St Croix Avid Walleye for smallies

[PaulVE64]

My Tackle shop guy gave me a 7-6 Avid Walleye MLXF to try out on our local river. It's his favorite river rod for smallies. 

My assumption was that the tip would be too slow for smallies.

I took it out today and it doesnt feel like a xfast and it loaded way down into the blank.

I liked it.

Anyone else try this rod, any opinions are appreciated since my budget for a longer ML river rod is about $300.

[PaulVE64]

I checked some reviews.

This is the same blank as the Victory series but with cheaper guides.

 

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

Yeah Avid line has been downgraded but upped in price no longer deserve the name recognition 

[Spankey]

I’ve been a St. Croix fan boy for a long time. The Avid series of rods being my favorite. I don’t like the direction St Croix has gone with their rods for the last handful of years. They seem to be making a push for you to buy their higher end rods. But this is probably only my opinion because they discontinued a few rods I’d like to replace or have as spares. 
The Victory series of rods are nice and I do like them. For me the Victory rods had a learning curve to get over. At first I had an issue with the type of fore grip and balance but I got over that. 
I don’t want to dis St. Croix and won’t. I have my grandsons fishing soft plastics with M & ML Bass X rods and they are doing well with them. I’ve never fished a rod 7’6” but XF and Fast vary a lot between manufacturers. 

[thunderblack]

I have this exact rod and fish it often. I honestly love it. I fish for everything with it and its a two piece model so I take it everywhere. Quality blank, great handle design, and covered threads make it super comfortable. I would highly recommend in your budget. The 7-3 ML Legend would be worth a look too in ML XF.