Loomis E6X or St. Croix premier, need help

[Woodman1]

Need  help picking between them two rods. I am not sure which one would be the right choice for me. I mostly fish with bobbers or rubber worms. Both of the rods I am looking at were in light power. I will be using a Quantum energy or 25 reel on it.

[jakebrake]

 

 

wow....as the proud dad of each?

 

that's tough....real tough. because they are both quality rods.

 

gun to my head, I would give a very slight edge to the loomis....and I mean hair sized edge.

 

if anything, it's the way it feels like it  balances (and, it's a zero sum game in my mind....to the point I  just held both, and honestly can't see a glaring difference...)

 

either one is a winner.

[NHBull]

Welcome aboard!

 

I find the e6x to very versatile and I have 3 of them, that said, there is no wrong decision here.

[Woodman1]

I was holding both them this weekend and both felt great, that's what is making this hard. I like the Loomis because it is only 6 feet were the st. Croix is 6 feet 6 inch. 

 

Thanks for welcoming me. 

[Darren.]

Welcome aboard, @Woodman1!

 

I don't have the Loomis, but I do have Premier rods,

and I like my spinning Premier, so I can recommend

it. Wish I could help with an actual comparison, though.

 

My Premier is a 6'0 MLF model (now 5'9"  ).

 

Only thing I've found with St. Croix is that they are a *tad*

tip-heavy with my Stradic 1000 size reels. Your Quantum

should balance great.

[Bucky205]

Both are very good rods. You just need to see which feels right for you.  I like to put the actual reel that I am going to be using on the rod and see how it feels.  The balance and how it fits your hand makes a major difference.

[Woodman1]

See I love my mojo bass rod by st. Croix, but I was thinking of trying a different brand. Because right now I use a ultra light by ugly stick for bobber fishing which I mean it works but I want something so I can use it for different rigs to.

@Bucky205 that is a good idea I never thought about doing that. Thanks for giving me that advice.

[Fishin' Fool]

Hey bud not to talk you out of purchasing a decent rod because you probably will eventually grow into it but for your intended use that you described you could grab a much less expensive rod. But I'm all for spending others money so if you are serious about the E6x also look into the St Croix Avid X.

[Woodman1]

I wanna try to start doing other stuff with the rod besides just bobber fishing. Because to be honest I don't know how to do much besides bobber fish and cast with spinner baits.

[craww]

Both are well built rods from companies that'll take care of you. Personally, and this is just my opinion in the best interest of the original post, you can get rods with much better blanks at their price ranges. A trend I've noticed in many arenas is A high end manufacturers "base" model type tiers are often not the best bang for buck.

 

 

 A light action or even medium light can be a little harder to find. Hate being the guy that points you towards rods you didn't even ask about; but Fenwick has many rods in that power that are all excellent values at 4 or so model ranges depending on what you want to spend.

[Woodman1]

It's all good @craww I was looking at them to but never really heard of them. I am open to other brands that good. I just hear a lot about the two I was looking at.

[lmbfisherman]

Seems overkill for the type of fishing you are doing.  I'd pick the E6x, it's not that St Croix sucks, it is just I like the power and action better.  I'd steer you away buying either of these rods for bobber fishing though!  If you are serious about getting into lure fishing then buy the E6X if you like the Loomis power/action.  

[Hulkster]

I own both a premier and an E6X and in my hands the E6X is much better. The E6X feels the same as my St. Croix Avid which in turn feels a lot better than the Premier.

[Angry John]

I have had mixed bag with fenwick.  The smallmouth series was sweet.  I had a reel seat fail on the new bass series.  I have looked at the hmg's and I might give them a try.  If you get to the 200 mark I agree the avid x would be my choice.  

[IndianaFinesse]

Just my opinion...  But is there really a reason to buy a sensitive stick if you're going to mostly use it for bobber fishing anyways?  A much cheaper rod would do just as well, say something in the 20-30$ range would do fine for bobbers.

[Woodman1]

I am trying to get more into jigging and using lures then just bobber fishing @IndianaFinesse. That's why I am looking to get a better pole.

[Angry John]

1 hour ago, Hulkster said:

I own both a premier and an E6X and in my hands the E6X is much better. The E6X feels the same as my St. Croix Avid which in turn feels a lot better than the Premier.

Funny that they feel close as they are in the same price range as compared to the primer which is not at the same level in cost. Were comparing a 200 dollar offering to a 130 dollar rod.

[Hulkster]

1 hour ago, Angry John said:

Funny that they feel close as they are in the same price range as compared to the primer which is not at the same level in cost. Were comparing a 200 dollar offering to a 130 dollar rod.

to me, and im not sure if others agree, but both the Loomis E6X and the St. Croix Avid (both around the same price) both feel a lot better than the Premier, which is at a jump down in price from both the Avid or the E6X. You also get much nicer spinning handles with either the Avid or the E6X versus the Premier (the 'skeletal cork' style on the E6X/Avid spinning vs just bare plastic on the Premier.

[Rodney Smith]

The E6X is much better. I have had some of the lower end St Croix rods and haven't been impressed. I have also had the Avid. That rod never really impressed me either. I would recommend the E6X or a discounted IMX. It is a much better rod and they be found pretty easily online for around $200.00.

[smalljaw67]

I'll echo some of the other sentiments here in that you don't need a rod like that for bobber fishing. Good quality rods offer distinct advantages like added sensitivity, and light weight performance but if just casually tossing spinnerbaits or in-line spinners and bobber fishing you won't realize much of the benefits of a good rod. If I were you I'd look into something like a Berkley E-Motion, it is a good rod that is $80, this will give you a good performing rod that you can learn how the advantages of a better rod can help yet it is still under $100 and if you start learning new techniques like shaky head, Texas rigging, or drop shot, the rod will fit the bill nicely and you won't need to upgrade just to get more feel. That rod is not the lightest or most sensitive but it will be good and then if you feel like you need better down the road as your fishing progresses you can upgrade. The thing about a rod like that is it won't be out of place fishing a bobber or a spinnerbait, I think it is the answer to your current needs with the ability to fish more techniques without the need to have to get a better rod until you really want to expand on your fishing.

[Woodman1]

That wouldn't be a bad idea either. But how I be able to tell if I need a light pole or ML pole.

[lmbfisherman]

1 hour ago, Woodman1 said:

That wouldn't be a bad idea either. But how I be able to tell if I need a light pole or ML pole.

The lure range you will be fishing.

[Angry John]

15 hours ago, Hulkster said:

to me, and im not sure if others agree, but both the Loomis E6X and the St. Croix Avid (both around the same price) both feel a lot better than the Premier, which is at a jump down in price from both the Avid or the E6X. You also get much nicer spinning handles with either the Avid or the E6X versus the Premier (the 'skeletal cork' style on the E6X/Avid spinning vs just bare plastic on the Premier.

I have tried and will not buy below an avid ever again.  One avids are all American.  I prefer the standard avid casting but the avid x spinning.  Like the x spinning handle better.  Not against Loomis rods but they are shimano with a different name.

[Hulkster]

Quote

 Not against Loomis rods but they are shimano with a different name.

I would respectfully argue that point. Although Loomis has been owned by Shimano since 1997, they have remained completely separate and to this day, Loomis rods and Shimano branded rods fish totally different, with different tapers, materials (eg. no EVA foam found on any Loomis bass rods to date- Thank God lol). they are so different many people to this day are surprised to find out that Shimano owns them.

 

Agree about the Avid though. great rods but I wouldn't go below them in the St. Croix lineup either. good call

[lmbfisherman]

On 2017-06-06 at 4:35 PM, Angry John said:

I have tried and will not buy below an avid ever again.  One avids are all American.  I prefer the standard avid casting but the avid x spinning.  Like the x spinning handle better.  Not against Loomis rods but they are shimano with a different name.

That maybe, Shimano owning Loomis as Hulkster states they remain different.  Second all rods are made in the USA, even the E6X.