FISHING EQUIPMENT

The majority of your fishing for crappies will be with jigs so it is important to use the proper rod for this application. The best type of rod to use is a FAST ACTION ROD. It is slender but stiff, with most of the action in the tip. "But I love my rod" you say wistfully, "and it's great for fighting fish, with lots of bend when the fish pulls on the line". PLEASE pay close attention to the following tip. It can substantially increase you odds of catching more fish.

Most rod manufacturers rate their rods as Heavy, Medium/Heavy, Medium, and Medium/Light. Most Medium/heavy rods are Fast Action rods, and most Medium rods are medium action rods. I mainly use the Fast Action rods for my crappie fishing because I use jigs 95% of the time. A crappie can inhale your offering and exhale it in a fraction of a second. Traditional softer action rods (what most anglers use) force you to lift the rod up about three to four feet to set the hook, which takes longer than it does for 50% of the fish that bite to spit your bait. With a fast action rod, all you need do is snap your wrist up and you will set the hook instantly. NOTE: Although you've heard it before a thousand times, it is very important to use sharp hooks.

My rod of choice is made by Berkley. Their 'Select' line caters to this new awareness among jig fishermen. I've found the best models to be the B27-6MH and W27-5-6MH products, which sell here in Canada for about $120. For you who are working on a limited budget, Berkley also makes a less expensive line of rods, called Berkley Select - Gary Roach. These sell for between $65 and $75, and are the best rods I've used in this price range (best models GR27-6-2 & GR260-6-8).

For a reel, I have become comfortable with the smoothness and particularly the dependability of the Cardinal reels made by Abu Garcia. I would recommend models SM 1051f, and BM2LITE. The perfect line for these reels and our application is 6lb Berkley Select Line or Berkley Tri Max.

Hopefully you now posess the knowledge you'll need to be even more successful this month!

See you in September.

Rocky.

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