Thread: Fishing rod?

I do a lot of crankbait trolling for crappie from my kayak. I like 6'6" light or medium-light action rods. Two spinning rods have Shimano Stradic 1000 reels and two casting rods have Daiwa ADP17LCB line counter bait casting reels. The Spinning reels have superior drag compared to the casting reels, but both work.

I found that rods longer than 6'6" it was difficult to untangle line or a lure wrapped around the rod tip. Longer rood gives good leverage on fish and wide coverage when I'm searching or trying to stay on a school.

Jim

I understand about the tip tangle part. I fished with a 7' rod yesterday and was glad I had that length as I caught a few nice bass that weren't sure what side of the kayak they wanted.I just ordered a 7'ml so will see.
Jack

Originally Posted by Yak Fish

I do a lot of crankbait trolling for crappie from my kayak. I like 6'6" light or medium-light action rods. Two spinning rods have Shimano Stradic 1000 reels and two casting rods have Daiwa ADP17LCB line counter bait casting reels. The Spinning reels have superior drag compared to the casting reels, but both work.

I found that rods longer than 6'6" it was difficult to untangle line or a lure wrapped around the rod tip. Longer rood gives good leverage on fish and wide coverage when I'm searching or trying to stay on a school.

Jim

You'll have a blast with that 7' ML rod. It has enough backbone to handle good sized fish, yet is limber enough to keep a lot of the joy in fishing. It won't be great around heavy cover, but it can't be beat in open water. Have fun, good luck, & Enjoy!

Jim

Originally Posted by Action

Just wondering what Kayak fisherman like for a crappie rod? I want to learn how to crappie fish from my kayak and need a crappie rod.
Thanks
jack

I've tried everything from 6-12'. I'm 5'10" and don't have the arm length necessary to mess with a 10-12' pole on a kayak. I've had the best luck fishing 5'6" to 7' poles and try not go any longer than that. More than that and if I tangle (other rods, timber, whaterver) and the reel goes for a swim on those long poles. Just easier for me to manage with shorter poles. I also believe you don't need as long of a pole in a kayak; I don't think you spook fish as bad. I've used 6' Medium poles for pulling crankbaits, and used 5'6"-7' light to med/light poles for jigging, casting, et cetera. I've never spider rigged in a kayak.

Originally Posted by wolfhnd

There are not many rods short enough to make fishing in a kayak easier so I just use the same rods I would use in any other situation. I have tried some pretty short rods but I didn't find them terribly preferable.

Same for me. I just use my typical 7' rods for casting jigs and pulling/trolling.

Originally Posted by Yaker

I have used my ice rods in my kayak,but they limit your casting due to them being 16-18 " long.If you want to jig or dropshot they work fine.A good length for you may be a couple 4'6" ultilights,they cast well,store well and are easy to maneuver.

Yaker I do the same with my ice rods at times. I enjoy anchoring off and set the FF to a fast scroll speed. keeps the jig right under the xducer for some sweet jig fishing. Other than that it's just a rod that feels good and for the type of fishing I plan on doing.

I like rods that I can reach around the front of my yak with. Sometimes Ill hook into a decent bass or pickerel on my panfish rod, and need to play it a little to get it in. I always go out with 3 rods, usually 7 footers, but I do have a 10 footer B&M that I like to tinker with sometimes. I mostly just pull jigs under floats in shallow water.

I carry 4 rods the same length to see how I like them. I found that a 14 ft rod isn't that good in a 10 ft yak, but I tried them for 4 hours. My best time is with a 10ft with under spin reel. They give me a good spread where the short rods can tangle if the fish wants to run.