Good crappie rod for a bank fisherman

Hello everyone, I couldn't find an answer to my question in this forum or others. I'm new to crappie fishing and started last fall. I have a Shimano symetre 5'6" ultralight and it's junk. The bell on the reel closes and pops back up, sometimes it's got a catch in it while reeling slow and the rod is not sensitive. I have a cheap micro graphite reel and an old Abu Garcia cardinal but the reel is wore out. I always crappie fish from the bank, I have a boat but I winterize it and leave it at home during crappie season. I'm thinking I want a rod between 6'6" and 7'. Being that length does it need to be a light instead of ultralight? I throw mostly 1/32 oz and 1/16 oz jig heads and use bobby garlands or crappie magnets. I have to buy a reel too, I'm considering the pflueger president or the daiwa regal lt. I would like to get the rod and reel for around $120, but the st croix panfish rod is tempting. What is a really decent rod and reel for crappie? I know I will not get the best out there at $120 but a decent sensitive rod and a smooth fairly durable reel should be achievable, right? Thanks in advance

I would recommend a light versus an ultralight if you're only going with one rod. I own both those reels. And for the money I choose the Pflueger. I paid $15 more for the Diawa. Any run of the mill graphite rods will work in either of the lengths. If I was buying today it would be a Dobyns Colt series rod. This combo will probably hit $160 but it would be high quality. I don't own the rod but I sure do want to. Any line will work as long as it's Mr Crappie in Hi-vis yellow 4 or 6# test with a 1/32 jig head.

And welcome to the forum. Feel free to come join us on the Alabama board as well.

Chad

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I will still carry the 5'6" micrographite. I fish causeway and bridges and sometimes they are in a tight spot. The only colt series I can fine is medium or medium light. Thank you

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Originally Posted by Coreyp6391

I will still carry the 5'6" micrographite. I fish causeway and bridges and sometimes they are in a tight spot. The only colt series I can fine is medium or medium light. Thank you

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If you have to fish in a "tight spot", or have overhanging obstructions ... I know of two ways to counter those confines : a sidearm cast or the "dock shooting" technique.

I've even used the dock shooting technique to continue casting after my wrist got sore from hours of constant overhand casts. Since I was "shooting" to open water, with no confining obstructions, distance was my only goal and accuracy was less important than when actually shooting a dock.

Yea, that's the only way to cast in this spot. Luckily I hardly ever have to fish it, the crappie stack up under the bridge right at sun up. They are usually beside the bridge at night and I usually fish between 8pm and 6 am. Beside it is wide open and you could use a 12 foot rod and be fine.

its a bit like ford or chevy , some swear by this and some swear by that , have several rods and reels I am fond of myself , but many times one that is just ok , gets the job accomplished quite well .
the colt series is nice ,but mine is a 6 footer , the "best" 7 I have is in the repair aisle and it is a discontinued model Tica , the fastest 7 I own and real big fish slinger is a proto type they don't sell . My toughest 7 foot is a Berkly cherrywood , 7 footers are abundant in my aresnal and I have several others too . A Shakespeare 7 footer in my possession has hurt large numbers of crappie and I have a Garcia 7 foot that is a medium and it just came out of storage for the cool water hard hitters ....
it is strange that one would have so many different 7 foot rods , but in most cases it seems to be about the right length for me and my bank account ....the river bank account that is ,,,,,:Rofl

Agree with the Outlaw have a couple of 6 and 7 foot berkely cherrywood and really like them and they were 20 bucks on amazon. My favorite ones are "on sale" and most will do you just fine. Pflueger or shimano reels are solid and will give you long years of service and easily maintained. bank/dock guy myself primarily and these all work. Do have a 4 foot UL browning rod and reel buddy swapped me for and really like that on docks in tight spots.

Enjoy and welcome to the best crappie site on the internets.

I fish a lot from the bank too. I use a SC Triumph 66LF rod (around $ 100.00) and a Shimano Nexave 1000 reel ($ 50.00) with 6lb. Trilene XL and have been very pleased with it.

Check out the B&M 75th anniversary series combo. It’s one piece 7.5 ft light action rod and one of the smoothest reels I have ever owned. Can cast 1/32 oz jigs a good way on 4lb test but I prefer 2lb with this setup. Landed a big striper on mine and numerous other bigger fish. Got mine from grizzly jigs. Right around $120.

Thanks everyone for the recommendations. I just got back from bass pro shops. I ended up buying a 6' bass pro shops panfish elite, it is an ultralight. I wanted the 6'8" light but all they had it in was ultralight and it felt a little to flimsy at that length. I also got a pflueger president, it seems like a pretty solid set up.

Welcome from Alabama. You have gotten a lot of good advice here. You can't go wrong if you follow the advice of CrappiePappy or Ketchn. The most important rod in your tool box is your confidence.

Mike

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Originally Posted by Coreyp6391

Thanks everyone for the recommendations. I just got back from bass pro shops. I ended up buying a 6' bass pro shops panfish elite, it is an ultralight. I wanted the 6'8" light but all they had it in was ultralight and it felt a little to flimsy at that length. I also got a pflueger president, it seems like a pretty solid set up.

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That should be a real enjoyable combo. Best luck with it and it is a real nice upgrade from your old setup. The President is a very nice reel for the money. Another one but a higher price is the Daiwa Legalis. Great drag and smooth.
Bob