Line weight/rating on St. Croix rods

[Arked]

Hey!

 

I need some help with understanding the line weight/rating on St. Croix rods. Apologies if this is obvious but I'm from the EU and it's not something we are used to seeing on rods over here. I am looking at buying a casting rod with line weight of 14-25 lb. This rod is designated as Heavy with lure weight of 3/4 - 2 3/4 oz. The exact model is LTPC223HF2. I intend to run it with Curado K 201 HG baitcaster spooled with braid.

 

Frankly I have concerns that I will cast off the lure on a backlash with a 25 lb line & ~2 3/4 oz. lure.

 

Am I fine with going for a higher LB braid (35-40) or should I stick to the rating on the rod (which i dont think is realistic and good for my wallet..🙂). Should I understand this rating literally for all lines types, treat is as a "mono rating" or just simply ignore it?

 

Thanks for all the answers and greetings from Poland!

[MN Fisher]

The line ratings are for mono/FC - pretty much ignore them for braid. My flip/pitch rod is rated for 12#-25# line....I run 50# braid on it with no issues.

[Eric 26]

24 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

The line ratings are for mono/FC - pretty much ignore them for braid. My flip/pitch rod is rated for 12#-25# line....I run 50# braid on it with no issues.

⬆️What he said😉

[bulldog1935]

The important thing here is set your reel drag to no more than 1/4 of the max line rating (= 6 lbs) - to avoid breaking your rod on a set and/or a fish reaction.  

 

[FishTank]

If Google is correct, that is a musky rod and is pretty stout. If you are set on braid, I would go with 50lb but I would also try to pay attention to the line diameter and match it closely to the type of lures you are using. 

[new2BC4bass]

Absolutely don't go with 25# braid on that rod.  I threw a 1/2 oz. jig half way across the lake when my 30# braid got wrapped around the tip of my spinning rod without me noticing it.  I imagine an aerodynamic 2 oz. lure would have made the full distance. 

 

I put 60# braid on my frog rod (7'6" HF) and feel it hurt casting distance, but I am not casting frogs even at the low end rating of that rod.  For my use, 50# braid will probably be better for me.  If you are casting expensive lures and want to stick with braid, you might want to try even heavier than 60# braid.  Ask the guys using larger swimbaits what they use.  Currently my heaviest lures are listed as 7/8 oz.

 

My preference is mono/co-polymer except for some situations.  Have 20# Sufix Advance to try, but currently 17# mono is my heaviest line in use (outside of braid).

 

[Arked]

All clear, as advised I will go with a higher LB braid. Will probably test 40-50 LB with some soft lures before I move to expensive hard baits. If I keep casting the soft lures off i will switch to even higher LB.

 

Thank you all!

[Hulkster]

So I have to ask, are you fishing for giant pike with that setup? 

 

If you don't want to use braid, you can use a good quality 20 pound mono like Suffix Siege. I use this on my tranx 400 on my MH musky rod (rated for up to 3oz lures) and it casts lures like big swimbaits a mile. 

[Arked]

2 hours ago, Hulkster said:

So I have to ask, are you fishing for giant pike with that setup? 

That's the plan, I am going to Sweden end of this month to fish for a big pike.

 

I prefer to stick with braid, that is something I am familiar with. I am also not new to casting. But I am new to St. Croix and their way of labeling the line weight, that is what caused confustion and raised the questions.

[zell_pop1]

I'd go with braid that measures about the same as typical 14-25 lb mono. For instance Suffix 832 65lb braid measure .40mm just like their 17lb mono. I'd run some leader material also.

[KYKBassing]

I purchased the same rod (although it's a one piece) with the intention of using for larger swimbaits & rat lures.  I have the reel loaded with 60lb braid.  I haven't had much chance to try it out, but I don't think you'll have any issues with 50-60 lb braid.

[MN Fisher]

13 hours ago, Arked said:

If I keep casting the soft lures off i will switch to even higher LB.

9 times out of 10 - casting a lure off is caused by knot failure...not line failure.