For years the wife and I have used those small underhung trigger type closed face reels for crappie fishing. We like them, but they leave a bit to be desired. Small reels of that type aren’t the good stuff, they aren’t smooth, and they eventually turn the line into tight ringlets. So, time to try something else, and I’m thinking about small (real small) baitcasting reels. I bought one to try it out, and the wife and I like it. It’s a subcompact Piscifun, so it’s small but smaller might be better.

So, after all that preface, what might be the smallest bait caster I can get. And inexpensive is good, since we won’t be casting with these. And for those of you that will push spinning reels, I have plenty already but don’t care for them for straight line fishing.

I don't know how small or how cheap you're looking for but I bought two Kast King Legends or something like that off Amazon for about $33 and love them. They are not really that small, but are cheap and work great.

Wayne

The small Piscifun Spark was $39, I think. It works fine, but I just wondered what might be even smaller. I have a couple other bait casting reels I could put into crappie service, but they are larger.

Shimano makes a "50 size" reel for finesse fishing. I forget the name of it, but it's NOT cheap.

I would look for an old Abu Garcia Black Max or Pro Max in the 1600 size.

The last few days I’ve been crappie fishing, and I used the Piscifun Spark the whole time. Not casting, but just jigging with an 8’ crappie rod. I was very happy with the way it worked. And the line never got twisted like in my other type reels. I need to use it a lot more before I decide whether or not to switch the other crappie reels to this type.

I wasn’t sure I could set the reel up for crappie fishing instead of bass fishing, but it worked out fine, though certainly different.

I use the abu black max on all my jigging poles. I have several , paid anywhere from 29. to 49 $.
They are supper smooth and have a good drag for when that hybrid or big cat bites.

MO

Mr, Crappie makes a tiny baitcaster for crappie. I have one , and a couple of their spinning reels. Great for crappie.

shimano aldebaran is the smallest, can be had on ebay new for decent prices

Update: that Piscifun Spark is working great for crappie and white bass. Left hand retrieve. Line strips off easily and never twists like a spinning reel line will. I can strip off line with the left hand and with the right thumb lightly on the line just in case a white bass grabs the bait on the way down. Watching the bait on Livescope, I can deliver the bait to the fish, and sometimes they bite. Caught about 20 this morning on minnows. Now drinking wine.

I think I’ll buy another one.

Have two and they are great reels

I have a Shimano Chronarch 50mg, you can sometimes find them on ebay for a reasonable price. It’s compact in size with a small and light spool and the reel weighs next to nothing.

There are several other Shimano models that come in the 50 size, like the Chronarch 50E, Curado 50E, Aldebaron MGL 50, Core 50mg7, Scorpion XT1000 (JDM 50 size equivalent), Scorpion Mg 1000, etc. They do get pricey so plan on spending at least a good $100-150 on the low end up to around $350-400 to get a decent one, but they are perfect for finesse fishing and light tackle.

I’m not sure all you guys understand what I’m doing with the reel. I’m straight line crappie jigging. No casting involved. A $400 reel would be wasted on this.

Regarding small reels used for casting, I have the good ones in the boat, so only the Diawa Fuego is in the workshop. I grabbed it yesterday, picked out a 2 hook Rapala that looked fish edible and caught 7 bass in our farm pond. That is one smooth little inexpensive reel. Makes me wonder why I felt the need to buy a few more expensive reels.

wow, google wally marshall or crappie reels

After using all kinds of reels for crappie fishing, I keep looking for a better one. Didn’t really like spinning reels or the closed face versions with the trigger release? Well, actually I did like the closed face versions, but they aren’t real high quality. The Wally Marshall version like a baitcaster would work, but for a little more money I can get a low cost baitcaster and set it up for crappie use. One option I didn’t explore were the ice fishing reels. I might get one and try it.

The wife was sold on the closed face spinning reel type when the line was new. Then it gets into tight loops due to the twist from the reel design. That isn’t an issue with baitcaster type reels, so she was looking to ‘borrow’ mine. I know how that works, so I got another one.

My BiL, who is a big time crappie fisherman, using spider rigs, prefers those cheap basic crappie reels. Our style of crappie fishing is straight line fishing in 15 to 20ish feet of water. That Picsifun Spark is real smooth in pulling up big fish from way down. After my switch to bait casting reels for bass fishing, I have come to appreciate smooth retrieves.