Riazuli Posted February 4, 2018 Posted February 4, 2018 Hey everyone, what are your thoughts on a Shimano Expride vs St. Croix LTB? I am going to be using it mainly for cranking and am looking at a ~7' M/Mod (LTB) or M/Mod (Expride) setup for 1/2-3/4 oz lures. I've heard mixed reviews and am not really sure here. To me, it's a nicer looking rod, and I will be pairing it with a Shimano reel, but the LTB seems like a good bet too. Would like to stay in this price range and compare these two rods for my purposes. Any suggestions? Quote
Riazuli Posted February 4, 2018 Author Posted February 4, 2018 Btw, shimano just came out with a new expride series that is significantly lower in price (~260), and is reportedly just as strong but lighter than the old series, while also fitting more into US standards in terms of models and specs. Quote
Looking for the big one Posted February 4, 2018 Posted February 4, 2018 Aren’t Avid X’s micro guide rods? That could help you make your decision. 1 Quote
Riazuli Posted February 4, 2018 Author Posted February 4, 2018 4 minutes ago, Looking for the big one said: Aren’t Avid X’s micro guide rods? That could help you make your decision. That's a good point, but I honestly haven't compared micro guides to regular guides. With that in mind, I might also consider the regular Avid. That being said, I am leaning toward the Expride, but am waiting to see what more people say. Quote
Super User fishballer06 Posted February 4, 2018 Super User Posted February 4, 2018 I own both and the Expride wins, hands down. It's higher quality and more sensitive. However it's about $100 more. But since you want a cranking rod, there's no need to go dropping a bunch of coin. I have quite a few Avid cranking rods and they're nice, but I prefer my Dobyns Champions for my cranking needs. They're available in graphite and glass so you can use whichever material you prefer. 1 Quote
Riazuli Posted February 4, 2018 Author Posted February 4, 2018 6 minutes ago, fishballer06 said: I own both and the Expride wins, hands down. It's higher quality and more sensitive. However it's about $100 more. But since you want a cranking rod, there's no need to go dropping a bunch of coin. I have quite a few Avid cranking rods and they're nice, but I prefer my Dobyns Champions for my cranking needs. They're available in graphite and glass so you can use whichever material you prefer. How about compared to the St. Croix LTB - Do you have any ideas on that? I've just edited my post, as I realized if I'm going to consider spending extra on that, I might as well compare to a similar priced St. Croix. Looking into Dobyn's now, and I've heard a lot of good things about those as well. Quote
Super User fishballer06 Posted February 4, 2018 Super User Posted February 4, 2018 3 hours ago, Riazuli said: How about compared to the St. Croix LTB - Do you have any ideas on that? I've just edited my post, as I realized if I'm going to consider spending extra on that, I might as well compare to a similar priced St. Croix. Looking into Dobyn's now, and I've heard a lot of good things about those as well. Reading your original post again, I would not be throwing a 3/4oz baits on a medium power cranking rod. A DT10 is 3/5oz and that bait alone is overkill for a medium power cranking rod. I personally own 2 of the Avid 7' Medium - fast action, and one LTB 7'1" Medium - fast action (I really love this style rod if you can't tell). I really can't tell much (if any) difference in sensitivity between the Avid and LTB and the weight difference is only 0.1oz according to my scale. I own a Heavy powered Avid and a medium powered Premier cranking rods. They're decent rods, but I really like the action and weight of the Dobyns Champion graphite cranking rods over my St. Croix rods. 1 Quote
Riazuli Posted February 4, 2018 Author Posted February 4, 2018 34 minutes ago, fishballer06 said: Reading your original post again, I would not be throwing a 3/4oz baits on a medium power cranking rod. A DT10 is 3/5oz and that bait alone is overkill for a medium power cranking rod. I personally own 2 of the Avid 7' Medium - fast action, and one LTB 7'1" Medium - fast action (I really love this style rod if you can't tell). I really can't tell much (if any) difference in sensitivity between the Avid and LTB and the weight difference is only 0.1oz according to my scale. I own a Heavy powered Avid and a medium powered Premier cranking rods. They're decent rods, but I really like the action and weight of the Dobyns Champion graphite cranking rods over my St. Croix rods. Yeah, interestingly, the Medium St. Croix doesn't rate up to 3/4 oz, but the medium Expride does. I was looking at the MH versions for St. Croix which would support the higher weight; however, as I was saying before or in another thread, the MH feels pretty stiff to me for St. Croix. To boot, I am using BPS gift cards for this purchase and the site doesn't offer the LTB in Medium/Moderate...that being said I've been leaning toward the Expride for the most part, and seem to hear better things about the Expride over the St. Croix in this range. Would you say the Expride outshines the LTB? Quote
Riazuli Posted February 5, 2018 Author Posted February 5, 2018 Just found out the expride model I'm considering is actually composite glass so I'm pretty sure I'm going with that. It's light and thin unlike regular glass rods and it is well suited for cranks. Quote
Super User fishballer06 Posted February 5, 2018 Super User Posted February 5, 2018 17 hours ago, Riazuli said: Yeah, interestingly, the Medium St. Croix doesn't rate up to 3/4 oz, but the medium Expride does. Would you say the Expride outshines the LTB? I wouldn't pay any attention to what the rod is rated for. I've never seen any medium powered cranking rod that I would trust to throw a 3/4oz crankbait and I throw a lot of crankbaits. You're going to be overpowered and it's going to be a bear to throw it all day. You need to throw a MH for lures in that range. On my medium cranking rods I'm throwing baits like Shad Raps, Wiggle Warts, 1.5 squarebills, DT4/6, Baby 1- and the likewise. If you're talking 1/2-3/4oz cranks, you're up in DT10/14/16, DD22, 5XD and similar. Those baits just have way too much resistance to comfortably use a medium powered rod. Expride > LTB - Yes. 1 Quote
Riazuli Posted February 5, 2018 Author Posted February 5, 2018 46 minutes ago, fishballer06 said: I wouldn't pay any attention to what the rod is rated for. I've never seen any medium powered cranking rod that I would trust to throw a 3/4oz crankbait and I throw a lot of crankbaits. You're going to be overpowered and it's going to be a bear to throw it all day. You need to throw a MH for lures in that range. On my medium cranking rods I'm throwing baits like Shad Raps, Wiggle Warts, 1.5 squarebills, DT4/6, Baby 1- and the likewise. If you're talking 1/2-3/4oz cranks, you're up in DT10/14/16, DD22, 5XD and similar. Those baits just have way too much resistance to comfortably use a medium powered rod. Expride > LTB - Yes. Thank you - I don't normally throw 3/4 and do have a mh rod for that if needed. I'm glad to see you think the expride is better than the ltb as I've already ordered the expride lol. Can't wait to get it and try it out! I'll report back here with my thoughts. Quote
Riazuli Posted February 5, 2018 Author Posted February 5, 2018 Just wanted to add that a tech from Shimano recommended I go with the m/m instead of mh/m for 1/2 to 3/4 oz lipless and even through grass. He added that the mh would be too stiff for my needs - personally I am not a fan of the stiffness of a mh unless I'm just throwing 3/4 and up. I do not like it for a 1/2 oz, so along with that and the shimano tech's suggestions, I'm happy to be going with the m/m for mainly 1/2 oz lipless. Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts and suggestions. @fishballer06, what specs is/are your expride(s)? Quote
Super User fishballer06 Posted February 6, 2018 Super User Posted February 6, 2018 19 hours ago, Riazuli said: @fishballer06, what specs is/are your expride(s)? I have the 7'2" Heavy model. That rod will do everything. I wish I could afford to buy a second one right now. 1 Quote
Riazuli Posted February 6, 2018 Author Posted February 6, 2018 8 hours ago, fishballer06 said: I have the 7'2" Heavy model. That rod will do everything. I wish I could afford to buy a second one right now. I wish I could buy another one too and a couple more reels while I'm at it lol. This is the first time I'm buying new fishing equipment in almost 20 years - I have a quantum ac500pt and a bionic blade that is still going strong. This last summer I started fishing full force again after a while and only then did I purchase a second setup (outside of cheapo spinning combos for family and to catch catfish/use for my deeper sonar). That second setup was a used version of the same quantum/bps combo (with mh instead of medium rod) that I like so much lol. Since then, I've been researching, fishing a lot, and really embracing the sport so it only made sense to get some newer and nicer gear. I bit the bullet and got two metanium 13s, a medium bps Johnny Morris Signature series with the same power hump I've been using for over half my life and then a mojo bass rod that I returned to order this expride - can't wait to pair it with a Shimano reel. And a ton of lures that I got during winter sales. We'll just consider this post my bait monkey confessional I'm glad you like yours - I'm really looking forward to getting mine. Will post later with my thoughts after I've used it. Quote
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