Crappie rod upgrade

[dfeste]

I am looking to upgrade the crappie rod that I use for jigging. The rod I am currently using is a 27" Quicktip from the Frabil Bro series. The rod that I have my eye on is a 26" Quiverstick from Thorne Bros. Does anyone have any feedback on the TB rod or recommendations for others I should be looking at?

Thanks Dave

[Dark Cloud]

I have both a 26 and 32in quiverstick and love em! They are a touchy-feely type rod that is super sensitive. And will fish a wide range of jigs. I tend to use them mostly for 1/16 to 1/32 oz jigs but they will handle up to an 1/8th and down to as small as could be used.

Not sure how close you are to TB but going to the store to check out all the rods would be nice.

Some folks like a real soft tip or spring for visual bite detection. I prefer to get in tune with the weight of the jig im useing and detect hits that way. I havnt found a better rod yet for that.

That quicktip you have has a soft tip that transitions into a stiffer backbone. The Quiver has more of an even action that loads into more and more backbone.

I have a ton of rods and if I had to give them all up but one, it would be my 32in quiverstick.

[half-dutch]

From Thorne, I prefer the PowerNoodle for crappies, with a much softer tip than the Quiverstick. Also at a lower price point the Jason Mitchell MeatStick also with the super soft tip. Both rods will handle much larger fish but act as though they have a built in spring bobber. I find that where I fish you have to see a whole lot of the crappie bite or you will miss it; it is often far too soft to feel with the most sensitive rod.

All my rods are 24". Both the PowerNoodle and the Meatstick are fiberglass and stand up to quite rough treatment, with tips that are not at all fragile.

[Toba]

I have not fished with a TB rod, I do really enjoy the JM line of rods. After fishing with the JM meat stick I feel I have learned to watch the line more and detect bites more frequently. Makes it much easier to downsize the tackle as well. Lite action equipment is a blast.

[harvey lee]

I do not believe one could go wrong with either a TB rod or a Mitchell rod.

Both good quality rods.

[IamZombie]

I picked up one of those St.Croix Premier rods at fleet farm a few weeks ago for $20.

I love it so far.

Only thing I don't like about it is the heat shrink they give you to attach your reel to the rod. It's not tight enough. Their instructions said to use a hair dryer, but I couldn't get it hot enough so I used a lighter.

Maybe I should bring it here to work and try the heat gun we use for heat shrink.

[MCRDP]

If you've been using a Frabil 27" quick tip, and you like the way it fishes, your best upgrade would be a 28" power noodle with outside guides. That way you are upgrading to a high quality rod with high quality components while still maintaining your style of fishing. i have fished with the 27" quick tip, and i have also fished with the 28"power noodle. I really like the 27" Quick Tip and fished with it a lot. When i discovered the power noodle there was no looking back. The quality of the Thorne Bros Rod is very apparent and you will never settle for anything less in the future. I currently fish with a 32" Quiver-stick and love it. i have figured out how to fish it visually as well as with touch but it is not easy to do when the bite is so lite. when that is the case i use a Thorne Bros finesse rod with a spring bobber.

[bobbymalone]

Only thing I don't like about it is the heat shrink they give you to attach your reel to the rod. It's not tight enough. Their instructions said to use a hair dryer, but I couldn't get it hot enough so I used a lighter.

Maybe I should bring it here to work and try the heat gun we use for heat shrink.

I'm not sure if you are talking about the same stuff, but SC rod came with these two big wide rubber band looking things. They worked for a day or two then came too loose and the reel would fall off. Switched to electrical tape.

I was talking with the SC guy at the ice show a couple years ago and told them that those bands were a POS. He said that they were just there to hold the reel on to the rod at the store... That made me wonder what the zip ties that were holding the reels onto the rods at the store were for but I didn't inquire any further.

[ronyag]

Same deal with the bands. I got ticked out on the ice the other day and put the old Bic ligher to them. They are much better now. The hair dried don't get it at all! Still going to do the e-tape.

[holmsvc]

I picked up one of those St.Croix Premier rods at fleet farm a few weeks ago for $20.

I love it so far.

Only thing I don't like about it is the heat shrink they give you to attach your reel to the rod. It's not tight enough. Their instructions said to use a hair dryer, but I couldn't get it hot enough so I used a lighter.

Maybe I should bring it here to work and try the heat gun we use for heat shrink.

Just use electrical tape.

[Swimmer]

I picked up one of those St.Croix Premier rods at fleet farm a few weeks ago for $20.

I love it so far.

Only thing I don't like about it is the heat shrink they give you to attach your reel to the rod. It's not tight enough. Their instructions said to use a hair dryer, but I couldn't get it hot enough so I used a lighter.

Maybe I should bring it here to work and try the heat gun we use for heat shrink.

If you're going to use those bands, instead of electrical tape, definitely use the heat gun. I do some minor wiring using shrink wrap and always used a lighter. My bro was over and got me to try the heat gun. What a difference.

[CrappieCody]

For my crappie setup i just use a medium light then i throw an eyelet on the top-side tip then put a st. croix finnese spring bobber! This works great.. you'll never miss another bite

[Ice Ranger]

Thorne Bros power noodle. Nothing else compares.