St croix

[smallie.mike]

14 hours ago, Turkey sandwich said:

10 or 20lb braid will suffice, ideally in high vis.  I also suggest a flouro or copolymer leader to decrease visibility and add a ton of abrasion resistance.  

 

I texas rig only around vegetation.  When I'm fishing rocky rivers, I have almost no trouble with VMC tube Jig heads, or any tube heads with up to 4/O hooks.  Any snags are easy to remedy either by paddling, wading, or using the trolling motor to un-snag. Last year I put literally hundreds of smallies in the boat and lost less than a dozen jigs.  

 

Jig heads = rocks, T-rig = weeds

Like I said before it depends on the river, all rock is not the same. There are many different types of structure in rivers besides just weed and rock. There's no way I could get away with using an open hook jig in a tube on my local river.  

[Turkey sandwich]

On February 17, 2016 at 7:22 AM, MuskyTooth35 said:

thanks for the info man, how long should the fluro leader be

The leader should never be so long the knot winds up on spool.  I'll fish them typically on a 7' Rod and my leaders are usually 5-7".  Some folks go shorter, but I like longer leaders for two reasons.  1) if I'm bumping rocks in current, I want flouro or a copoly line like Yozuri Hybrid (my first choice around rocks) making contact instead of braid that will shred.  2). Since, I'm bouncing rocks,  I'll likely be re-tieing a bunch as my leader gets scuffed.   If I start with 6' of leader, it gives me a lot more to work with throughout the day, versus tieing a new 2' leader every time I have to re-tie. 

On February 17, 2016 at 4:45 PM, smallie.mike said:

Like I said before it depends on the river, all rock is not the same. There are many different types of structure in rivers besides just weed and rock. There's no way I could get away with using an open hook jig in a tube on my local river.  

Oh, absolutely.  If I were fishing anywhere near trees, windfall, stumps, etc, I'm going to be T-rigging or fishing a jig w/craw trailer instead. 

[hookset on 3]

For line on that set-up, I use Seaguar Smackdon 15lb with a Seaguar Tatsu 8lb Fluoro leader. I prefer a leader length that puts the knot just above  the reel when I'm ready to make a cast.

Are you shore bound, wading or in a boat/yak?

[Mike2841]

On February 16, 2016 at 7:28 PM, MuskyTooth35 said:

thanks for all of the replies! You guys make it tough to decide between MF or MLF.  I know for a fact im gonna get an Avid instead of a premier at this point. Keep the replies coming!!

Good call on the avid, I think it's noticeably better than the premier and worth the extra money. I think the ml xfast, mxf, or the mf would do the trick. I use both the 6'8 mxf and a 6'6 mf and I'm not sure which one I like better.