I have a guy that wants me to build him a sensitive ultralight crappie rod , never did much with ultralights or crappie , He wants a 5 to 5 1/2 ft blank , looking for recomendations for a good sensitive blank and what would you recomend for a handle,reel set to make it the most sensitive , I appreciate any help

Chad,
If you are going to build an ultra light - it will be sensitive.
Just pick up a well known blank that is rated as an ultra light and you will be fine.

The lighter the rod, the more sensitive it is. So concentrate on minimizing the weight.
With a rod this short, you should not need much more than 4 guides, certainly no more than 5.
Good luck
Roger

Make sure you understand what he means by sensitive - he may be wanting visual strike indication and be less concerned with feel.

................

I know that I'm new here and just learning rod building BUT, crappie fishing is my forte and most favorite thing for putting fish in the skillet and I'm not too shabby at it. If I may?...
I'll assume that your friend is fishing over brushpiles from a boat. If so, 5' is the bare min in overall length that I would want. I would prefer 6'+. That would be a spinning rod / reel with 6 lb test, max. Crappie have very soft mouths and you do want a slow / light to avoid ripping the hook away. With crappie, you don't "Cross Thier Eyes!".
I let my line out to the depth that the fish are at and then balance the rod in my hand just fore of the reel on two fingers. This allows the greatest transmission of vibes from a bite. Don't watch the tip. Feel AND Watch the tip.
On my fave crappie rods, I prefer cork over foam. It transmits better.
If he really wants it in the 5' range, aim to build as you would a trout spinning rod for river use. Can serve double-duty that way! This one would call for a smaller reel in the 1000 Series size with 4 lb mono (ex: Shimano Sahara 1000).

Chad,
Speak to your friend and find out he plans to use the rod.
Will he be working open water, casting light jigs.
Will he be anchored up working deep spots or brush piles with heavier weights?
Will he simply be trolling or drifting open water with a light jig or a heavy weight?
Or, will he simply be fishing from shore, casting to waiting fish?

Also, does your friend want to use the rod - in a sensitive mode - by feeling the bite through the blank and handle, or
is your friend a visual person who will keep his eyes on the tip of the rod, looking for the tip to signal a bite?

Lots of questions and no answers.
Without these answers, it is pretty tough to get very specific.

Take care
Roger

One of the primary "sensitive" issues concerning a crappie rod is related to the builder! If he is fishing brush piles please inform him when the takes your rod out the door that sticking your "sensitive" creation down into the water to recover a hung up two bit jig is a strict NO NO! - if he looks at you kinda funny suggest a glass jig pole - then sensitivity will be equal on both sides.

I have built a lot of 6 foot 721 blanks for crappie that the people wanted a 5 1/2 foot rod but after trying the 6 foot 2 pcs rod liked it a lot better. Maybe have him try 5 a 51/2 and 6 foot blank and he may to see and feel all are sensitive but some are more sensitive than others. He then could make a better selection.

Edwin Kime

I like an extra fast action in a 6-foot blank. Single piece. St. Croix makes a couple versions of this. North Fork blanks (I don't have the chart in front of me) the same. I used a Loomis Mag Lite 721? (1/32 to 1/4 oz. 4 to 8 # line, extra fast) with excellent results. I like a little backbone in these rods for controlling the hooked fish.

I like to feel that "tap" of a crappie bite more than see the tip bounce.

Les

I have built a number of St. Croix SCIII (3S56ULF2) 5'6" 2 piece crappie rods. Several for my family, and several for customers. One customer that actually keeps records said he had caught over 1500 crappie with his new rod this year. He said that it is the most sensitive rod he has ever owned. I am also a fan of Cork grips over foam.

Chad,
If you want the most ensitive rod for crappie you are getting some good advice but maybe not all the advice that you may need. Roger is correct that the lighter the rod is the more sensitive it will be. But the mass of the reel must be added to the mass of the rod. It is the total mass of the rod and reel that is important. It does little good to build a very light rod and then put a heavy reel on it.
Fishing Crappie you will want a rod that is low in terms of power as well because they are not large fish but keep in mind that stiffness is also important in determining sensitivity. The stiffer a rod is for it's weight the more sensitive it will be. So if you want a rod with the best sensitivity you may want to consider a rod that is somewhat stiffer than you would otherwise use. You may find the reason for this interesting, I do. Any energy that goes into deflecting the rod is energy that is momentarily stored in the rod and does not get to your hands until some time later, if at all.
If you want the absolute most sensitive approach to those crappie, point the rod directly at the fish so that the energy in any vibration that comes up the line as a result of the fish's bite will go directly to the reel and your hand and little if any energy will be transferred through the guides to the rod. In other words take the rod completely out of the picture then it will only be the line that determines the sensitivity.
If you take this approach under most conditions a good braid will give you more sensitivity than mono. What determines how well a line will transmit the vibrations from the fish is mainly determined by 3 factors; the tension on the line, so the tighter that you can keep the line the better; the mass density of the line, so the lighter the line the better; and the elasticity of the line, the less stretch in the line the better. (do not confuse elasticity with modulus of elasticity like I have done a couple of times they are entirely different).
So if you take the rod completely out of the equation in order to get the best possible sensitivity the variables that will determine how well you will feel the crappie are the tension on the line, the mass of the line, and the elasticity of the line, braid has much less stretch than mono.
There is one exception to all of this. Braid is lighter than mono and has less stretch than mono so it is easier to keep tension on braid but this is only true for what is called longitudinal vibrations, vibrations that come straight up the line, vibrations that would normally be the result of the fish yanking on the lure or bait. For what is called transverse vibrations braid is very poor at transmitting vibrations, even worse than mono. So if the fish is not yanking on the line but is shaking his head mono is better at transmitting these vibrations than braid is. If you have the solution to this let me know because I sure as heck do not.

Emory and Chad, IMO there is no perfect line, so you have to be a line watcher. Crappie bites can be a slight slackening of the line when the fish just mouths the bait, or a movement of the line off to the side as the fish slowly swms away with the bait. There may be little or no vibration of the line, so no rod tip movement, and no vibration to feel. You guys know all this, I'm just reminding.

Ray,
It has been a log time since I have done any Crappie fishing so I have no doubt that you are correct. However, my comments apply to a lot of other fresh water and salt water fishing.

No question, and I did not mean to imply any disagreement. My small point concerns line watching to supplement rod and line sensitivity.

Ray,
No problem, I took what you said as a statement of fact from someone who knew more about it than I do.