Thread: Panfish rods

I use just a plain old 5' ugly stik with 4lbs Mr. Crappie line, taking lots of bass and a few cats will jigin for specks. Good combo.

Originally Posted by boogullman

Browning Super light rod & reel combo from bass pro.
Browning Fishing Superlight Spinning Rod and Reel Combo

The bass pro in Nashville has these for 29.99 right now. I have a 4'9 & 5'2 that I use for the big gills.

I have a custom built 6'0 gloomis light action with a diawa reel & a 5'6 UL lews rod with a browning super light reel (same reel as the combo above) for crappie.

I have the Browning combo (6 foot) and love it. The reel is great for light action rods. The rod was solid, but I lost the top half of it when I left it lying loose on my buddy's bass boat. When he blasted off, the rod was left behind, sinking in 20 feet of Jordan Lake.

I use either a 6'6" BPS Micro Lite UL rod with a Pinnacle Deadbolt reel spooled with 4# mono (I use Cabela's house brand) or, for lures lighter than 1/16th oz., a 5' Mitchell UL with a tiny little Quantum spinning reel loaded up with 2# mono.

Tom

My fave UL is a PBS 6 ft. 2 piece Pro Comp II UL with a Shimano TX-110 UL reel and I have caught some big fish on it.

I just bought a Ugly Stick 7' two piece Lite Pro and waiting for my reel a Shimano F1000RG Spirex.

Wish I had bought some more of the Pro Comp II's before they changed them it's a real nice rod.

Fatman

I am a Wally Marshall fan..like his 7 to 9' spin cast rod with zebco 11 reels... caught thousands of fish on this combo

I just got a BPS 9.5 ft microlight with balance weight, should be great for lifting them gills from the pond to my lawn chair and into the cooler.

I have several answers. If I want to make it a fair fight for panfish and crappie I go with Diawa Spinamatic ultra lights between 6' 6" and 7' in length. They are rated for 2-4 lb test I believe. They are sensitive and light, but have just enough backbone to bring in any panfish.

On the other hand if I am really wanting to "harvest" fish I go with a Saint Croix 10' 6" Wild River Series Steelhead noodle rod with 4 lb test. That length of rod with the slow action takes all the pressure off the line and even the largest crappie or bluegill stands no chance. Even if I'm sight fishing bedding fish in lilly pads or next to thick cover they simply can't get a hard enough pull to get into cover and the line won't break because of the rod action. If I catch 8 to 12 lb steelhead on it panfish are childs play, but fun. The extra rod length also gives you greater distance on casts with lighter tackle that is being used.

I use several combos for bluegill, but here are my main three:

4-1/2' Ugly Stik with a Shakespeare Microlight reel.

5' Eagle Claw Featherlight with an UL Shimano reel. This is a sturdy combo, I bought it about 1984 and it's still going strong.

5-1/2' Daiwa UL combo.. I think the reel is in the AG series, and it is probably nearly 25 years old.

At times I'll go with a Daiwa 6-1/2' medium light rod if needed.

I use mostly 4 or 6 lb test mono but have one spare spool loaded with 2 lb test in open water or for finicky gills.