Spider rig question

With an 18' boat you have more options. You could go with the 14' rods and still be able to stash them along the gunnels without breaking them down. The other reason I prefer the 12' over the 14' is the 14' seems ungainly to me. I didn't put the 14' poles in the boat all last year. I know it is something I can get use to but with the 12's working for me I don't really see a need for 14's for me. I have two 14' poles that I put in with six 12' poles the year before last when I started spider rigging and I can't honestly say the extra two feet made any difference in catch rate. I will also say that when I spider rig it is generally in water 8' or deeper. I've never tried rigging in water more shallow than that.

So am I hearing that 12’ rods would be a good starting point? I have good jigging rods, but I am wanting to buy one set of rods to do both spider rigging and pushing crankbaits. I am foolish, or can the same rod be used effectively for both tactics?

I started with 12’ changed to 14’ and I am happy there.... I woulda saved money if I had just started with the 14’ ers....


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Originally Posted by Gen273

So am I hearing that 12’ rods would be a good starting point? I have good jigging rods, but I am wanting to buy one set of rods to do both spider rigging and pushing crankbaits. I am foolish, or can the same rod be used effectively for both tactics?

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They "can be" .... but, it's pushing the limits on some brands. Spider Rigging rods should be a little lite in action on the tips, so you can see soft bites ... Pushing rods should be a bit stiffer on the tips, so they don't totally load up when you have a couple of ounces of weight and a diving crank pulling down on them. Using one of them for both methods isn't going to get the optimum effect in the other method.

I have the BnM Capps/Coleman 14' rods, which is a decent Spider Rig rod, but I use them to Push jigs/cranks (1-2oz weights) and they do just fine. I have the BPS Uncle Bucks collapsible 13' rods, which have a VERY soft tip action & would work well as Spider Rig rods, but I use them to Push jigs/cranks as well. I also have a BnM PST 14' rod, but it's not a optimum rod for Spider Rigging, but does a real good job Pushing jigs/cranks. I have line counter reels on all of them.

Normally I see Spider Riggers using an array of identical length rods, whereas Pushers usually have rods of varying lengths (so as to maximize line separation).

I don't spider rig but think another big advantage of the longer rods is covering more water/increased spread when fishing in open water situations where a couple more feet each direction will nab a few more fish.

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