Hi, I live out in seattle washington and tournament walleye fish. About 5 monthes ago I attended a national tournament in which walleye guys were using crappie rods as their second rod or “dead stick”. Nobody wanted to disclose info about which rods so now that my tournament season is over I have begun my search to find out what rods I should be trying out. I think it may be what crappie guys use as spider rods. What I am looking for is 10 to 12 foot rod with fast action (sensitive tip) but can handle up to 4 ouce weight trolled up to 2 mph. Since currently this is an experiment I am trying to find inexpensive rods. (maybe you are upgrading and have a rod or two I could be very cheap) Any suggestions you have would be appreciated. Thanks Brian

As you know, there are many rods suitable for deadsticking out there, but most deadsticking rods are considerably shorter than the ones you mentioned. Jigging a swimming or flash lure is the main objective of deadsticking. The way it works, for the most part, is that while you are jigging, the fish, for whatever reason, spooks, or shies away from your jig, and hanging right there, next to it, is a dead stick bait. The fish, on rebound from the jigged bait, moves over, and snaps up the deadstick bait. Now, when it comes to choosing an inexpensive rod to experiment a little without breaking the bank, let me make some suggestions, with the understanding, that when you consider the fact that you are willing to experiment on used equipment until you hit on a winning combination that will give you the initiative to cough up some bigger bucks with the promise of a good reward for your expenditure, makes me almost insist that you try to find some of the following suggestions on ebay or even in pawn shops. Another option is to shop end of season clearance sales as well as shopping at end of season sales at bait and tackle shops that rent equipement. Consider the following options and you should find a few rods sure to fit your requirements: Pinnacle Power Tip Pro (Approx. $25) Skate/Croaker Stik (Approx. $70) Ugly Stick BWS 1100 (Approx. $65) Okuma Longitude Surf (Approx. $50) 11ft. Ande tournament ATS-1200A (Approx. $50) 12ft.HVY.2-6,around (Approx. $50) Okuma Solaris Surf,12ft,MH,3-8 (Approx. $78) Something else to remember, when choosing, is that a good deadstick rod should be about half noodle, and half backbone to get it right. Keep the tip light and the rod bendable so it can work like a strike indicator.