Virtuoso

Completely Agree, I got rid of all but one of my LTB's. The SCVI blanks are a huge upgrade, and they make for a much lighter and responsive rod. The crispness is night and day between the two as well.

Do you leave your line out in the sun exposing it to UV? Do you expose it to extreme temperatures? Are there any nicks in your guides? This is not a common issue with yo-zuri, the stuff is actually pretty strong line. Birdsnests can weaken the line and cause problems. I don't know how bad yours are getting, but I would imagine they would have to be kinked pretty bad for it to cause a large array of problems.

I have my fair share of custom builds, 6 currently and 3 in process. And actually own and use rods from almost every company and I use them when the time comes.. Each company has their pros and cons and I try to take the best from each company and keep an open mind. The most sensitive rods are built with the lightest equipment. In your hands a few tenths of an ounce might not mean anything, to others it makes a difference. If you haven't noticed there is a trend where rods are getting lighter and stronger. Lighter guides, reel seats, blanks, resins, etc. A well built rod will balance without needing to add weight to the butt. A rod that is inherently out of balance is a rod not built well. Furthermore, I have had my rods professionally balanced and I have purchased rods that have kits on them to do so. The Z-Bone I own comes to mind in that category. I am not a huge fan of this process. Unfortunately, many of the rods I buy are online where I can not get to feel them first. Throughout doing so, I have added heavier reels, to try and make them balance and also weight on the butt. Although the rod finally balances, it is not optimal. Two identical models of the Legend Extremes just from different years where one was in balance and the other was out made a difference in my hands after having them professionally balanced. Like I said, spending that kind of money on a rod, the rod better be built well and that means a rod that is balanced. Sure, it may not be as perfect as having a rod custom built towards the reel you are going to use, but some of the St. Croix's are out of balance even with a 9oz+ reel on them. Some may enjoy that, I personally would rather have my rod built well in the first place.

I own both and I am not overly impressed with the MGX. I don't really have anything bad to say, but having used the Core 50mg7 I feel like its tolerances were much tighter, the reel is smoother and most notable, the drag is much smoother and stronger on the core. I still think you will be happy with either, the MGX sure wins in the aesthetics category, but the Core isn't a slouch either paired with a Cumulus!

Congrats on your purchase. That M mojo fishes inbetween a M and MH from my experience. Its a nice rod for the money. Post back with your initial thoughts and experiences once you get out and try them out. Interested to see what you have to say.

I think its tough to go wrong with 4lb suffix elite in this situation. Fluorocarbon would be my #1 choice, but I would not recommend anything cheap.

Can someone shed some clarity on how these rods behave? The DSR and SYR, pretty much have the same specifications besides Lure Weight. I was wondering if someone could give me an answer on the behavior of the DSR, SYR, and 852. I am trying to figure out which would be the most versatile. Speaking with others, I have been told the SYR is kind of a middle ground between the DSR and 852. It is not as stiff as the 852, but not as whippy as the SYR. Can this rod be used for light jigs and wacky rigs, as well as dropshotting? Not claiming it being optimal for these techniques, just wondering if it fits within its scope of use. I plan on purchasing a few casting and one spinning at the moment and I am happy with the changes made to the new GLX's I purchased earlier in the season.

I didn't claim that it was not possible, just a reach. At one time I fished one rod to do everything as well, everyone starts that way. I have friends that will use his 6'0 Shakespeare and fish it for everything. The situation is not optimal, but it is sometimes what one is restricted to. The OP was asking for the best application for said rod. So I tried to focus my answer in that direction. Thanks for showing that video, it was fun to watch.

There are so many choices. The carbonlites aren't bad, but for your price range you can do better IMHO. A used Curado would be my first choice followed by a Lew's TP. The new generation Citicas are also nice and are machined in a factory with newer equipment, thus having tighter tolerances.

Yes, your logic is correct. You are going to be flipping both and you are using it on a flipping rod. As long as the weights of both are within the rods parameters then it will fit the rods usage. I would imagine this is the case.

If you are doing the determining, then your determinations are subjective. Unless you have some scientific process of comparison. Still, subjectivity would still be within the testing. Perhaps with more emoticons, and exclamation points you would understand? Its relative to fishing, because you are trying to push on someone that your thoughts on fishing equipment are not subjective. That is misleading. We all are on this site to share subjective opinions and experiences. No one is above this burden, claiming otherwise would expose a character flaw in believing one is always right. Anyways, I don't privy spending $300+ dollars on a rod that I have to balance myself. The rod should balance from the get go. Any weight added to a rod decreases its efficiency to a degree. My most sensitive setups are the lightest. These are my subjective thoughts Bob. The legend extremes that were built well balanced were worth the money in my opinion OP. I have found that these rods can differ in balance year-to-year. This years model of the 7'1'' MHXF Extreme I have yet to try out. My 2011 model seemed to balance fine and is worth the money IMHO. I would still suggest getting your hands on one before buying.

For what the Pfleuger President costs, its a cheap way to get a pretty nice reel for the money. I would take the combo back. You talk about desiring feel, that will be hard to do on the Ugly Stick. You can get an H20 Ethos, or Berkley Lightning Shock for cheap, the more you spend the better rod you get. For less than $100 you can have yourself an okay setup to build off of.

Agreed, I would send it back for servicing. If you still have the receipt return it. Having had the same problem with both of the 3rd gens I would stay away from them. The gen 2's work just fine, I would go back to them until they figure out the Gen 3's.

To me that is a reach. You can take a MH rod and try to push many applications out of them, but this rod is far from ideal for frogging and cranking. Its action is too fast for cranking, and it is underpowered and too short for frogging. You can throw jigs/t-rigs on them, but other models are better on it IMHO.

The stronger the power of the rod the heavier the rod. The heavier the rod the less sensitive it is. DVT's post is spot on. Those are the factors that dictate the power of rod you need. If you are fishing jigs in really heavy cover a Heavy would be the way to go. For open water a MH would suffice. 1/4oz jigs has me thinking you should stick with MH. If you do choose a heavy rod, make sure the baits you will throw are going to be within the rods parameters.

Get the micros if you are not using leaders. The micros are lighter and the lighter the better IMHO. That is their biggest advantage. I don't buy into the whole casting distance claims, and sensitivity wise the difference is negligible IMHO.

How you FEEL is subjective. Perhaps you might want to touch up your vocabulary. Anwyways, the legend extremes I own all work well. I do not like the newer model. Make sure you feel some before using. Out of the 8 I have owned, 4 were tip heavy. I had to send back to replace with something else. I really enjoy the MLXF versions.

Try jerkbaits and topwater.

It would be much cheaper to send the reel in to get serviced. This can be done easily for less than $30. Also, if you plan on getting another reel, there are many more reels to look at then just the Lews. Don't limit yourself to one persons opinion.

type POWERPRO and you will find the jesus of lines. kanzen bleeds it gave my reel a cool fade job.

Didn't they add X-Ship on the new models? If so, X-Ship makes a HUGE difference in the reels performance. It really makes a lot of the reels more appealing in the Shimano Lineup. That is a huge feature to add on a reel. I wish my Ci4 had X-Ship in it. My Stradic FJ is so much smoother of a reel.

Freshwater fish can get very large. The 2500 will be user friendly because it is lighter, but it can't handle large muskie pike, even sturgeon found in the St. Clair. I would not want to catch a large catfish with a 2500 series reel either. I can put either 4lb mono eqivalent line, or 30lb equivalent mono line on my 4000 series reel. That is what I call versatility. If the diameter bothers anyone, then just tie a leader, I have read many members on here that say tying a leader solves all of the problems that the main line has. So you could pretty much have ridiculous versatility with that setup. 30lb mono equivalent line, go out and fish for whatever you want. If you think you might hook something large, use it straight, something smaller, add a leader. More drag strength, more line capacity, more versatile, and less user friendly. It wins 3 out of 4 for me.

Me too, I do not have any problems setting a frog hook with Medium powered rods with mono. The OP can use a 6'6'' Medium powered rod to do anything he wants to do. As long as he is using braid with a leader or yozuri hybrid in 6#. Mono works too, you might want to go 8lb though. 4000 sized spinning reels are just about perfect for bass fishing. 240 yards of 8lb line is just enough to get by. And if you are using 10# braid, that also will be great on a 4000 sized reel. It takes me a few spools, but then I don't have to worry about putting new line on because braid lasts a long time.

I am going in the same direction. Dobyns 705CB Glass Fast action

Thanks for the kind welcoming everyone!