Thread: crappie from kayak pole options

Follow "Ditch Basser" in the Alabama forum. He's about as good as it gets when it comes to kayak fishing. Reports always right on point and fun to read.

It really depends on what type / style of fishing you like to do.
Personally when I use one of my small boats some days I use a light weight 12 ft pole to fish structure that I can see. Rock piles trees, stumps etc.
other times I use ultralight casting set up with and without a float.


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I use 6' to 7' ultralights for casting light weight jigs. I use 10' crappie poles by Shakespear for spider rigging and sometimes vertical jigging. The 7' poles let you make a longer cast with the light jigs. However the line weight is as important as the rod when casting light jigs. The lighter the line the longer the cast. The 10' poles are very sensitive and have a soft tip that picks up the bite well. High vis line plays an important part in detecting the bite as well. I agree with SeaRay, Ditch Basser is a good Kayak man to follow he recommended the Shakespear Crappie Hunter rods and they work great especially for the money.

9' is about max length for me to be able to restring the rod (without taking the sections apart). So I limit myself to rods under 9' in my Jackson Cuda. I generally long line jigs or pull cranks, using 3 of the same rods I do in my powerboat. I've been tempted to spider rig, but haven't done that yet.

sorry took so long to respond but been a real mess with all this crap goin on i did purchase a 7ft acc crappiestyx rod the quality is spot on havent been able to get out on kayak yet but i believe ill be happy with it again ty all for you response will keep you up to date

I posted this several years ago, but just wanted to show how I love to troll crank baits behind me and spider rig in front of me at the drop of a hat. Everyone's got their own recipe, but this one works for me.

1) I took off the Scotty Triple Rod Holder. It was both too heavy and bulky for my preference. I'm using the same Scotty base that I had and cut some wood then attached two Hi-Tek rod holders. Big improvement! It is much easier to remove the rods when landing a fish plus the dual holders don't get in the way of my feet/legs if I were to go for an unexpected swim!

2) Mounted and using a different Scotty rod holder on the sides for trolling. I really like the rods in front of me and over my head instead of behind of me or extended out laterally. This set up allows me paddle unobstructed and still see the bite. It also makes it like a third hand when I am tying on a new lure or taking a fish off the hook. Now I can both push and pull when crappie hunting!

3) Installed my Lowrance Elite 5 DSI. I also mounted the transducer through the transducer hole and kept the transducer from sticking out beyond the hull. I had to modify the mount somewhat to accomplish it, but it seems to work flawlessly thus far.

4) Installed the Yak Attack LeverLoc anchor trolley. The LeverLoc is nice but I really needed the PadHooks with the curve of the Ocean Kayak. It keeps the line from creeping up too high. (It's not visible in these photos)

Nice setup and rig. Thanks for sharing

That is a very nice setup. Some good thought went into it.
Bob