Ryan Smith

Yes, I have a teramar Xx se casting rod for inshore fishing for snook that has high power x and spiral x and it’s a beast tough as nails and keeps the blank from twisting. It has the same double footed guides. I use a 7’6 XH Expride B for fishing soft Swimbaits and love it so I’ll have to try one of these out as well. They look sweet

I have fished just about every Chatterbait rod out there except the $400 Brett Hite waste of money. I can’t imagine someone paying that much money for a moving bait rod. The St. Croix Victory 7’3 MHF (The Marshall) is the best chatter bait rod I’ve found for the way I fish. It’s listed as a fast but it’s more of a mod fast taper and a little lighter than a standard MH power. I fish braid to flourocarbon leader or straight braid but I fish in heavy hydrilla lakes in Florida and haven’t found a better rod. I’ve fished glass rods and composite but they aren’t for me and I can’t fish straight flourocarbon

Not sure you would have to check with Shimano but it’s really well balanced and pretty lightweight for a 7’6xh

I use 2 rods for swim jig in Florida heavy hydrilla. Falcon Cara 6-174 heavy cover jig rod and a Trika 7’5”MHF and love both of them. If I need a heavy I’ll throw my Kistler KLX 7’6H.

If you are going to start doing your own reels do yourself a favor and buy a Wera 3355 Posidrive screwdriver from Amazon PZ 0x60. They fit the Phillips head screws perfectly and you won’t strip the screws. Believe me it’s easy to do. Diawa uses flathead screws. I got this information from a well respected tackle advisor who is phenomenal at breaking reels down and it’s made a huge difference

Definitely add some super glue to the pectoral fins or you will lose them. It’s the only flaw with the bait besides the cheap hooks they decided to go with. Otherwise it’s a phenomenal bait. It is useable without the fins it just doesn’t go far below the surface it’s more of a wake bait but still gets bit.

They make killer rods. I have the Feather in 7’1”MH and the 7’7”MH they are more like a Medium+ Modfast. The 7’7” is the best trap rod I’ve ever fished. I fish in Florida with heavy hydrilla and they rip baits out no problem with braid to leader. They are extremely light but I’ve never broken one and broke 3 St Croix Victory 7’3MHF rods. I have the M1 7’2HF which is pretty much a heavy that I use for Texas Rig and I love it. It’s almost as sensitive as my 7’2MHF Expride which is my favorite rod along with my 7’4” H Falcon Cara Heavy Cover Jig. I wish Falcon had more rods in the 7’2”-7’5” range as they tend to favor the 6’10-7ft rods.

I hate to dig up old posts but I have a similar question regarding the St Croix 7’3MHF Marshall Victory vs The 7’3 MHF LTB casting rods. I live in Florida and fish heavy hydrilla lakes and love the Victory for chatter baits. For me it’s the best chatter bait rod I’ve fished because of the power and action of the rod is perfect. I’m looking at upgrading to the LTB because I’ve broken 3 victory rods that have just exploded setting the hook. My question is the LTB a more durable blank than the Victory? I know they use different grades of carbon/graphite in LTB. The Victory rods are the only rods I’ve broken and even though they are the perfect power and action for chatter baits, I’m tired of them breaking. I’m looking at going with the LTB if it’s a stronger more durable blank than the Victory. If not I’ll end up going with a different company. I love St Croix but the Victory line just don’t hold up well in the lakes I fish. I appreciate any help you can provide. I know A-Jay has both line of rods so curious to get his feedback.

If you are breaking at the knot you need to tie a longer leader for shock absorption. I tie a 20lb fc100 shock leader or 20lb Gama flouro. I run a long leader that goes through my guides but not into reel. And back off your drag a little so you get some slippage and you will be fine This 👍 run your tag through the end of the Albright 2x and tie 2 overhand knots for any slipping and this will not fail if tied correctly and you don’t burn the flourocarbon leader cinching down the knot.

You will be fine with exactly what you have you got great advice from Softwateronly. Spot on

I have the 7’6” XH Expride and I use it for soft Swimbaits with an owner beast hook on braid to 30lb flouro shock leader. The comments were spot on you can use it for the treble Magdrafts but the heavy would be a better choice and the XH for single beast hooks to drive the hook through the plastic. I also use the XH for my small glide and Swimbaits under 3oz’s and find that it works great with the mod fast action. This is probably my favorite rod that I own and use it for flipping and punching heavy cover too. Absolutely love my Exprides and had all double footed guides put on it instead of the single footed guides

The other reason people run long leaders is to absorb the stress that is put on your knot to the lure. The braid has no stretch so you are putting a lot of pressure onto your leader and your knot so a longer leader will absorb more of the stress without breaking off. It’s good to run your drag with a little slack too. The advantage of braid to leader is you get the best of both worlds the minimal stretch only from the leader instead of running straight flouro where you have a lot more stretch. Braid to leader is much more sensitive than straight flouro especially your slack line sensitivity. I will use shock leader so I get a little bit more stretch for setting a hook and fighting fish especially with Swimbaits and Swimjigs. I run all braid to leader for everything and it’s amazing the amount of stretch you have if you run straight flouro. It’s a night and day difference once you fish braid to leader and then try and fish straight flouro the stretch has to be 30% or greater. So to sum it up a long leader takes up more of the stretch and puts less pressure on your knot.

This was an excellent write up on Falcon rods A+. The weight ratings on these rods are a little strange. I was looking for a good swim jig rod to fish 1/2oz-3/4oz Swimjigs in Florida and the “Swimjig rod” left me scratching my head with its weight rating so I decided to go with the Cara 6174 Heavy Cover Jig rod. This rod was exactly what I was looking for it fishes bigger Swimjigs perfectly in hydrilla. It’s more of a medium heavy with a mod fast action. My 7’2”MHF Expride is faster and has more power than the HCJ rod. I think the 6174 is probably the most universal rod I own it’s great for Swimjigs, football jigs, pitching to light cover, chatter baits, spinner baits, Texas rig, and Carolina rig. I fish it with either straight braid or add a 20lb flourocarbon shock leader and I can use it for anything. The rod is super light and sensitive with decent size guides. I know everyone fishes differently and in different cover but for me this rod can do almost anything. I pick this rod up off the deck more than any other rod I own and I have a few Exprides, Kistlers, St. Croix’s, Trika 6X (which is also phenomenal) and custom rods. The Cara line of rods are as good as anything out there for the price.

Yes I will still boil them but not for very long as you can fish them straight out of the package.

For close contact or skipping under trees or short casts I use a 7’3” MHF Kistler Magnesium NFC blank which is really a heavy fast with 50lb suffix 832 never broken off and I’m in Fl. I use a Diawa Tatula 8.1. If I’m fishing really heavy fields of cheese I will go to my 7’6”Kistler KLX HF or Expride 7’6Xh with a Lews BB1. I use the River 2 Sea Frogs and Spro for matted cheese but mostly use the Kaera frogs and I will change out my hooks to Trokar and boil my frogs. I have a few frog setups on my deck 365 days a year. This is by far my favorite way to fish I could skip frogs under trees all day long. There’s nothing like that blowup from a frog.