New Shakeyhead Setup Recommendations

[Busy]

I'm looking to buy a new finesse setup for shayhead and drop-shot fishing. Also want to be able to throw small weightless plastics like 3" senkos or rage baby craws.

I had narrowed my list down to three rods that I like and that are affordable to me.

1) St. Croix Eyecon ECS63MXF - 6-10# 1/8-1/2oz. 3.6oz.

2) Fenwick Elite Tech - Smallmouth Series

a) ESMS63M-F - 6-12# 1/8-3/4oz.

ESMS69M-XF - 6-12# 1/8-3/4oz.

I had a chance to feel the Eyecon at cabelas yesterday and liked it a lot. They only had the Elite Tech Walleye Series so I didn't get to hold the Smallmouth Series rod. I did not like the Elite Tech Walleye rods as much as the St. Croix.

I plan on putting a a Quantum Smoke size 25 on this setup with 8# Yo-Zuri.

Has anyone used these rods or have other suggestions for these techniques close to this price range?

[J Francho]

  Quote

1) St. Croix Eyecon ECS63MXF - 6-10# 1/8-1/2oz. 3.6oz.

I own this rod, have it paired with a Shimano Stradic loaded with 20# Power Pro. I use a 10-12# CXX leader.

It works exceptionally well for light jighead applications like shaky heads and wacky jigs.

Here's one I caught doing just that with it this spring:

[iabass8]

I used thst rod a couple yeats ago for vertical jigging walleye. Wasnt a bad rod st all. It seemed to shine in the 1/4-5/16 range for sensitivity. Good backbone. I would use either a larger reel than a 25 size or use some sort of chaircap withlead on the butt of the rod to balance it. Its a little tip heavy. And the smoke is very lightweight. 1000 stradic would balance much better.

[Busy]

Thank you for the replies. I have read that the St. Croix is a little tip heavy.

Quantum Smoke 25 - 7.5oz.

Quantum Smoke 30 - 7.8oz.

Shimano Stradic FJ 10 - 7.5oz.

Shimano Stradic FJ 25 - 9.2oz.

Shimano Stradic FJ 30 - 9.3oz.

Shimano Stradic CI4's are way light.

I'll have them pair the Smoke next time I go and see which size feels better on the rod.

[iabass8]

i wasn't aware the smoke weighed that much. i thought it was on the patriarch/ci4 scale. my mistake. the 25 smoke should be fine. Some st. croixs are tip heavy (namely their lower end split grips but that's really the same with a lot of companies) once you move up in the series the tip heaviness isn't as drastic but it's still there a little bit but is very easy to counter/balance. again, most are though.

[J Francho]

With the Stradic 1000, this rod is on par with the Avid series/CI4 2500 of the exact same specs (I own two of these) as far as balance, maybe even slightly better.