St Croix Legend Vs Shimano Cumaro

[LAURASDAD]

Hello,

Thinking of adding another rod/reel. Here is the scoop: Spinning rod; Medium action used primarily for texas rigged worms. Likely matched with a Shimmano Stradic CI4F or a Daiwa Tierra. Both would be the 2500 series. I have the Tiera and like it, but the Stradic sure seems nice.

My main question is in the rods. What do u think? I luv the warranty of the Shimano. Lifetime exchange at retailer. It also seems very sensitive. I have never owned a St croix. I would get the 6'8" Medium Action with Fast action.

I appreciate your thoughts. If you have thoughts on the reels, that would be great as well.

Thanks Very Much

Larry

[Grey Wolf]

Hello,

Thinking of adding another rod/reel. Here is the scoop: Spinning rod; Medium action used primarily for texas rigged worms. Likely matched with a Shimmano Stradic CI4F or a Daiwa Tierra. Both would be the 2500 series. I have the Tiera and like it, but the Stradic sure seems nice.

My main question is in the rods. What do u think? I luv the warranty of the Shimano. Lifetime exchange at retailer. It also seems very sensitive. I have never owned a St croix. I would get the 6'8" Medium Action with Fast action.

I appreciate your thoughts. If you have thoughts on the reels, that would be great as well.

Thanks Very Much

Larry

You mean med power and fast action don't you ?Either rod is a good one to buy but I'd go with an xra-fast action rod and the faster reel(C14F)for that particular technique. JMO. Good luck on your choice.

[midnighthrasher]

I have 6 cumaras two of which are spinning. A medium fast and a medium x-fast both of them are 6'8. They are both matched with a stradic ci4. They are awesome. I love them both equally. I use the x-fast for drop shot and the fast for tubes and t-rigs.

[Fat-G]

The Medium Cumara feels very whippy in my hands. Would be a great smallie rod, but not stout enough for my bass fishing.

[Higginbotham]

You don't have to ski the bass on top of the water for it to be "enough" for your bass fishing.

[Fat-G]

Welcome to the forum.

It's too whippy for me. Great light stuff rod, though.

[Hooligan]

Medium Cumara is a VERY medium rod. It's a rod designed for light baits and protecting light line. The better choice, by for for T-rigging small plastics is the 6-8 MH. I have the LTB in the 6-8 MXF as well and would prefer the Cumara MHF for the purpose.

[Bluebasser86]

I have the model LTB you're talking about and I would not use it for T-rigging plastics except for small baits I was going to fish in open water. It's a great shakeyhead/wacky rig rod but I don't think you'd be very happy with it for T-rigged plastics. I'd have to agree with Hooligan, if you really want a spinning rod for texas rigs then go with a MH.

[Dave T.]

Hello,

Thinking of adding another rod/reel. Here is the scoop: Spinning rod; Medium action used primarily for texas rigged worms. Likely matched with a Shimmano Stradic CI4F or a Daiwa Tierra. Both would be the 2500 series. I have the Tiera and like it, but the Stradic sure seems nice.

My main question is in the rods. What do u think? I luv the warranty of the Shimano. Lifetime exchange at retailer. It also seems very sensitive. I have never owned a St croix. I would get the 6'8" Medium Action with Fast action.

I appreciate your thoughts. If you have thoughts on the reels, that would be great as well.

Thanks Very Much

Larry

Almost any St. Croix Medium Fast rod will be "stouter" than a Medium Fast Cumara. The Medium Fast St. Croix's are more of a "Light/Medium Heavy". With that said, it's hard to say if it will be stout enough for the Texas rigged worms you want to use... depending on how heavy you go.

[Stasher1]

You don't have to ski the bass on top of the water for it to be "enough" for your bass fishing.

I agree. While I generally find Shimano rods to be underpowered, I think many people tend to buy much heavier rods than necessary. I fish med/fast or med/x-fast rods 90% of the time. I'm not fishing tournaments, so I'm not concerned with getting the fish to the boat as quickly as possible so I can make another cast. I'm fishing for fun and for me, the fight is the best part. I've yet to lose a fish because my rod was underpowered.

[philsoreel]

I have a 7'2" Cumara Medium Extra Fast and I definitely will not be doing any texas-rigging with it. I was looking for a shakeyhead rod and went off the advice of others (shouldn't have) and got the medium, but it's too light to me. I've since bought a GLoomis Shakeyhead Mag-Med for that. I use the Cumara for drop-shotting now, what it was designed to do.

With Shimano rods, you cannot compare the power and action ratings to other rods. You have to go off of their recommended uses rather than the ratings. I'm not saying they're are absolute, just use them for a frame of reference. Their recommendations of course aren't going to be spot on with everyone, but it's fairly close. A good example would be two of my cranking rods. One is a medium heavy, the other is a heavy. In comparison to other brands they would be more like a medium light and medium. In that series of rods the recommendations are...

Medium- Shallow cranks hard cover

Medium heavy- Medium cranks soft cover

Heavy- deep crank baits open water Buzz baits Large lipless cranks

Those are the Reaction series and they are spot on IMO. The bottom contact Cumara series recommendations aren't as close to me, but not terribly wrong.

[boystcroix]

I have aLengend 6'8" M/XF in the extreme series, I use it mostly for fishing small spider jigs and weightless senkos. I think it has plenty of backbone to fish t-rigs but would not be my first choice for the application.

[Big Al23]

Larry,

I had a 6'8" St Croix and the tip is very soft. It is Extra Fast and was not recommended for worm fishing. I would go MH Fast action.

Also, the Tierra is a nice reel but if you look around, the TD Advantage is on sale for $119. I think Gander Mtn and ***.

My buddy has 2 or 3 CI4's and had bail spring problems.

[basscrusher]

I don't know which ST Croix rods the others are referring to, but I have the 6'8" M/XF in the Legend Elite and it is by far the most powerful bass spinning rod I've ever handled. It is as powerful as most of the MH baitcast rods on the market, with the exception of other St Croixs and some Loomis models (IMX and above only). And I've handled most brands out there (i worked in a very large sporting goods store for 4 years). The Cumaras are fine rods (I have 2) but the St CRoix is plently powerful, at least in the Legend Elite series, which runs stiff due to the high modulus graphite. Texas rigging with light weights that are hard to throw with casting equipment is all I do with my M/XF St Croix. Its just too beefy for real finesse tactics. For example, 5" TX rigged senkos or 6-8" lizards with 1/16 or 1/8 oz weights shine on this rod. I've caught too many 5+ pound bass to count on this rod, and it was plenty powerful.

[Hooligan]

I don't know which ST Croix rods the others are referring to, but I have the 6'8" M/XF in the Legend Elite and it is by far the most powerful bass spinning rod I've ever handled. It is as powerful as most of the MH baitcast rods on the market, with the exception of other St Croixs and some Loomis models (IMX and above only). And I've handled most brands out there (i worked in a very large sporting goods store for 4 years). The Cumaras are fine rods (I have 2) but the St CRoix is plently powerful, at least in the Legend Elite series, which runs stiff due to the high modulus graphite. Texas rigging with light weights that are hard to throw with casting equipment is all I do with my M/XF St Croix. Its just too beefy for real finesse tactics. For example, 5" TX rigged senkos or 6-8" lizards with 1/16 or 1/8 oz weights shine on this rod. I've caught too many 5+ pound bass to count on this rod, and it was plenty powerful.

The LE is a different rod entirely than the LTB and Avid. Granted the difference between the Avid and LTB in the 6-8 MXF can be perceived as being considerable but n the of the primary differences is strain of graphite. SCIV has a much higher recovery rate. The SCV has an even higher rate than the SCIII. The Avid compared to the LE is like comparing an NRX to a GL2; IE there's no comparison.

The power comparison isn't in the butt section, I've caught hundreds of brown fish up to the 7lb mark on my Avid and LTB, and used everything from grubs to Senkos to do it. What it does not excel at is throwing 1/8 and 1/4 oz TX rigs on light line. The power in the butt section is not what is in question, it's whether or not the tip will handle the baits without overloading.

Having fished the LE, I'd argue that it's as powerful as most of the MH casting rods on the market, let alone many. I'd give it a couple at best. For me, the Avid is a much more powerful rod in the butt section, it has a tremendous amount of lifting power in the blank without being too unforgiving. If you want a spinning rod with a tremendous amount of power, fish the NRX. Easily the lightest, most powerful rods that I've ever had in my hands. The 802 will blow the LE out of the water in every way; casting distance, accuracy, sensitivity, feel, components, power... That said, it still isn't my preference for every situation. That's the beauty of having access to different manufacturers and rods. You can be in love with one for one technique and use an entirely different rod for another. Each has benefits and drawbacks based on whose hand the rod is in.

Again as the primary rod for light T Rigs, I'd be looking at a MHXfast or MHfast opposed to a medium, regardless of manufacture. Most MH rods are going to perform better with even 1/8oz weights and plastics than are their MXF counterparts. Without a doubt the MH rods are going to give you a better feel for working the bait if you are consistently fishing 1/8oz and heavier weights.