St Croix Medium Light Rods

[fishking247]

How do these compare to the mediums? Particularly the premier series looking to pick up a 6'6" spinning rod for 1/8oz jigs with plastics,small rapalas #8 husky jerk and #7 floater. and 1/8oz spinners. I have a 6'6" medium premier but it is quite stiff for the 1/8oz jig heads and grubs

[S Hovanec]

Not familiar with the SCII series, but there is a pretty big difference between the ML and M in the SCV....and even a bigger difference between the M and MH

[iabass8]

I use the 69mlxf legend xtreme for 3/32-5/16 oz jig/plastics for walleye and 1/8-1/4 shakey heads. works perfectly. plenty of power.

[Kevin22]

I have that rod, it has a real soft tip. Too soft for a #7 rapala. #5's work okay though. I use mine for walleye fishing with 3/32-3/16 jigs and small plastics or live bait. Works pretty good for a drop shot rod as well, with lighter weights. I also use it for a crappie rod when throwing 1/16 oz grubs. A 1/4 oz jig+3" grub overloads this rod. You are going to want braid with this rod, or you will not get many solid hooksets on bass/walleye. 

 

It doesn't get much use for me bass fishing. I like a 6'6 MXF for almost all spinning rod bass applications. 

[wnybassman]

I have four or five 6'6" Premier ML's.  I have used them for everything from skipping docks, to 1/16 ounce finesse fishing, to 3/4 ounce football heads.   A very versatile rod for me.     I have never owned a 6'6" M so I can't compare.

[Team9nine]

I think you'll be fine with 1/8-oz. +/- stuff. It is definitely lighter in action than the M as I have both. I also have a custom 6'6" ML built on the SC-III blank and it actually turned out to be even lighter still in action compared to the SC-II, which I didn't expect. Not sure how much it will help, but I charted all my spinning rod actions for comparison, and here's what just the 3 mentioned St. Croix's looked like.

 

-T9

[Dwight Hottle]

Try it, you will like it. Medium lights are a lot of fun.

[Kevin22]

I have four or five 6'6" Premier ML's.  I have used them for everything from skipping docks, to 1/16 ounce finesse fishing, to 3/4 ounce football heads.   A very versatile rod for me.     I have never owned a 6'6" M so I can't compare.

 

 

What? You are throwing a 3/4oz football head on a 6'6 MLF premier spinning rod? A 3/4 oz jig on that rod is already loaded past max, I don't know how you could even feel anything or even cast it without breaking the rod. I tried a 5/16 round ball walleye jig once and it was way too heavy.  

[fishking247]

Kevin22 a #7 floater rapala weighs 1/8oz

[Kevin22]

Do you mean original floater? I took it as a floating crankbait (shad rap, scatter rap, etc). You can probably throw a #7 original floater on an ultra light. 

[EvanT123]

I have a factory SCIII 7'ML and a SCIII 7'M I built. The medium in my opinion is much more stout then the ML. I prefer the ML for the techniques you are describing.  

[kingkong85]

I have the premier 66MLF but not a medium so I will compare it to a fenwick HMG 66MF. The Premier is great for finesse bass fishing. This rod has great casting distance. I also use it for crappie and trout fishing. The HMG is too stiff to throw lighter stuff but I didn't buy it for that reason. I let my brother borrowed it when we went trout fishing and he was having trouble getting distance. I only use the fenwick for its weight listed. You'll be happy with the premier 66MLF.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

St Croix blanks tend to fish a little heavier than similarly labeled competitors. I find myself using The ML more and more as my go-to spinning rod for bass.

[Jay Ell Gee]

I have a 6'9 ML/XF Legend Tournament Bass baitcast rod and it fishes lures like that pretty well. My favorite use for it, however, is sight casting for redfish.

[J Francho]

What? You are throwing a 3/4oz football head on a 6'6 MLF premier spinning rod? A 3/4 oz jig on that rod is already loaded past max, I don't know how you could even feel anything or even cast it without breaking the rod. I tried a 5/16 round ball walleye jig once and it was way too heavy.

I don't throw 3/4 jigs with mine, but I do throw big old gumball sized drop shot weights. Works just fine, and I can feel the bait and the bite better on a lighter rod.

[Kevin22]

Well that I can understand, you would have great feel and be able to work the bait very well. But not dragging a 3/4 football! I feel underpowered dragging a 3/4 football with a 7'M casting rod. 

[Alpha Male]

I have the 6'6"ML-F Triumph and the 7' M-F Triumph and the med-lite is lighter than the medium. The med-lite is my go to walleye rod, Great rod with enough sensitivity to feel light taps and enough power to fight a few 8lb pikes.

[J Francho]

Kevin, there's a school of thought with Great Lakes smallie fishermen that a lighter, more flexible rod is better choice for heavy footballs in deep water. By deep, I mean deeeeep.

If No Good says it works, I concede. He also uses Vanish, and loves it. Ask him about his best smallie. He needs to get in on the state vs state record. If someone can truly put the press on Dwight, he can. I catch a PB on the back of his boat, and catches two bigger than that, and apologizes for the slow start.

I don't throw too many footballs, but I do drag some pretty heavy tubes with a light rod. The flex keeps the heavy jig pinned by absorbing all the fish's movement and doesn't let the jig flop around. It should work for footballs.

[roadwarrior]

Well, I'm on the other side of the coin here. I have an Avid AVS66MLF that I use for

white bass and stocker trout. I don't really think it's much of a bass rod unless your

bass are generally les than 3 lbs. I have had somme bigger fish hooked up on this

rig and you just can't do anything with them.

 

 

 

 

[J Francho]

Uh, Kent, my 5-12 smallmouth and many others approaching that size were caught on a ml. I suspect your preference has more to do with habitat and fishing style than whether it's a capable bass rod. I use mine for trout too. Most of them were well over 8 lbs. Locale, species present, and cover have a lot to do with gear selection. Remember, Fish Chris has caught some seriously gigantic fish. He uses UL tackle.

[ww2farmer]

 I have had my butt handed to me more than once by wnybassman when it comes to his way of smallmouth fishing. I too once questioned him and his use of ML rods for 3/4 oz stuff....I don't anymore. I can be doing the same exaxct thing, with the same exact bait, WITH HIS GEAR, in his boat, with him, and get outfished when the name of the game is dragging. The rod choice is not all of it..............obviously, but it's part of it, and I am not going to question it anymore.