ww2farmer

I have owned 2 St Croix rods. 1 Premier, 1 Triumph. I still own the Triumph, it is every bit as good as the Premier but for less money, and I have no intention of replacing it. I have inspected/handled the Triumphs at no less than 6 different stores, probably over 50 rods. I have not seen ONE that is an "embarassment" to St Croix. Is it the most sensitive rod? No. Is it the lightest? No. Is it a good $70 rod? Yes.........I feel it is a better buy than the over priced premier. It has the same guides as the premier, same blank, and same warranty, only reason it's cheaper is because it's made in china. Just curious RW.............why do you feel that rod is an embarrassment to St Croix? Have you fished with one to justify that condemnation? Is it because it's not US made? Neither are your beloved Shimano reels. Have you seen hordes of them built shoddy? I wouldn't call the rod an embarassment, I would call it a $70 rod. How dare St Croix make such crap. But then again if the snobs and there minions here say it is, then it must be. :

I like the Outkast R/T jig, it comes through the weeds better than the other jigs I use (Booyah). I REALLY REALLY try to not use jigs in thick weeds, I usually fish a pegged t-rigged soft plastic, but some times a jig is all that they will bite. For a trailer in the weeds I like the yum craw-papi, the claws flapping on the fall trigger a lot of reaction strikes.

Zebco 202 combo, fished with it all summer when I was 9 years old.

x2 Fished on Spot Remover jig heads

You don't have to break the bank to get quality crankbaits that produce fish. To "start" (lol that just what it will be is a start)a crankbait arsenal he is what I would buy: Mann's baby 1- (shallow runner) Bandit 100 series ( shallow-mid runner) Bandit 200 series (mid depth) Rapala Shad Rap (finnese/clearwater) and add a few more Rat-L-Traps to your collection as they are great baits. Those baits are all in the $5 range, give or take, and will catch fish. Stick to natural colors, perch, bluegill,babybass,shad,and crawfish colors work every where. I would also avoid deep diving baits at first. If you don't have much exp. or confidence in crankbaits the best way to quickly hate this style of lures is to tie on a big lipped deep diving bait, hang it on the bottom, and having sore arms from cranking those things all day without any fish to show for it. Start by gaining confidence and exp. with shallow baits, then move on from there. Just my .02..........

Graphite frame, heavy, and gimicky.........I am a Daiwa fan, but I'll pass on this one.

For me here in WNY, with water temps still in the low 70's/high 60's the fall "bite" is not on yet. Standard summer patterns are still producing. Water on my home lake is Low, with a capital "L", lowest level in 25+ years. Fish are still found in the weeds both shallow edge, deep edge in 8-10 FOW, and pockets/holes in between , it's just now that 8-10' depth is in some spots 50 yards from where it is in a "normal" year. They are still under the docks that have water under them, a few docks have been super this time of year, with many docks on dry land, the fish stack up on them. Main lake points are holding fish, as they always do. Creeks are dry, laydowns out of the water. Well...lol......lures that are working: 1/2 oz black/blue jig w/ craw trailer, pitched around the edges of those "few docks" that hold fish, or dragged slowly around the points. Green pumpkin beaver t-rigged w/ 1/2 oz tungsten sinker, pitched in the weeds. 5" green pumpkin senko skipped way up under the docks, and over the weeds. Soon (I hope) the spinnerbait, crankbait, and top water bite picks up.

Great pike, I catch many of them fishing for bass as well, got a new pb myself last week of 39". IMHO they fight WAY better than bass. Some days when your catching hammerhandles all day long they get annoying, but latch into a decent one and you know you got some thing.

I like yum craw bugs, yum chunks, and yum craw papi's.

Toothpicks work fine, but are crude, and I don't like using them. I use Tru-Tungsten weights exclusivly now, and find there "smart peg" system works fantastic. More expensive than toothpicks but I like how they work.

This guy has got the right idea, except for me it would be a black/blue jig... 8-) Thats my pick as well, 1/2 oz., w/3.25" Yum craw papi trailer

That does sound like a great offer,not sure what I can do, but I'll look into it.

Who's bashing? I am speaking from first hand expierance, all of the rods I mentioned I own or have owned, or in the case of the kistlers , intended to own but balked based on some very obvious q.c. issues. I expect better out of $200 rods. I WANT to move to higher end rods, but so far my standards of what I expect for the $$ I am willing to part with have not been met. I have yet to serioulsy look at St Croix Avids, bad expierance with premiers and triumphs have me leary, maybe unjustly ,but the doubt is there. I guess I'll have to look into them, as well as the prospect of just saving my $$ and going with the $200+ St Croix's or G Loomis. BTW I work very hard for my living, so I'll decide if I want to "take it with me" or not. There are times when buying a $200 fishing rod is not prudent, or possable, luckly I am in a position to hopefully upgrade, but if I were not comments like yours really contribute nothing to this conversation.

Took my Revo S to test the fit and feel on a rod to the tackle store today, along with funds to purchase a new Kistler Magnsium TS Jig-N-Toad if I liked it. Bad news.........all 3 of those rods that they had in stock had bad reel seats. Locked down tight the reel still moved.......I was not impressed. I even tried it on a few Heluims, both were tight. But I am not in the position to spend $250 on a rod, so that line is out of my price range. Tried it on 3 different graphite plus series rods as well, tight on 2 of the 3, but both of the 2 that were tight were the 6'10" "senko specials" even with the reel mounted I found the rod VERY tip heavy, and poorly balanced. SO I WILL NOT be buying any Kistlers after this dissapointing show. So far the rods OFF the list of consideration are: Kistlers (poor reel seats, poor balance, not impressed) Powells and Dobyns (no one stocks them here, might very well be great rods, but I will not buy a rod with out handling. St Croix Premiers and Triumphs, had both, not impressed, found better for the same or less $ G Loomis GL2 , same deal as the St Croix's, I had one and was not happy, I have had better for less $ Fenwick Techna AV, probably would be my favorite rod if the guides did not fall out, sent back 3 times under warrenty, same results each time, funny as my lower priced Fenwicks have been flawless. So I guess the search continues. Or maybe I'll just stick with what I have.

Ok thanks for all the imput guys..........now it's time to mull it over.

If you think NFL player's are over paid..........I don't think there is a price you could put on this. Dr's. say he most likely will never walk again :'(. As a life long Bills fan, and living in the Buffalo area, there has not been a more sad event in the teams history. Lets hope and pray that the guy beats the odds.

In my truck , taking a tractor radiator to the repair shop, got to the shop, dropped it off, got back in the truck when the second one hit. Spent the rest of the day listening to the radio at the shop.

Gotcha.............thats exactly the opposite of what I thought you were saying. My preferance is the other way around, so maybe they will be right for me, but yes I will test them first. Any issues with the Supreme's or Revo's not fitting the reel seats tight? I have found Abu's and Quantum's to have the "thickest" reel foots out there, they fit tight on a few of my Fenwicks, where Daiwa's are loose.

Thanks for the heads up on the MG TS, the shop had few Heliums in stock, one 6'6" MH/F spinning rod, and one 7'6" Flipping rod. Those rods might be just a "touch" out of my price range. By "too much tip" do you mean the tip was too soft or too stiff for you.

Ok lol........not many rods that won't break with that kind of misuse The rods I am looking at ae the Magnisum TS line, and the Graphite plus line. In the Mag TS line I like these to start with: Casting: 7' H/F Jig-n-Toad 7' H/F Mag worm/c-rig 7' MH/F Senko/worm 6'8" MH/F GP rod Spinning: 6'8" ML/F Drop shot 6'9" MH tube/worm In the Graphite Plus series these caught my eye; Casting: 7'6" H/F Flipping special 7' M composite cranking rod Spinning: 6'3" MH/F dock skipping special I am OHH SO CLOSE to pulling the trigger on one of these soon. And adding the rest over the winter. As for reels, I can't think of any thing better than the Pflueger Supreme spinning reels to go with these light rods, and for casting reels, if they fit fine, my Abu Revo's, and Quantum Accurist's will do just fine.

It varys by season: Summer: (stained water) #1 Yum Woolybug (beaver knock off) green pumpkin #2 Yum 4" Mega tube, greenpumpkin/chart. tail #3 Yum 3.5" Craw Papi green pumpkin #4 6" Yum Dinger black/blue laminate #5 Yum Wooly hawg craw, green pumpkin. I like Yum lol.........and green pumpkin Spring: (clear water) #1 4" Yum Dinger, watermelon red flake #2 Zoom Super Fluke Jr. ,baby bass #3 Zoom Trick worm, bubble gum #4 Yum 2.75" craw bug, green pumpkin #5 Zoom finesse worm, green pumpkin

If I may ask.............how/where are these rods breaking? Yes RW I will take my reels in and see how they fit/feel on the rods. As far as these issues with reel seats and guides, when and or what rods had the issues? And what were the issues? I want to make the best decision possable, even though the rods I am looking at are not the most expensive out there, I still think that for $150-$250 I should get a rod with no issues.

Same deal as my thread on Powell rod's. Owners please tell me what models you use, likes/dislikes. Local tackle store just started selling Kistler's. Went in there today and liked what I saw/felt. The had 3 different series. Graphite plus, Magnisum TS, and Heluim LTA. I liked all 3 w/my favorite the Jig-n-Toad Mag. TS. Right now I am gonna have to say Kistler's have the edge over the Powell's just for the fact I can handle them before I buy, might not be important to some but it is to me. Also I see that Kistler uses there own reel seat, and a different brand of guides than the traditional Fuji. Has anyone had issues with these? Are the guide able to stand up to braid use. I would hope/expect, even the lower priced, but still $130, Graphite Plus rods would have guides able to handle braid. what ever brand I choose (Kistler, Powell, etc...) I will go exclusivly with that brand rod (I am funny like that). Both seem to have a complete range of rods to meet my needs, so getting what I want is no problem.

Well the decision just got tougher..............went to the tackle shop today and they had a lot of new Kistlers........I really liked the Jig-n-Toad Magnsium TS, even liked the Graphite Plus's I pickde up, and the Helium LTA...........OMG they did not have a big selection but they felt GREAT. I am gonna have to say right now Kistler is in the lead, as I have felt them, I have yet to find a shop that stocks/carrys Powell's or Dobyn's, and I am leary about pulling the trigger on a rod I cannot feel/hold.

That is my point. Watching your line may be important and very helpful at times, but developing a "feel" for the jig is important "all" of the time. Your right, I have been fishing jigs for only a short time, developing the feel for them is not somthing that happens over night. I can say very confidently that after a couple years of jig fishing that my skills are far from refined in this area, and if someone who has just picked up a jig for the first time is already having trouble detecting bites by feel, well I think the line watching will help alot. One of the best ways to learn to catch a fish on a jig is to actually catch a fish on a jig. Once you know what a fish feels like, it gets a little easier, as confidence grows the "feel" comes along, but line watching should always be part of jig fishing. Feel alone, as with line watching alone, can both improve odds of putting fish in the boat, but together, it improves so much more. I stressed the line watching to the poster becuase I have no idea how much experience with jigs he has, and what kind of equipment he is using (good luck feeling anything with a jig fished on an Ugly stick and stretchy mono), but if that what he's got he can detect bites by line watching.