Welcome aboard from SC. You may want to re-post on the SC board, because we have a bunch of guys that fish Wylie. Most of us spider rig at least some of the time and that involves 8, 10, 12 foot or longer rods in holders trolling minnows at whatever depth we see fish. For general crappie fishing a 7 foot medium light spinning rod with a matching spinning reel with 6# test mono will do the job. There are probably a million combinations that folks use and swear by, so find one that feels good to you. A small Pfleuger President (Model 6250 is one good choice. It is a medium priced (around $60) and has a good enough drag that when you hook the occasional bass, catfish or striper you can expect to land him unless he tangles the line on something.
I am sure you know Wylie has a large population of White Perch and lot of the guys on here use them for catfish bait. Drifting minnows as I described above into a school of White Perch will put every rod you have out dancing. If they are decent size they are good eating, if not they are good bait.
Good luck and let us know on the SC board how you do.