.

[Hillbilly910]

will take some practise, getting a good fish in a small boat with a long rod is a learned skill, especially if your sitting on the nose of the boat trolling. Ive found a long rod on a short boat is tricky if the boat isnt stable, or in otherwords, its hard to keep the rod tips still because of wind/waves and your movments in the boat.
Its definately do-able, and dont give up to fast, its especially good for shallow trolling.
Id start with the 10'ers if it were me, and work up to the 12's.

[skiptomylu]

There are a good many advantages for long rods and different reasons if trolling or if fishing a brush pile. Trolling it helps to be farther away from the boat when long line trolling like I use and helps keep it from getting my line in the prop of my big motor. Fishing brush piles it helps me a lot to know what depth I am fishing because if I am using a 10' pole it's easy to know what 12' looks like and easy to get back to the same depth. Also if it's not a really big crappie you don't have to reel much at all fishing a brush pile and just lift the pole.

There are more, but feel this is enough reasons to use a long pole. Shorter poles I like using a 7' to 8' rod casting and reeling as you can cast farther. I guess shooting docks is the main place you would want a shorter rod.

[BTB]

Keeping the rods in vertical rod holders (while you're on the water) may help with the length issue as well. I made some rod holders out of pvc and pipe brackets (cheap/easy/quick) that I keep rods in when I'm on the water. I can run 30mph on the water with 12' rods and have no problems. I break the rods down into two pieces and strap them into vertical rod holders inside my boat when I trailer the boat. Good luck with the new rods.

[chulai1968]

I use slaters telescopic poles, one 12 ft and one 10 ft. When not in use, just push them back into the butt end. Landing fish is best done with two hands, when I get a bite I use my left hand to pull the line tight and then clamp down on the line and the pole with my right hand, point the tip to the sky and let the fish swing in. Now if you get one of those mississippi slabs you can use your left hand to get the net and bring the slab in. Oh yea, I fish from a 14 ft boat.