Allways cut yourself a willow from the middle of the bush. They are straighter and dont have the arch that the outside branches do! Seems that in the south where crappie are more prevelant there are more crappie poles in retail stores. I had an 11& 1/2 foot BUCKS crappie jig rod that was a real kick. You could cast a nightcrawler with no weight a half mile on 6lb test. Cought an 8lb cat that way at Brownlee and will never forget it. Try a online search " crappie jig rod"