Suggestion On Handling

[Maknora]

Hi guys,

 

After years of fishing with only Ugly Stiks and never spending more than 50 bucks on a reel, i decided to go crazy and get a new fishing rod and reel. 

 

So I got the New St Croix 7ft Medium Fast 2016 Legend Elite Casting Rod with a Lews Team Pro Speed Spool Casting Reel as kind of a versatile all-rounder. 

 

My question is, do I need to be careful on how I treat these things? Coming from a Ugly Stik, you can imagine me throwing it around and yanking it if the line gets stuck.  

 

Will the St Croix snap if I treat it the same way (more about the yanking if the line gets stuck, i doubt i'll toss it around)? Also I just like to use the rod to bring the fish out of the water all the way up to my feet (3-5 lb bass) . Is this a no no for these rods?

 

I know a lot of you have premium sticks in here so just wanted to see if I have to treat it like a baby or how much I needed to be careful. 

 

Thank you. (do u think i made a good choice btw? These rods are so new, i haven't found a single review on them) 

[ABW]

That sounds like an awesome combo. I would invest in a rod sock too. Whenever you get hung in the water don't try to yank your bait out with the rod. And don't lift big bass out of the water. Your rod has a good chance of breaking if you do.

[Maknora]

That sounds like an awesome combo. I would invest in a rod sock too. Whenever you get hung in the water don't try to yank your bait out with the rod. And don't lift big bass out of the water. Your rod has a good chance of breaking if you do.

 

 

Thanks! Hopefully it is worth the money. 

[EvanT123]

My question is, do I need to be careful on how I treat these things? Coming from a Ugly Stik, you can imagine me throwing it around and yanking it if the line gets stuck.

Will the St Croix snap if I treat it the same way (more about the yanking if the line gets stuck, i doubt i'll toss it around)? Also I just like to use the rod to bring the fish out of the water all the way up to my feet (3-5 lb bass) . Is this a no no for these rods?

I would not do any of the things you listed here. You don't need to treat the rod like a museum piece either. If your trying to get out of a snag, reel up the slack pull straight back, don't bend the rod. I never hoist fish I either use a net or grab the line as the fish gets close. You want to try and avoid scratching or nicking the blank as well. I think you will see a night and day difference between you ugly stick and your new rod. Good luck!!

[blckshirt98]

That St Croix Legend Elite is an awesome rod, I have a 9'0 model from about 3 years back that I've yanked the sh** out of to try and get snags out and it hasn't broken on me yet.  Just be sure to pull with the natural bend of the rod and not "high stick" it.  Plus if anything does happen, St Croix has one of the best warranties around.

[rippin-lips]

It's not an Ugly Stick so don't treat it like one.

[poisonokie]

the difference won't be just night and day. More like night and tomatoes.

[BaitMonkey1984]

I like many of us started with Ugly Sticks a long time ago too. Most people do because they are durable and can take abuse by younger/inexperienced anglers. You do not want to use this rod to try to get yourself unsngagged. I broke St. Croixs and Carrot sticks by doing this. I never broke an ugly stick. One year with good rods I broke two. The first, I thought was due to a manufacturing defect. The second time, I realized it was me. That was 10 years ago. In that time, I broke only one rod and that is because i hit the rear pedestal seat in my backswing.

 

If you get snagged , don't use your rod. I tell until the line is tight. Then I grab the line right above the top eyelet and grab and jerk the line. If you have soft hands and are using braid, be careful, you can get braid burn. This will save you from snapping off your expensive rod 3/4 of the way up the rod. 

[S Hovanec]

If you fish it like your Ugly Stick, you won't be fishing it very long. HM rods are eggs compared to the fiberglass you've been using. Don't bend it beyond 90° and you should be good.

[MickD]

Treat it with respect and it will last forever.  Rods can be structurally damaged by knocking them against things, jamming the tip into bulkheads, etc etc.  All good suggestions from the other posters, and I suggest you read this:

 

http://www.rodbuilding.org/library/rodusage.pdf

 

There is a tradeoff involved with moving from the sluggish, heavy, types of rods to the light, sensitive, responsive modern graphite rods, and it is that the new rods simply will not take the abuse the old rods will.  It is a good tradeoff, but you have to change your ways or you will have a $300 rod in two pieces very fast.  I compare it to a manual transmission car.  You can fail one in one minute if you treat it wrong.  Treat it right and it will last forever.

[buzzed bait]

from the way you're talking, you obviously wouldn't want to pay to replace it so i'd say treat it as such.  i baby my rods for the most part, especially the higher end combos.

[WIGuide]

First off, congrats on your purchase. You're going to love your new Croix. To answer you're question similar as to what others have stated, it doesn't need to be treated like fine china, but you will want to be more careful with it than the Ugly Stick. If you get hung up and you go to pull it with the rod, you can do it, but don't pull so far back that the tip bends past 90* from the blank. If you want to pull harder, reel down and pull straight back so you're not bending the rod. Don't poke your baits off a snag with your rod tip, and when it comes to boat flipping, it can be done, BUT many people don't know how to do it properly without overloading the rod and high sticking as well. My suggestion is just not to do it. Invest a few dollars in a net and save yourself a busted blank. If taken car of, the rod will give you years of great service! 

[Maknora]

Thank you all for these awesome suggestions. And many of you are right, I will try to baby it a little bit, but I realize that in the real world, its hard to always use your fishing equipment gently. This is probably why I stayed with ugly stiks for so long, cuz they really can take all the abuse i throw at them.

 

Also had a chuckle to poisonokie comment that it will be like night and tomato difference lol. I can't wait to receive the new rods. I've always wondered what anglers meant when they could feel every blade and leaf in the water. Hopefully these new st croix rods will live up to their advertisement. I have yet to read a single review on these yet. 

 

Do you think 7' MF is pretty versatile setup? Or should I have gone with MH? I read that st croix, M are like MH compared to other rods. Any experiences?

[Evan K]

Why on earth would anyone flex a rod to retrieve a stuck lure? It's just as simple and you have a far better feel of how hard to pull, when it may be giving, etc., if you just spool out sime line and grab it with your hands and pull. If it's braid grab a stick and wrap the line around it two or three times and pull with it. Flexing the rod does absolutely zero good.

[Raul]

To me it´s very simple, no matter which brand, no matter how much it cost I always treat my gear like if it were MY PRECIOUSSSSS. No wonder why my gear looks like out of the box and lasts me for decades.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

It's not a matter of babying, only correcting poor form and breaking bad habits. As suggested, avoid motions that will bend the tip beyond 90* to the butt. These include high sticking, overly aggressive hooksets, swinging fish into a boat, and lifting the tip straight up to lip a fish on a short line for a few examples. When held parallel to the water, the deadlift capacity of a rod is surprisingly strong. Protect the integrity of the fibers from dents, dings and deep scratches.  C-rig weights, boat cleats and rocks are few culprits to watch. 

[bigfruits]

treat it like you would a $95 dollar rod.

 

http://stcroixrods.com/service-warranty/service-warranty-policies/

[MickD]

St Croix rates their rods conservatively for power, so their medium power is often more of a medium-heavy to other brands.  You did right with the St Croix Medium Fast.

[WPCfishing]

To me it´s very simple, no matter which brand, no matter how much it cost I always treat my gear like if it were MY PRECIOUSSSSS. No wonder why my gear looks like out of the box and lasts me for decades.

I agree, I never abuse my gear. I always travel with the rods and reels in the vehicle and they're wrapped in a blanket. I suppose you could say my gear is important to me.

[68camaro]

St Croix rates their rods conservatively for power, so their medium power is often more of a medium-heavy to other brands.  You did right with the St Croix Medium Fast.

 

 

I agree, I have Med. Heavy Fast Croix and it is pretty stout. Mine 6'6" Croix is my utility stick, when I only bring one pole and want to try different things I bring the St. Croix. I have specialty poles now but having a nice all-around utility pole that throws most everything and works all types of baits is nice.

 

If you said I could only fish with one of my rods for from sun up to sun down, this is one I would pick.

[Raul]

I agree, I never abuse my gear. I always travel with the rods and reels in the vehicle and they're wrapped in a blanket. I suppose you could say my gear is important to me.

 

A kick on the nuts would infuriate me a lot less than loosing a good fish due to gear malfunction just because I mistreated it, it doesn´t mean I don´t even let air to touch my gear, it simply means that I like to keep my gear in perfect condition, actually, the first thing I do when I arrive home after a fishing trip is clean everything thoroughly.

[Missourifishin]

I love St Croix! But I treat all of my gear pretty well. No matter how cheap or expensive it is, I would hate to have to replace something like a rod because I handled it poorly and/or made an easily avoidable mistake. 

[Maknora]

I'm glad that I picked the medium fast then.

Thank you for all your advice. I hope that I will be able to maintain it like some of you guys UT seeing that I have a small car, I will have to bend it while travelling. It sounds like none of you would do that from your comments lol.

I will let you guys know how the rod pans out soon.

[WPCfishing]

I'm glad that I picked the medium fast then.

Thank you for all your advice. I hope that I will be able to maintain it like some of you guys UT seeing that I have a small car, I will have to bend it while travelling. It sounds like none of you would do that from your comments lol.

I will let you guys know how the rod pans out soon.

 

Good Luck with it!

[Maknora]

If you guys have a 1 piece 7ft rod and don't have a sedan like a honda accord, does it fit if you put the seat in the trunk down? How do you guys carry your rods around in a sedan or hatchback?