Salmon/Steelhead rod for doodlesocking?

[callmecamo]

Ok, so I am looking for a rod that is 8-10 ft long with a heavier action and a fast taper for vertical jigging for crappie around cover. I was searching out my options in crappie specific rods and only found a couple of options. They were both around $100 and I just think that's too much for a foreign produced rod. (Maybe I'm a tightwad but just my feelings.) Soooo, I got to searching for a baitcast rod in these lengths and kept coming back to Salmon/Steelhead type rods. All that I've seen are 2 pc rods and are much more reasonable priced (~$30-$60) while still being high mod. graphite rather than glass. They also don't look like a surf rod so it won't weigh 10 lb. Seems like it would fit my purpose well if it is sensitive enough.

My question to you all is if someone else has gone down this road before me. Anyone out there in the wide world of crappie tried one of these? I'm from OK and that's a LOOONNNNGGGGG way from steelhead country so I've never seen a rod of this type up close.

Thanks for your time.

[deathb4disco]

I have a steelhead rod, and it's great. I use mine for casting jigs and small plugs for trout and for tossing soft plastics to bass. I think it would be fine for vertical jigging, as well.

IMO, they're the most under-valued rod on the market. They're so versatile. If they dropped the "salmon/steelhead" from the name, I think they'd sell a lot more.

[Ladykiller]

I'm a salmon/steelhead angler and spent most of my life in Michigan chasing those critters. They are good rods for what you want to do, but you should look into the St. Croix panfish series as they have the backbone you are looking for. I own the 11' rod for crappie and it's pretty darn nice with my only complaint being that I wish the reel seat was further down the blank so that the reel would balance out the rod better. American company, but it is a foreign made rod.

And I do use most of my salmon & steelhead rods for crappie since I only get to go up to the great lakes a few times a year now. For what it's worth though, I custom make all of my steelhead rods from flyrod blanks these days.

[chaunc]

Didn't care for the st Croix steelie rod I had so I sold it and bought a 10ft B&M Richard Williams model and love it.

[Cray]

I could be mistaken here, but used to be a fellow in Eufaula that built custom rods. I think I saw in some of his posts a couple years ago or early last year that he had built some dipping rods from Steelhead blanks that were really nice. Think he went out of business but from what I saw they would make you a nice rod. I'm sure Stinkfinger or one of those guys could tell you who it is.

[callmecamo]

I went ahead and bought one. Now waiting for it to ship and I'll post my findings when it arrives. Thank you all for the feedback.

[callmecamo]

Just got my rod in this morning. On first glance, it looks like it will be acceptable but not stellar. Action is more moderate than I wanted. Backbone is good (it had better be for a Steelhead rod). Weight is not bad but the handle is a little hefty for my taste. Sensitivity doesn't look to be very outstanding but you never really know until you get a thump. I'll be happy to follow up on this later if anyone is even interested.