Thread: Those that Spider Rig...

Don't worry about the smooth swim, you'll catch more fish with the erratic action. Paddling normally doesn't bother the fish at fishing speeds. I've caught fish just a couple of feet under the kayak.

In the spring when I know that I'll only be rigging I use 8' rods.

My set up 90% of the time is two 7' medium rods and two 6'6'' medium lights anywhere from out front to straight off the side.

I use 8' for tight places and 12' the other times to spider rig.

10' is plenty. shorter works too. i dont like 12's. paddling a kayak does not spook fish at all.

8 ft is about as long as I can rethread the line through the eyes without taking the rod apart while in a my kayak.

I use 3 or 4 Ozark rear seat 11' rods. I have used 9', 10' 11' and 12' and have settled on 11' rear seat rods with Mr. Crappie Solo reals. I will try to post some pictures tonite of my setup. I usually push jigs but I also longline jigs and cranks. Long lining I will use two 6' and two 10' rods.

This was at Grenada lake and they only allow you 3 rods per person.

I did some experimenting the other day and found that what worked best for me was a "gentle" paddle of about .5 mph. I was using both 8' and 6'6" rods and the shorter rod did just as well as the longer ones, which surprised me. I'm in Indiana where we can only use 3 rods.

I personally don't like anything longer than 7' on a kayak. I've been out twice with 10-12' poles and both times I had a really hard time baiting them, retying line, and keeping them from getting hung up on tree limbs and such unintentionally (windy days made for difficult boat control). I would say go with whatever length you feel like works for you.