Which Spinning rod for Docks

[Ketchn]

or even shorter ....like 5 6 or so .....

[ld7009]

I appreciate your thoughts. There will be a New Cabelas opening in Lexington this March I will feel a lot of rods . Thank you again and any advice is appreciated

[CrappiePappy]

I appreciate your thoughts. There will be a New Cabelas opening in Lexington this March I will feel a lot of rods . Thank you again and any advice is appreciated

Don't forget ... there's a Sportsman's Warehouse, & Dick's Sporting Goods just a few miles away from the new Cabela's ... so you can always do some comparison shopping. There's also Backwaters Outfitters, and while it is geared more towards Bass fishing ... they do have rods/reels on consignment (used) that can be some decent bargains.

And of course there's always Wally World ... where you could pick up a Berkley rod (Cherrywood or Lightnin rod) cheap. My fishing partner fishes Cherrywoods and catches his fair share ... and I have a 6'6" Eagle Claw med action rod that serves as a backup or loner outfit.

... cp

[ld7009]

E60PLS 6' Power Lite Rod for docks jigging Blue gills and Crappie. Is this rod sensitive enough for light jigs and strong enough to pull a slab out of water on to dock. Will these tips break easy. Example Cane Run docks

Thanks

[CrappiePappy]

E60PLS 6' Power Lite Rod for docks jigging Blue gills and Crappie. Is this rod sensitive enough for light jigs and strong enough to pull a slab out of water on to dock. Will these tips break easy. Example Cane Run docks

Thanks

That rod is the 6ft version of the rod I use for casting jigs, dock shooting, and even some deep vertical jigging. I also use it for what I call "Vertical Casting", which I explain in this article : Crappie Pappy Article

The only difference in that 6' ESP rod and my 6'6" ESP rod ... is my rod has a 6" handle extension out the butt of the handle (what I often refer to as a "poodle tail").

I've found the ESP rods to be "very" sensitive, and quite strong. After being a field tester for the designer/VP of Marketing ... I replaced my previous rods with the ESP rods, and I still prefer my 6'6" PowerLite rod for most of my "rod in hand" fishing methods.

Would I lift a Crappie/Bluegill up over the side of the boat or up onto a dock with my ESP rod ... yep, and I've done both many, many times. Would I lift land a 2lb fish with it ... yes, carefully. I just wouldn't lift/hold the fish up with the rod pointing straight up
I wouldn't expect even a Ugly Stick rod to not break under those conditions.

As I've told many people before, the only negative about ESP rods is that they are not user friendly with slip floats ... because the end guides and rod tip are micro guides, and most bobber stops will not go through them easily. Not a big factor in "my" case, since I don't use slip floats very often ... and if/when I do, I have outfits that are designed for that type of use.

... cp

[Crestliner08]

Besides the B n' M Sharpshooter mentioned above, I use the SHSS in 7' length. It has just the right backbone and parabolic tip to get that jig fired into the tightest places - with a little practice of course!

[whiskerwhipper]

I use two rods for dock fishing. A 7ft Cabelas Pro Guide Panfish Series rod in the UL action for slip bobbers and my new toy a 6ft St Croix panfish rod for flinging jigs out a ways and just plain dropping them near pilings.

[ld7009]

B-n-M's 7' Sam Heaton super sensitive UL spinning rod. Is it durable, can you lift a 2 1/2 lb Crappie out of water on a dock

[ld7009]

I love to here from experience

[CrappiePappy]

B-n-M's 7' Sam Heaton super sensitive UL spinning rod. Is it durable, can you lift a 2 1/2 lb Crappie out of water on a dock

NO !! And no Crappie rod should be expected to "dead lift" that much weight. IMHO

Just to be sure of my answer, I took my 7' Sam Heaton and tried to lift a 2lb barbell off the floor. I pushed it to the point where I felt the rod would likely break if pushed any further, and the weight never even offered to lift up on one end, let alone lift into the air.

If I had access to a dock to fish off of, that had the potential of providing very many 2.5lb Crappie (or even close to 2lb Crappie) .... I'd spend my money on a long handled net, and just use whatever rod/reel I was already fishing with to that point. Jus' sayin' !!

... cp