B&M and Ozark are supposed to be the best rods out there for this. With that being said with my budget and having 3 kids and all I found that Grizzly Jigs have pinnacle limit rods 4 for $60. I you can get 8, 10, or 12 foot rods with that deal. Nothing fancy but I bought some and I really like them. Like others have said, you really don't need to spend alot on the reels, i use spinning reels. I have found that alot of the mini crappie bait cast reels that are cheap are exactly what they are, cheap. Line will get behind housing into spool which is a nice little mess. I found a Grizzly one that is decent and is about $22. I think i am going to stick with spinning from here on. It seems to me that alot of the rod holders are made for bass boats and low sitting boats. I have a deep v and i made my own rod holders, advantage to working in a fabrication shop with some good welders! I know we are in Ohio and spider rigging is kind of discouraged by the 2 pole limit but if you have 4 people on the boat you can kind of do it anyways! We do pretty well and we always do a spring trip a little further south. Cant wait to get back to Kentucky Lake! Good Luck!