Crappie (or panfish) fishing is very fun – but it does require the right type of fishing rod. Those fish aren’t giants that you will feel hit your bait like bass or pike – you need a fishing rod that combines strength and sensitivity to maximize your chances of landing fish.
St. Croix makes the best fishing rods, and they make some amazing St. Croix Crappie & Panfish Fishing Rods.
What is the best St. Croix fishing rod for crappie & panfish? That would be the St. Croix Legend Elite Panfish Fishing Rod series. With a great, and more affordable option being the standard St. Croix Panfish Series of rods.
These St. Croix rods are amazing – and here is a quick review of the Best St. Croix fishing rods for crappie and panfish fishing!
Table of Contents
Best Overall St. Croix Crappie & Panfish Rod: St. Croix Legend Elite Panfish Rods
These St. Croix Legend Elite Panfish Rods are the best of the best when it comes to crappie and panfish rods – and they are a newer addition to the extensive St. Croix Fishing Rod family.
There are a few things that make these fishing rods elite. It starts with the materials and technology used to build them. St. Croix uses what they call “Integrated Poly Curve® (IPC®) tooling technology” and “Advanced Reinforcing Technology™ (ART™)” to produce these fishing rods. These are really fancy terms, but basically it means they are built to be the most durable and most sensitive fishing rods possible. You don’t want to eliminate sensitivity for strength or strength for sensitivity – so you got to maximize both.
These rods use SCVI Graphite in the bottom portion of the rod for strength and durability. This SCVI graphite is blended with SCV graphite to create a rod tip that has amazing sensitivity to it and to reduce overall rod weight – but still remains strong. There is no other rod built like this!
St. Croix then combines these amazing rod blanks with the best cork handles, rod guides, and other accessories to create an elite rod. They are than finished with two-coats of Flex-Coat slow finish to provide an amazing shine, look, and to protect the rod’s finish for years to come.
Right now, this St. Croix Legends Elite Panfish Rod Line consists of five 1-piece spinning rods. Check out those different options in this chart below.
| Model Name | Rod Length | Rod Power | Rod Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEP56ULF | 5'6" | Ultra Light | Fast |
| LEP60ULF | 6'0" | Ultra Light | Fast |
| LEP64LXF | 6'4" | Light | Extra Fast |
| LEP69LF | 6'9" | Light | Fast |
| LEP70LXF | 7'0" | Light | Extra Fast |
All of these rods are designed and Manufactured in Park Falls, WI – and are backed by a 15-year warranty. They are the best crappie and panfish rods from St. Croix – and they are even strong enough to take the abuse of bigger predator fish that strike while panfish fishing!
Best Selection of St. Croix Crappie & Panfish Rods: St. Croix Panfish Rod Line
The great thing about this St. Croix Panfish rod line is they were designed to maximize sensitivity and ensure that anglers have that balance and finesse that is required to land crappie and panfish!
How did St. Croix create that balance and maximize sensitivity? It starts with the rod blanks. These are made from a combination of SCVI and SCII graphite that gives you the strength you need – but not at the expensive of losing any sensitivity – which is so important when you have crappie nibbling at your bait.
Besides the necessary durability and sensitivity requirements needed by crappie & panfish anglers, these rods are also loaded with little features and details anglers are going to like. For example, these rods have premium-grade cork handles to provide you with a secure and comfortable grip. They have Sea Guide guides with stainless steel rings and guides. They have a slick flex-coat finish that makes these rods look awesome – but it also protects these rods from losing their shine over time. They are even backed by a 5-year warranty. What else could you need?
Here are some of the options you can select in this great rod line! We should note if it has a 2 at the end of the model name it is a 2-piece rod, if it doesn’t, it is a 1-piece rod.
| Model Number | Rod Length | Rod Power | Rod Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| PFS50ULM | 5'0" | Ultra Light | Moderate |
| PFS54ULF | 5'4" | Ultra Light | Fast |
| PFS60ULF | 6'0" | Ultra Light | Fast |
| PFS64LF | 6'4" | Light | Fast |
| PFS69ULF | 6'9" | Ultra Light | Fast |
| PFS70LXF | 7'0" | Light | Extra Fast |
| PFS80LMF2 | 8'0" | Light | Moderate Fast |
| PFS90LMF2 | 9'0" | Light | Moderate Fast |
These really are some great fishing rods at a great price – normally right around $110 to $170 depending on what size you select.
For you anglers that like casting fishing rods, there is one rod you can pick:
All of these rods are designed in Park Falls, WI and manufactured in St. Croix’s plant in Fresnillo, Mexico.
Quick Ranking of the Best St. Croix Panfish & Crappie Fishing Rods
Like we said above, St. Croix makes some of the best fishing rods in the business. They have some other great fishing rod lines, but clearly the two best for crappie and panfish fishing are:
- St. Croix Legend Elite Panfish Fishing Rods
- St. Croix Panfish Series Fishing Rods
If you pick either one of these rods, you are going to be happy with your new addition to your fishing gear collection!
Links of Interest
If you want to learn about some of the other great St. Croix rod lines, we would encourage you to check out these links:
We hope you have success on your next panfish fishing trip! Catch a few for us!