rod sensitivity

[fair weather]

O.K.! I'm getting somewhere, I'm learning about what type of sensitivity I'm looking for.

Fish with me a bit. We're on Cumberland, Wolf Creek, near the old location of Alligator 1. The fish are on the bottom, say 12'. The bite is lite. The bottom is covered with old driftwood and other cover. I've sank my weedless 1/32 grub into the debree and slowly. slowly dragging it along. If you have slack in your line you will miss the bite so I keep my braid tight, but I've cast out and let it sink. I'm not vertical jigging. I don't watch my line in this situation because there is no slack. I can feel every bit of wood I drag over and as I tighten up on resistance I'm processing "Is that wood my jig is dragging against or do I feel a bit of "give" as in a crappie has picked it up or sucked it in?"

I can catch this fish some of the time and I'm looking to increase my percentage. I'm trying to pin down the specifications of a rod that will detect this bite. The length, IM, brand, etc.

thanks
fair weather

ps I'm rained out today but this is almost as good as actually fishing!

[deathb4disco]

I'm trying to pin down the specifications of a rod that will detect this bite.

G Loomis IMX or GLX

Problem solved.

[CrappiePappy]

O.K.! I'm getting somewhere, I'm learning about what type of sensitivity I'm looking for.

Fish with me a bit. We're on Cumberland, Wolf Creek, near the old location of Alligator 1. The fish are on the bottom, say 12'. The bite is lite. The bottom is covered with old driftwood and other cover. I've sank my weedless 1/32 grub into the debree and slowly. slowly dragging it along. If you have slack in your line you will miss the bite so I keep my braid tight, but I've cast out and let it sink. I'm not vertical jigging. I don't watch my line in this situation because there is no slack. I can feel every bit of wood I drag over and as I tighten up on resistance I'm processing "Is that wood my jig is dragging against or do I feel a bit of "give" as in a crappie has picked it up or sucked it in?"

I can catch this fish some of the time and I'm looking to increase my percentage. I'm trying to pin down the specifications of a rod that will detect this bite. The length, IM, brand, etc.

thanks
fair weather

ps I'm rained out today but this is almost as good as actually fishing!

Can't really tell you what rod to use, as what I might recommend may not perform or feel the same for you.
I can tell you that even with my two most sensitive rods, I'm a line watcher when casting 1/32 & 1/16oz jigs. But, I'm also doing more swimming of those jigs, than dragging them across bottom cover. I still line watch when using the ESP/mono outfit, even though I can still "feel" the tic of a light pickup. But, on the Bionic Blade/braid outfit, I found out that if I have a splitshot sinker on the line about 8" above the jig ... those same lite "tics" are felt as serious "thumps", and unmistakable Crappie strikes ... so, I don't have to even be looking at the line to know when a strike occurs.

In your "made up scenario" ... I may possibly tip that jig with a minnow. And being as the fish are at 12ft, I'd probably use a 1/16oz weedless jig. I probably wouldn't try & crawl the jig along the bottom, either. Most likely I would swim the jig along until the line came into contact with some of the bottom debris, lift the jig up until it came into direct contact with the object, and then in one continuous motion let the jig drop 6" & then lift the jig 12" ... basically bouncing the jig over the object ... not dropping the rod back down after the 12" lift, but letting it swing back towards me after clearing the object. I get hung up less often doing this, and I've had numerous occasions where this procedure has elicited a hit ... even after having repeatedly swam the jig across the same spot, but never having made contact with anything. I refer to this technique as "bowing to the jig".

The last reply in this thread : http://www.crappie.com/crappie/showt...ghlight=bowing ... explains the technique in a little more detail. Plus it quotes my Vertical Casting article ... which is another method I employ, that you might find interesting. Both have been fairly productive for me, and I hope they are for you as well.

... cp

[sacriverjim]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2UMVvwbsmE#t=47

[usafret99]

great info, thanks

[fair weather]

Crappiepappy Do you have the model number of your Bionic Blade handy?

thanks

[CrappiePappy]

Crappiepappy Do you have the model number of your Bionic Blade handy?

thanks

Yeah .... it's BNX70MS

But, it's a old rod from back in my Bassin' days. I think the closest available one now is model number BNB70MS 1pc 7' IM8 Med Action 1/8-1/2oz lure weights 4-12lb test line

The major differences I can see in mine & the new model are ...
the new model has a hook keeper & a hump in the cork handle (what they call a PowerHump Grip)

My BB rod, paired with a Shimano Spirex 2000 & PowerPro 10/2 braid, may be overkill for general Crappie fishing applications ... but, since I mostly use it to cast Roadrunners & Whirly Bee's, with only occasional duties as a jig casting rod, I feel that it's serving me well. I can almost always pull a snagged lure free, and I don't even "have to" set the hook when casting RR's & WB's. I just keep reeling and sweep the rod back about 1' and let the rod's power & the braid's no stretch qualities do the hook setting.

... cp

[yikess]

I agree 100%. Like you I enjoy my 7'2" and 10 foot Outlaws. It's unfortunate that nobody in the free world uses their 14 footer. Recently I asked for opinions of the 14's on the main board and not a singe person had a nice thing to say about the 14. Not even their pro-staff. My guess is they priced themselves out of the market when trying to compete with other excellent rods already in the space for 1/2 the retail price.

[bfish]

So can a "mushy" or "limber" or "floppy" rod be sensitive? That's one reason I brought this up. I'm feeling the bite better on medium or medium lite rods, not lite rods. This goes against the conventional wisdom of what the rod makers call "crappie rods". Just thinking. Just saying.

fair weather

I believe you are confusing slow and moderate action rod (aka "crappie rods") vs faster action (and heavier powered) rods. Power is the weight it takes to load the rod (for casting). For most crappie application you want a lighter powered rod (also keep in mind there is no standards as to what weights are light or medium. A light shark rod is much heavier than a heavy bass rod.) Compare the action, then figure out the power based on what lures weights you use most often.

.... bfish am i correct in saying that a lesser im rated rod can be more sensitive than a higher im rated rod if its constructed from a blank using higher quality graphite blend. ....

hmm not really. Sensitivity is the ability to transmit vibration. It also can be measured as recovery rate (how fast it takes to return to straight position after a load has been removed). Some people misuse sensitivity to indicate that rod is slow (CrappiePappy touches on this in his post).

Manufactures use IM as a marketing word, the numbers are really broad and don't have much application to rods, IMO. However the IM number does indicate stiffer graphite. How the rod is constructed (where the flags are placed, taper, wall diameter etc) plays a much bigger role in the rods characteristics than what IM number it has. A lower "quality" graphite, if constructed well can have better characteristics (sensitivity being one of them) than a higher quality graphite that is not made with proper taper/wall thickness etc. Also the higher quality graphite can be mixed with lower grade materials which also can (but not necessarily) affect performance.

While this video doesn't touch on IM, it does a good job (especially the visuals) of explaining action and power:

[kycreek]

I agree 100%. Like you I enjoy my 7'2" and 10 foot Outlaws. It's unfortunate that nobody in the free world uses their 14 footer. Recently I asked for opinions of the 14's on the main board and not a singe person had a nice thing to say about the 14. Not even their pro-staff. My guess is they priced themselves out of the market when trying to compete with other excellent rods already in the space for 1/2 the retail price.

Stan,
I saw your post asking about the 14fter but didn't respond because I've never held one. I do however have both the 8'2" & 12' Outlaw rods. The 12fter which I have yet to use is definitely more whippy than a 14' BGJP. So I would think the 14' would be also. I do really like the 8"2" rod as it has plenty of backbone and isn't whippy at all.