I am thinking of getting a few 16ft rod but a buddy of mine uses those shooting star telescopic rods and swears they work good. Have any of yall used these spider rigging jigs with any success? They appear to be too flimsy..
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I am thinking of getting a few 16ft rod but a buddy of mine uses those shooting star telescopic rods and swears they work good. Have any of yall used these spider rigging jigs with any success? They appear to be too flimsy..
I've used 12 footers for spider rigging a couple times. 16 footers seem a bit long. I recently got into spider rigging and if your serious about it, you should get some b&m or similiar jig poles and reels. I have one rod holder up front that holds 4 rods and that's all i'm running right now.
If you're just playing around with it right now, you can use telescoping poles. You just can't adjust the depth on the poles. As far as the 16 ft poles, I think that is kinda long for spider rigging. I use 2 12 ft poles and 2 11 foot poles.
I have some solid 10',11',12',13'ers but he was talking those 16' up.
I started with telescoping rods and found out I didn't like them but if that's what u want to start with and it fits in your budget about anything will work. If your budget is where you can buy Higher end rods I would also recommend http://www.bnmpoles.com/p-179-pro-st...ing-rod.aspx.I use them for spider rigging and flat lining.If you haven't spider rigged much I would go with 12s all the same length with green tips.
Most the time I see folks using this style of pole is cause they were too cheap to buy a good'un...I don't see a lot of them around for very long if you get my drift.
I can see that. I just like the portability of them
Spider Rigging can be tough enough for beginners without using inferior rods. I've seen several brands of the 16 foot telescoping rods and in my opinion, they're too wimpy. I use 4 - 12 foot rods. I like a rod with some backbone so I can lift those slabs right into the boat. The B'n'M trolling rod is a little too soft at the tip for me. I use 12 ft. rods from gtcrappiezone.com. They're a little stiffer and a lot more durable than the B'n'M rods. Plus, the price is right if you're trying to outfit your boat.
The stiffest rod I've used for Spider Rigging is the Wally Marshall Tightline Specials. I have one of the 12 footers and it works good on big slabs, but it's a little heavier also. The funny thing is I also have a 14 footer and it's not as stout as the 12. I guess the extra length makes it that way.
The shooting stars is what I started spider-rigging with too. Sac's right, I was too cheap to turn loose of $50/pole just to try a method that I wasn't sure I would like. Come to think of it, I'm still too cheap for $50/pole. I use the BnM bgjp's in 11 and 12'ers, they work fine for how I use them. I don't spider-rig with a lot of weight, and don't crank any. Just get what you can afford and try it. If you don't like them, there will be someone come along to take them off your hands. That's what I did, and went and bought what I thought would work for me. Shoot, I think I heard/read somewhere about some old-schoolers running cane poles. Who'da thunk it... Anyhow, the rods I had were fourteen footers and they worked fine. I wanted two piece poles for ease of breaking down. You would think that a telescoping pole would be easier,but wasn't for me.
If you have all those rods, I'd use them first to try out spider rigging. Put the longer poles in the middle. This will help in keeping your lines out of your trolling motor. I'd start off trolling at between .8 and 1 mph.Quote:
Originally Posted by buck_jackson75
I don't break down my poles. I just run them down the length of my boat on the left side. I installed a strap to hold them in place. Works great.
Those are what I purchased to spider rig with, most are west points. I was looking for another length pole to add to the arsenal. I'm afraid of breaking the poles during transport.
Ditto Sac-a-lait's comments. Bite the bullet and purchase the 14 or 16 ft BnM ProStaff Trollers and don't look back. You can get replacable tips if you break one. Monks Crappie carries them.
I wouldn't worry with the 16's unless your trolling really shallow where you need space to keep from spooking fish. Those West points will troll fine in all those lengths. All I use are 10ft'ers.
I use telescoping to tournament fish and do pretty good. One mod we made is simple electrical tape around the joints after extending for the day and I have a rod holder on left side for transporting extended.
I've been using HT telescoping poles for around 20 years. I don't have trouble with them breaking and I can break them down and put them in my rod box. I installed a set of CreekSlick's Transport Racks and I have no problems when I don't break them down. Keeps me from getting tangled.
As far as 16 foot, I don't use them. 14 is plenty long for me. Telescopic?? I don't mind using them. I've considered buy some Ozark's, but I'm catching fish with my "cheap" poles. Why fix what ain't broke??
never having used the telescopic poles I'm no help there. What I can speak of is the versatility of some of the poles already mentioned. I use the BGJP by BnM. I troll cranks, spider rig and jig with mine. I'm told they arent rated for more than 2oz of weight. The pro series trollers are rated for 5 or so. The west points are all fiberglass unlike the graphite of the others. I don't know what the MFG says they will handle but I know it will be more than the BGJP. 4 west point 12 footers are at our wal mart for just over $100. All this being said and keeping a budget in mind, the west point 12's would be my choice. Why the bother about the weight? Pushing cranks and the maneuverability associated with pushing over pulling jigs or cranks. Long lining takes forever to turn around and pushing turns are so much shorter. Pushing and pulling is just one of the next progressions you will come to and this is just looking ahead to what's next. Spider rigging, single pole, long line, or pushing. You just can't get any better a start for the money to my way of thinking. Good luck and keep us posted.
We use the 16' Shooting Stars to power troll up to an 8oz. weight up to 11/4mph. They work really well. Low cost and sturdy. We take the butt cap off, pull the rubber stopper out and put a piece of 3/4" PVC pipe in there to fit our rod holders. We Gorilla Glue our joints together and never break them down. We also cut 1' off the tip, break it off short, and glue it back in. Makes em handle the big weight better. You can use them to slow troll also with smaller weights. Back in the day at Sardis, we'd use the 8oz weight on the bottom and put 5 baits up the main line about 1' apart. Needless to say, We Killed Em with 10 poles out and 5 baits per pole. The Shooting Stars can handle all that and lots of times we'd lift 2-3 fish at a time with them. :)
BTW---That was legal back then. Still is in some places in AR.
I use 16 ft BnM pst's I made up my mind to go with good rods and in the off chance that I didn't like spider rigging I could sell them here and recouped my money
And it was the best thing I could have done
I now have 16's and 14's and 2 10 footers
My advice is get the good rods and if you don't like spider rigging just sell them here
Oh I now have 150 crank baits also lol
If you lived close to Batesville, AR, I'd give you a set of 16' poles that I cut the tip off. Complete with not so great Shakespeare reels.
I'm offended by some of these opinions......I spider rig 8 poles and like alot of folks can't afford to shell out $400 for poles and another $200 for reels. I don't think that makes anyone "cheap". I use six 12' uncle bucks telescoping poles and two 16' (very front) with grizzly $6.95 optimax reels. They might not have the action, but they're an easy store and work just fine. Fish bites= pole goes down!! As far as durable...some of mine are 5 years old and still landing fish.
I use telescoping poles up front for trolling. I really like them. I like that they are flexible, it gives your lures more movement. I have caught and landed 6 pound hybrids on these poles, 7 pound catfish and I have never had a problem. I use 14 ft, 13 ft, 12 ft and 11 ft. I break them down for travel. I just break the big part and that makes the rod short enough to travel easy. I don't see any advantage using expensive poles when trolling except if you are trolling crank baits. With crank baits you need a pole with back bone and telescoping poles don't have it. Just my opinion but I catch lots of fish with my telescoping poles. I do buy expensive poles for dock shooting. I feel it is worth for shooting docks when you need to feel the bite and you have to watch the line too. Good luck fishing, Wes
Cabela's have the whoopin stick in 12' on sale for 14.00 and it would be better than the telescopics for sure.
Well now I think I'll chime in with my two cents. I have used some telescoping rods for about eight or so years now. I have had 4' gar, 20lb cats, stripers, you name it I have had it. I have never broke one (lost over the side) yet. I keep four on the boat all times. Did have six. 4 ten foot two 13 foot. Used to have some 15 or longer. They are a bit "wimpy" at the tips but they get the job done. I do want some newer longer poles now. Going to all 16' in the front. I also have "Wm tight line specials", signature series, and some west points. Get what you can afford to start with. Then after you "LEARN THE ROPES" get better ones. It takes a lot to turn a boat with all them lines out. Plus when you get one on, watching the boat and the fish on the line. Its an AHHHH moment.
Slabby15 ...
I don't know about telescoping poles not being "all that" for pulling cranks :scratchhead ... I used two 14' telescopic poles when pulling 300 series Bandits with 2oz trolling weights, and they handled the rig and the fish just fine. (don't know the brand, as I was using my buddy's poles while fishing out the back of his boat) The poles had Okuma linecounter reels w/braid, and handled that with ease.
... cp :kewl
That is cool CrappiePappy. I have never pulled cranks and I know my telescoping poles are very limber on the tips which I like for jig action. I have landed big fish with no problems and even lifted some in the boat without netting them. I thought they might be to limber to pull cranks very well, I figured they would do it but just not ideal for the job. I love my telescoping poles, they work for me. Thanks for setting me straight about cranks, WesQuote:
Originally Posted by CrappiePappy
You won't save any money trying to save any money! Most people waste enough mony twice to have started with good gear to begin with. If you don't like it you can always sell GOOD gear. Go with 16s. Once the spyder bites you its over! Don't fight it - just FISH!
Blackfish: is correct.........I spent just about as much on 10s &12 footers. If I had known better would have went to 16s or maybe 18teens first. I can alway use the short ones for trolling.Quote:
Originally Posted by blackfish