Crank Pulling Rods - Not Impressed with PSTs for Side Pulling

Hey guys looking for some help. I started pulling cranks out the side from the bow last year and had a ton of fun. To see if I liked it and because I didn’t have a transport rack, I bought black widow collapsible rods and cheap spinning reels. I went out the first day and put a hurting on some big ones and got hooked. I started buying line counters in anticipation of getting new rods this year. I also picked up two 8’ PSTs and two 10’ PSTs to see if I liked them last year. The 10s are okay but I feel the 8s are way too soft. I’m pulling picos, arkies, and bandits anywhere from 1 to 2mph.

Had an issue with some of the Shakespeare reels having the line jump into the side of housing and get jammed in the spool but that’s another issue, I’ll look at upgrading those later.

The time has come to order some cranking rods. I picked up a set of six 16’ southern crappie rods to spider rig with. I wish he made more lengths in the “T” version but he only has 14s and 16s. I’m hesitant to get more PSTs because I’m unsure if they will be too soft like the 8’ers I have. Honestly the action on the black widows are pretty good and can easily detect a bite but I’d like something a little better with a better reel seat that’s lighter to handle. I’d like to use these new rods to try pushing cranks as well ans PSTs with 2-3oz on them wouldn’t be pretty I assume.

I’ve read that 4’ difference in length is preferred and I can see where that might be nice. The PSTs come in a bunch of different length options and since I’m only looking for 6 rods I could pick up a set of 14s and 18s and be done since I have a set of 10s.

If you had to get new rods, what would you go with and would you hold the 4’ difference? 18’ rods are going to be as long as my boat but I did get a transport rack after breaking down those 16’ southern crappie rods a few times. That was money well spent and would work well for cranking too.

Looking for some advice here. Thank you!

First, welcome to the forum. The Mississippi board has tons of info to help with your education.

I trolled 300 bandits and similar baits from 1 to 1.5 or so. I used BGJP’s in 8, 10, and 12 feet and ran four rods out each side with two foot separation. They were also set at different lengths to help from tangling so much. I believe they’ll tangle no matter how much they’re apart. I’ll just speak of the rods in the forward portion of the boat, and I ran 8 up there. Also ran some 6’rods to fill in close to the boat. I like a little flex in my rods after having stiffer rods cause fish to shake loose, many tests to this. I’ve landed cats over ten pounds so I’m sure they’ll hold up and I still have the twelves. I also feel that rods and their action for a given purpose is a very personal thing. Some folks use them for different types of fishing and trolling and that changes things a little more. Southern crappie rods are nice, they are my 6’s. Simply crappie supplied me with the 9’s I now use, doing away with the 8’s and 10’s. I moved from TN to FL and no longer troll cranks or I’d still have the other rods which were all BGJP’s. I also never used any rods over twelve as I have to be smarter than what I work with. I’ve run into schools of crappie many times with lots of rods loading up, but have also run into LMB, whitebass and catfish that hit several rods at once. The rods performed admirably. This is just input. Listen to many, do some research and make your choice to suit the way you fish. I prefer to handle any rod before I buy as standards are all over the board with no common standards.

pro angler rods have enough back bone to pull cranks
i run 14 an 10 out the side an 8 footers out the back

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Originally Posted by skeetbum

First, welcome to the forum. The Mississippi board has tons of info to help with your education.

I trolled 300 bandits and similar baits from 1 to 1.5 or so. I used BGJP’s in 8, 10, and 12 feet and ran four rods out each side with two foot separation. They were also set at different lengths to help from tangling so much. I believe they’ll tangle no matter how much they’re apart. I’ll just speak of the rods in the forward portion of the boat, and I ran 8 up there. Also ran some 6’rods to fill in close to the boat. I like a little flex in my rods after having stiffer rods cause fish to shake loose, many tests to this. I’ve landed cats over ten pounds so I’m sure they’ll hold up and I still have the twelves. I also feel that rods and their action for a given purpose is a very personal thing. Some folks use them for different types of fishing and trolling and that changes things a little more. Southern crappie rods are nice, they are my 6’s. Simply crappie supplied me with the 9’s I now use, doing away with the 8’s and 10’s. I moved from TN to FL and no longer troll cranks or I’d still have the other rods which were all BGJP’s. I also never used any rods over twelve as I have to be smarter than what I work with. I’ve run into schools of crappie many times with lots of rods loading up, but have also run into LMB, whitebass and catfish that hit several rods at once. The rods performed admirably. This is just input. Listen to many, do some research and make your choice to suit the way you fish. I prefer to handle any rod before I buy as standards are all over the board with no common standards.

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I have a couple BGJP that I actually jig with and I believe they are lighter action than the PSTs that I have. They are tough as nails for sure. Thanks for the input. I do wonder if the black widows I was using were too stiff as I've had a few come off when they shouldn't have. But I also reeled in a 15lb striper on one too. That was a fun day!

I pull cranks with 2 6’ Walmart special Shakespeare rods 2 10’ Lews speed sticks 2 14’ southern crappie 143T and 2 18’ bps tight line specials. Pulling cranks can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be! Heck you could use a broomstick if you wanted. It doesn’t have to be a special rod I have used 12’ west points when I used that length in my spread they did good. I bet the cypress creek from jenko would do good too!


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Originally Posted by sinkum

pro angler rods have enough back bone to pull cranks
i run 14 an 10 out the side an 8 footers out the back

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Thanks for the suggestion. I will check that out.

Good info in this thread thanks!

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

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.

Attachment 425195

I’ve used bm pst’s for pulling for a very long time. 8 ft 10ft 12ft and 14ft on each side. Been using the 410’s for downrods along side of motor for covering down column. They have handled everything kentucky lake, lake Barkley, and the Mississippi lakes have to offer with ease. I also use southern T model rods for pushing out front. Hope this helps.

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.

Attachment 425195

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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?

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Originally Posted by Doninva

Excuse my ignorance but what are PST and BGJP rods?

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They are BnM Poles initials representing these particular rods:

PST is Pro Staff Trolling
BGJP is Buck's Graphite Jig Pole

CrappiePappy, thanks for the clarification.