I used to have access to a private lake that had a lot of big bluegill and I fished with those bitsy minnows all the time. They work great on gills, crappie, and small lmb.. Back then I would use any 5'6 or 6' ul rod, nothing fancy and spooled with 4lb Trilene xl.. I never seemed to have any problems, I didn't have to cast very far, I was in a 2 man pond prowler type boat. I would just keep the noise down and move in slowly. If I went back today I would still be happy with small ul, even though I have 8 JDM setups. Only difference is virtually every reel I have now has 0.3 Varivas Master Limited x4 PE with 4lb mono as backing. It really adds to the sensitivity and with those lures it will send the mail !!