9' to 11' crappie rod as perfect kayak trout troller?

For the limited freshwater trolling I have done I used a 7' pflueger ultralight casting rod, 2-8lb line.

the baitcaster is good for trolling. does not have line twist issues of a spinning rod.

you can use a linecounter to be more accurate about how much line you have out.

it's kind of good practice for salmon trolling, in terms of rod placement etc.

obviously this whole thread is splitting hairs, mooch trolls with his spinning rod and has
caught more trout than I ever will.

however, it is nice to use something that works the best.

I am sold on the long flexible durable rod with a baitcaster for this.

recently I got a 9' ugly stick crappie rod.  it is ultralight, durable, long and seems like it would
be good for trolling with or without a downrigger setup.

the only thing it really needs is erik k's acid wrap guides.

but if you have a long boat and are trolling in freshwater, check out these crappie trolling rods,
seems like they are good for your basic freshwater trout trolling.

yeah, I know I have a lot of nutty ideas, but I think this one is a good one.

what do you think?

J

I think you got a Crappie idea there

I troll with the shakesphere catera rods. They are kokannee rods that I also use for trout and downrigger striper trolling at new hogan. Those rods have brought in a 15lb striper with a abu garcia 4600 and 8 lb main line.

-Brian G

I'm fishing a

Lamiglas MBC702UL 7' 4-10lb  with a Shimano 100 wound with 6lb mono

Shamino Compre CPS-F80L2B 8' 4-10lb with a Penn 420SS and 6lb mono

I thought the 7' would be too short but its fine.

7' is fine, but you can't run it straight off the back clipped to a downrigger.

btw, I like these guys who just toss a weight and seps release
on 25 feet of mason line over the side and call that their downrigger.
nice and simple.

also, if you are trying to develop muscle memory for something like salmon trolling,
it's nice to have a rod that is a similar length.

I'm kind of looking to get comfortable with trolling in salt or fresh so I'd like the equipment
to be similar in layout on the boat, etc.

I do both of these things about the same amount of time, i.e., so the more I can make
the motions the same, the better.

mickfish, the rod says "crappie rod" in big letters on it. 

For the winter cutthroat season on Lake Washington, I've rigged up with a 10.5' Shimano Convergence mooching rod rated 12-20#.  Sounds a little overkill, huh?  But I'm fishing leadcore line off of a single action mooching real.  The rod handles the extra weight of the leadcore pretty well and is still sensitive enough to have fun with medium sized trout.

-Allen

take a look at those crappie trolling rods for lighter line.

never seen them here, must be an east coast thing but they sure seem like
the right thing for the kayak.

check cabelas or bass pro shops.

J

I tested a 9' ugly stick 4-8lb crappie rod and it worked pretty well for fresh water kayak trolling. long enough
to be downrigged straight back over the stern. the length and flexibility was forgiving on the snags too.
I got it for $27, it would be so much better with acid wrapped guides tho.