Crank Pulling Rods - Not Impressed with PSTs for Side Pulling

I pull with Tony Edgar Trolling Rods mostly - I also pull some with Sam Heaton Super Sensitives, but they don't have as much backbone as the Edgar rods. I bought some 8' PST rods online a couple of years ago. IMHO, they are way, way too soft - they are pencil thin - no backbone.

I also have some 18' Denali rods that are awesome - they have great backbone. When I spider rig with them, I can easily rip the hooks out of the mouths if I am not careful.

There are a ton of rods out there. You can troll with just about anything - for a long time, I used bass baitcasting rods in Medium action as well. Mike Baker has a lot of YT videos about trolling and you can see all the different rods he has used over the years.

Just go to a store and handle them. Look to make sure they have the backbone and soft tip. The backbone is needed to land the occasional catfish/large fish and the soft tip is needed so they don't throw the lures.

Southern Crappie Rods make a 12 foot T model. I’ve asked Ed to consider a 10 foot T but he feels there isn’t a market for it. I took two of my 12 foot spider rig SCR122 rods and cut two feet off the tip and installed catfish rod tips.


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On length, I have pull with all 7' rods and just used the rodholder to space out the tips. I can get 8 out the back of the boat without tangling.

Right now, I am trolling with a mix of 12' and 14' rods - again, spaced out with the rodholders.

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Originally Posted by bfish

look at walleye rods for trolling cranks....Diawa Wilderness, Shimano TDR and several others. Usually in the $20-50 price range.

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With the Diawa Wilderness rods, are you using Medium action or Medium Heavy?
Thanks

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Originally Posted by slowhand

With the Diawa Wilderness rods, are you using Medium action or Medium Heavy?
Thanks

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Mostly Medium but the MH have a soft enough tip. I actually like the MH in late summer when catfish seems like the cranks as much as the crappie.

Denali Pryme been good for me. Use cheap Okuma trolling rods when using planer boards pulling.

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Originally Posted by Dutch552

I troll cranks the vast majority of the year and have used PSTs since 2009. I pull anything from small Bandit 200’s to PICO INTs to every size Berkeley Flicker Shad up to big Off Shore tadpole diving weights. The 8 footer is the anomaly of the line as it is a slower blank almost like a spinning rod-but it’s action is also one of my favorites. My everyday spread if I’m fishing solo off each side of my boat is an 8’, 12’, & 16’ PST off each side and a 6’ medium action Ugly Stik GX2 trigger rod fishing the water column directly under the boat. They have enough backbone for the occasional 20lb+ blue cat but a soft enough tip to finesse papermouths to the net with the hook intact.

I think you will be happier with 4’’ of rod tip separation when flatlining crankbaits with whatever rods you decide to go with. I’’ve fished in other members’’ boats with various brands of rods for trolling and while they’’re excellent rods, I don’t see the need to change up my PST rods anytime soon. I look forward to seeing which direction you take your setup.

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Thank you so much for the info. I'm glad that I'm not the only one that feel that the 8' PSTs are an oddball. I only have the 10s to compare it to but there is a vast difference. Right now I'm leaning towards the PSTs because of the price and all of the different length options. Pulling with the 8's the rod is near a 90° bend. I also set my short rods as my deepest, not sure if that's the proper way or not but that's just how I started doing it so it had some resistance on it. I wanted to make sure that if I went this route the other lengths aren't as soft as the 8 foot models because that wouldn't be something that I liked. Thinking 18', 14', 10', and then a shorter rod in the 6' range like you have for the down rod. I run the same rod holders and I'm so glad I paid up for those. The adjustability is amazing and so quick. Makes adjusting for each rod a breeze to get it right where you want it.

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Originally Posted by Big Bubba

I pull with Tony Edgar Trolling Rods mostly - I also pull some with Sam Heaton Super Sensitives, but they don't have as much backbone as the Edgar rods. I bought some 8' PST rods online a couple of years ago. IMHO, they are way, way too soft - they are pencil thin - no backbone.

I also have some 18' Denali rods that are awesome - they have great backbone. When I spider rig with them, I can easily rip the hooks out of the mouths if I am not careful.

There are a ton of rods out there. You can troll with just about anything - for a long time, I used bass baitcasting rods in Medium action as well. Mike Baker has a lot of YT videos about trolling and you can see all the different rods he has used over the years.

Just go to a store and handle them. Look to make sure they have the backbone and soft tip. The backbone is needed to land the occasional catfish/large fish and the soft tip is needed so they don't throw the lures.

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I get into some good cats and walleye in the deep summer and I'm afraid that the 8' couldn't handle it. Glad I'm not the only one who felt that way about the 8'ers. I was blown away my first trip out with them on how anyone could label that a trolling rod. But Dutch loves them as he stated. Either way, it does help them tuck closer to the boat when they bend that far in.

Anyone have any experience with the Pow-r-troller rods from BnM?

Just a follow up on this in case anyone comes across it in the future, I ended up with 18s, 14s, and 10 foot PSTs and when I called Grizzly to order them I told them I was looking for something in the 6' range for my short rods and they had some medium action pinnacle casting rods that they needed to get rid of. I took the whole setup out last weekend in the dreary, cold weather and got a limit in a few hours to my surprise. Completely satisfied on how the setup turned out and the PSTs worked perfectly. The 8' PSTs that I have that made me question the whole deal are nothing like any of the longer rods which is what I was hoping for. I can't say that I would do anything different if I had to do it all over again.

Have 4 Daiwa Lexas coming in to try out and if I like them I will get 4 more and call it a day. It's not a cheap setup by any means but I know that when I'm out there I shouldn't have to worry about anything and that my gear will do exactly what I ask of it. Thanks to everyone who chimed in for the help.

Excuse my ignorance but what are PST and BGJP rods?