Best Crappie Rods for Next Fishing Season

Best Fishing Rod for Crappie - Top Picks

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Because of their small size and location, catching crappie can be a tricky thing. This is why having the best crappie rod to do the job is very important and no, not every rod will do. The special fishing poles that designers spend years crafting aren’t for nothing.

If you want to have great results on your next fishing trip you should take a walk down crappie rods reviewed ST and see what might work for you.

Get ready to empty out the lakes!

Ernest Grey

I love to test new fishing gadgets and share my opinion.

Top 3 Best Crappie Rods

Best Rod for Crappie Overall

St Croix Premier Spinning Rod

St Croix Premier Spinning Rod

Best Ultralight Crappie Fishing Rod

Okuma Celilo Graphite

Okuma Celilo Graphite

Best Spinning Rod for Crappie

Shakespeare Ugly Stik Elite

Shakespeare Ugly Stik Elite

Top 6 Best Crappie Rods

1. St Croix Premier Spinning Rod – Best Overall Crappie Rod
2. Okuma Celilo Graphite – Best Ultralight Crappie Rod
3. Shakespeare Ugly Stik Elite – Best Spinning Crappie Rod
4. Cadence CR5 Spinning Rod – Best Budget Crappie Rod
5. Fenwick Eagle Spinning Fishing Rod – Best for Fast Action Crappie Rod
6. Shimano Trevala Casting Rod – Best Performance Crappie Rod

Expert Reviews of the Best Crappie Fishing Rods

St Croix Premier Spinning Rod for Crappie Fishing

St Croix Premier Spinning Rod

WHY WE LIKE IT: The St Croix Premier Spinning Rod provides you with the power and action needed to secure your success in catching crappie. Highly sensitive and durable, this rod is a first choice for many anglers.

  • Material: Blend
  • Color: Classic Black Pearl
  • Length: from 4.6 feet to 8.6 feet

Pros

Cons

BUYING ADVICE: Upon our first feel of this fishing rod, we immediately noticed how lightweight it was and comfortable. What makes this rod one of the best crappie rods it’s the length and power options. The St Croix fast action rod provides you with a large variety of lengths, all available in moderate or light power for you to choose from. 

FEATURES: St Croix Premier Spinning Rod is made of premium SCII carbon construction offering you high performance and quality. The added Fortified Resin system and cork handle make this pole not only comfortable and durable but also very strong. This spinning rod also comes with Kigan Master Hand 3D guides with slim and strong aluminum-oxide rings.

Okuma Celilo Graphite Ultralight Crappie Fishing Rod

Okuma Celilo Graphite

WHY WE LIKE IT: If you prefer fishing rods that are light in power and sensitive to succeed in your mission to catch crappie, then you can’t go wrong with Okuma Celilo ultralight fishing rod. Constructed from high quality sensitive materials, this rod is also very affordable if you are on a tight budget.

  • Material: Synthetic
  • Color: Brown Graphite, trout
  • Length: 5 feet

Pros

Cons

BUYING ADVICE: After testing out this rod, we noticed that this is a 2 piece rod making it practical for storage and travel. The thing that makes this rod different from the rest is the ultralight power of the rod which makes it the best ultra light fishing rod choice for crappie fishing. 

FEATURES: This crappie fishing rod is constructed out of graphite blanks and aluminum-oxide guides. Okuma Celilo ultralight crappie rod also comes with a stainless-steel hooded reel seat. Created from high-quality materials, this rod was purposefully designed to be used for spinning and casting.

Shakespeare Ugly Stik Elite Spinning Rod for Crappie

Shakespeare Ugly Stik Elite

WHY WE LIKE IT: You can’t go wrong in choosing this crappie fishing rod, especially if you are a beginner since it provides you with the needed strength and power for crappie fishing. This rod is very comfortable and lightweight, but also very sturdy – everything you need for catching crappies.

  • Material: Blend
  • Color: Multi
  • Length: from 5 to 7 feet

Pros

Cons

BUYING ADVICE: This fishing rod stood out to us because you can use it with all types of fishing lines, specially designed to be used for spinning, and because of its strong stainless steel guides. This crappie rod is suitable for anglers of any skill level, even for beginners who just got into fishing.

FEATURES: The Shakespeare Ugly Stik Elite rod is made out of fiberglass and 35% more graphite for high strength and sensitivity. This crappie rod has a clear tip design as well for better responsiveness and 1-piece stainless steel Ugly Tuff guides that prevent insert pop-outs.

Cadence CR5 Spinning Rod on a Budget for Crappie Fishing

Cadence CR5 Spinning Rod

WHY WE LIKE IT: Being on a budget doesn’t mean you have to buy something low-quality and the Cadence CR5 Spinning rod is proof of that. Cadence CR5 spinning rod is a decent spinning rod at a low price created for maximum performance and great comfort.

  • Material: Stainless Steel
  • Color: Red
  • Length: from 5.6 to 7 feet

Pros

Cons

BUYING ADVICE: We can safely say that this spinning rod is ideal for catching freshwater fish like crappie due to its strong durability and sensitivity. Other than crappie fishing.

FEATURES: This very affordable spinning rod is made out of a 30-ton carbon fiber matrix graphite rod blank making it very lightweight and powerful. The Cadence CR5 fishing rod also comes with lightweight stainless steel guides with SiC inserts that make it smoother.

Fenwick Eagle Spinning Fishing Rod for Crappie

Fenwick Eagle Spinning Fishing Rod

WHY WE LIKE IT: If you are looking for something fast and also suitable for fishing crappie, then don’t waste your time looking at other rods, because the Fenwick Eagle Spinning rod is one of a kind. Lightweight, powerful and sensitive, it shouldn’t be a surprise that this rod is a first choice not just for beginners, but also highly skilled anglers.

  • Material: Graphite
  • Color: Brown
  • Length: from 5 to 7.6 feet

Pros

Cons

BUYING ADVICE: This fast action rod that is perfect for spinning offers you ultralight, light, medium-light, and medium power options, all suitable for fishing big crappie. What we appreciated the most was that it has excellent casting performance, with minimum friction. The blank and reel construction allow you to feel even the smallest bites of the crappie.

FEATURES: The Fenwick Eagle fast-action spinning rod is constructed out of a 24-ton graphite core with stainless steel guides and aluminum oxide inserts. It comes with several power options and lengths.

Shimano Trevala Casting Rod for Crappie

Shimano Trevala Casting Rod

WHY WE LIKE IT: Using smaller fishing rods for crappie also has its advantages. Shimano Trevala Casting Rod is an excellent choice for beginners because it provides better sensitivity, control, and accuracy.

  • Material: Graphite
  • Color: Black
  • Length: from 5.8 to 6.6 feet

Pros

Cons

BUYING ADVICE: What made this rod different from the rest is the fact that this crappie rod was purposefully designed for use with the deadly Shimano Butterfly jigs. The first thing we noticed was the light feel of this rod and the great speed for maximum performance.

FEATURES: Shimano Trevala Casting Rod with a custom EVA power grip is lighter, sensitive, and powerful- the perfect composition for high-quality performance. Along with a Fuji-O or Alconite guides and a Fuji reel seat, this fishing pole has the potential of becoming a great rod and reel combo.

How to Choose Best Crappie Rods

Action

Action is important because it determines the way a fishing rod will bend and can often affect the sensitivity of it. For crappie fishing, it is advised to use medium or light-action rods.

Crappie fish have a softer mouth that can easily get caught in the hook so having a good sensitive rod to detect even the lightest bites is essential. It is also advised to use slow action rods for catching crappie.

Power of the Rod

Power refers to the amount of force a rod needs in order to bend. Having a powerful rod helps you catch bigger and heavier fish. If you are after crappie then using a light or ultralight power rod is best because crappie are smaller fish and you will need a lighter rod to easily detect the light strikes.

Length

The length of the rod is very important if you are fishing for crappie because they tend to live and nest in difficult-to-reach spots and are easily spooked. Having a longer rod provides you with a wider casting range that can reach these difficult spots and also at the same time it is more subtle for casting. For crappie anglers, the best length of the rod is around 7 feet.

Line and Lure Weight

First of all the weight of the line determines how easily a lure can be cast and how fast it can be retrieved. The line weight also affects the sensitivity and is a crucial factor in whether anglers can feel small bites or not.

Many anglers use light lines or ultralight monofilament or fluorocarbon lines because they provide both sensitivity and strength. Fluorocarbon fishing line is the most popular choice because it is hard to see even in clear waters and it does not reflect light.

The weight of the lure depends on the type of water you are fishing in. Rougher and deeper water require heavier lures, while calmer water requires lighter ones. The most popular crappie bait fish lures are crankbaits or plastic jigs. Anglers tend to use light jig lures that weigh around 1/16 ounces.

Guides

Guides are important because they affect the sensitivity and durability of the rod. A good pole for crappie fishing is one that has adequate guides, with proper space between to prevent the line from tangling.

Material

It is essential a rod is made of high quality materials for durability, weight, and sensitivity. Most crappie rods are usually made out of graphite or fiberglass or sometimes a mix of both. Graphite rods tend to be more sensitive and lightweight, while fiberglass rods are more durable and suitable for fishing bigger fish.

All in all, what is the ideal crappie rod depends on your preference and what type of rod you feel most comfortable with.

Handle

Fishing is an activity that requires a lot of patience. Crappie fishing takes a lot of time so having a comfortable handle is important. Handles are usually made out of either EVA foam or cork. What type of handle you are going to choose also depends on your preference. Test out the rod before buying it and see what works best for you.

Reel Selection

A good reel seat is important because it provides anglers with the sensitivity to feel smaller bites and movements while reeling in the line. A good reel seat is important for crappie fishing because this type of fish tends to be smaller in size and can be finicky biters thus bites are more difficult to detect. Usually, the best crappie fishing rods have a size 16 reel seat.

Sensitivity

Crappie fish are smaller and have a soft mouth making it a lot more difficult for anglers to detect bites. This is why having a sensitive rod is important. Crappie fish also tend to move around and can be found in different depths of water at different times of the year. A sensitive crappie rod helps anglers to more easily place the lure at the desired depth.

Durability

Because crappie is smaller and more delicate fish, they can easily be damaged and ripped when you set the hook and retrieve it. Anglers need to reel in the fish fast and carefully and avoid putting too much stress on the rod. A less durable rod will surely break during the battle with the fish.

Crappie fishing usually happens around submerged trees or other underwater construction since. These are the usual sports where crappie fish decide to nest. The rod has to be strong to handle the toll of fishing in this type of environment.

Frequently asked questions

Because of the specific nesting location, longer rods for fishing crappie provide you with a better casting distance to reach the difficult nesting spots and a quieter casting so that you won’t alarm the fish. They can also help to cover larger areas when spider rigging for crappie.

Usually, anglers use rods from 6 to 7 feet and sometimes even up to 10 feet long. Ultralight or light spinning rods are the most popular among many.

Depending on the time of the year, crappie can be found in different depths. During spawning, season crappie is found in shallow water from 1 to 3 feet. When the water starts to get warmer, crappie tends to move deeper in the water and they are often found around underwater structures.

Crappie fish have good eyesight, but whether or not they can see a fishing line depends on the water’s clarity. If the water is clear then they can more easily detect a fishing line, so make sure to use a lighter line.