brophog

Let us know how it goes. I always like the updates after people ask for recommendations.

I don't think anyone should ever apologize for a long comment. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. I'm sure others will as well. In hindsight my comment is really misleading because I'm was pretty sure I understood what he was meaning and I just went from there without laying any sort of foundation. My apologies that what was intended to be a very specific comment reads as extremely generic. The idea I was commenting on was specifically about high modulus rods, which you would have known had I bothered actually typing that. Below is an excerpt from an article including a set of quotes from Gary Loomis to help explain what I failed to do. “You have to remember, weight is the deterrence to performance,” Loomis said. Stiffness also equates to responsiveness – that is, the rod’s ability to store and release energy. The higher the modulus, the faster and more consistent a rod is able to store and release its energy, which enables an angler to cast farther and more accurately. But you cannot talk about modulus without including strain rate, or the measured strength of the material. While modulus is reported in millions, strain rate is reported in thousands. An acceptable strain rate for a fishing rod is 680,000 or higher. A graphite rod made from IM6 Hercules Fibers will have a modulus of 36 million and a strain rate of 750,000. With the original materials used for graphite rods, as the modulus rate increased, the strain rate would decrease, resulting in the rods being more acceptable to failures because of brittleness. However, through the advancements of materials, technology and engineering design, companies are able to produce high-modulus, high-strain-rate rods. These new high-tech fishing rods are super-light, responsive, and extremely sensitive and strong. But the misconception of brittleness still plagues them, and the reason for this is because as the modulus gets higher, the less material is needed and therefore used. This means that the wall thickness in the blank, which is basically a hollow tube, is thinner. “Remember what I said before – weight is the deterrence to performance,” Loomis said <to save time I skipped the story and below is the conclusion to the article. Full link below> The point of this story is that these high-modulus, high-strain-rate, thin-walled rods are extremely strong and are highly unlikely ever to break under normal use. Almost all rods are damaged by other means – an angler accidentally stepping on them, hitting them against a hard surface while casting, or storing them where a toolbox or some other heavy object can slide into them. Then, with the damage done, the rod collapses while under the stress of fighting a fish. So while high-modulus, high-strain-rate rods are not brittle, they do require more care in storage and transport. Gary Loomis on High Modulus Rods

The two rods may have the same number of guides, which also could be aiding the shorter version, but I don’t know how many guides either rod has.

That's because it is the flouro for people that want their line to act more like a mono without actually using a mono. While it may act more like mono, it still costs more like flouro.

That's the range I was picturing it as. If you really want to use Invisx, I'd personally start at 8lb (.235mm) which is the same diameter as many brands 6lb mono and then I'd work up as my tolerance level for abrasion required. That's the key here. We can all tell you what we use but it's your tolerance for abrasion that's the real factor. In general, the lower the diameter the better it will perform. This is especially important if you're in pressured water because you'll probably be looking to downsize your lures but you still want to get those casts to where you want. The thicker and stiffer the line, the worse it is going to cast, particularly at the lower end of your range.

I'm going to do what everyone hates and give unsolicited advice (but well meaning).😋 I'm assuming based on this thread and the other recent ones that these lures listed are all in that 1/4 ource range. Not necessarily that weight but not way, way smaller or way bigger. General neighborhood. If that's the case, I'm ditching all of the lines in the OP. Big Game is great stuff when it gets larger in diameter and you're throwing something like big weights and baits but it's not a great casting line. And I have nothing nice to say about flouro so other people can recommend those lines. I say get yourself your favorite mono in the smooth casting/easy handling variety (think Trilene XL equivalent) and get it in a 6lb. That sounds very small, but most brands sold domestically are very underrated. That 6lb line overseas is sold as 10 or 12lb line depending on whether it's a .23mm or .25mm line over here. In terms of visibility, the mono will be slightly more visible than flouro in very shallow, high light penetration conditions and then the two rapidly converge as you go deeper and light penetration diminishes. Personally, I grab the brightest, most obnoxious colored line because my eyes are older than the fishes are! I think I gain more bite detection by seeing the line move than I potentially lose by the bass seeing the line, but opinions differ on that one.

I don't want to discourage anyone from using them because it's a great site ran by great people but in terms of price do consider that doesn't include shipping or tariffs. Those are two big reasons why the prices have risen so sharply.

I’ve done the whole “let’s throw bigger weights for bigger species on 100 size bass reels” and you can get away with it for a while but I was much happier when I switched to using more appropriate sized gear for those tasks.

They have this nice feature called "don't recommend channel". I don't know if there is a limit to how many you can do, but I think I at least qualify for the leaderboards.

I know, but I couldn’t find this specific blank. I didn’t spend very long, though. Years ago this was more true, but not so much anymore. The thing you'll often see as the rod price increases is the rod blank thickness drops. This isn't a big issue in actual fishing circumstances but the thinner blanks are less tolerant of impact damage such as rolling in truck beds, being dropped on rocks, or the rod's eternal enemy, the car door. I certainly wouldn't look to spend more money in the search for more durability, but I wouldn't worry about decreased durability as I increased cost as long as I was taking care of the rod in transit and storage and those considerations.

Thank you for that info. I tried to find out real quick but since St Croix stopped selling blanks a few years back I could only find a few other models in that series but not this specific one. For anyone wondering what that size means, a 3.5 is often used on UL rods. In fact, some short UL rods commonly use a 4.0 tip. Rod sounds like a blast to use, just not sure I'd trust myself to use it. 😅

Longer rod equals a longer lever arm which results in more time for acceleration leading to faster speeds which is why longer rods cast further. That's also more force being applied to the rod bend, which on an XF is going to be isolated near the thinnest part of the blank. Looking up this rod, it's a 1/16-3/8 rated rod which is generally found on both L and ML rods with the difference often being the light rods bending too deep for an XF. With a line rating of 6-20 that suggests that low lure rating suggestion is just to protect that XF tip. My guess, without having the rod, is that it's probably a pretty powerful rod if not for that XF tip. Often times rod tip breakages are not the result of one event but rather cumulative damage over time that you probably don't even realize is occurring. I don't have this rod but rods typically don't throw that well at the top end of their rating. It's very possible that without intending to do so you are overloading that rod tip's abilities, even if you're staying under it's suggested rating. And, again, with it being an XF tip, if it is true to that designation that casting force is primarily targeting a rather delicate area of that rod. With this being multiple rod breakages, I'd probably look into a different rod action for what you're doing.

Speaking of the reels, I've used many different 300 size reels and they all work well. Just pick your favorite brand as several major brands make a model that size. The only thing I'd say is to use a 300 size reel rather than a 200 size reel. The 300 reels not only have more capacity but are generally built for that added weight. Plus, these low profile 300 size reels aren't that big. Most of them are within an ounce or so of 100 size reels from 20 years ago. Now, if all you have is a 200 or that's what you prefer, then go for it. I just think with as small and compact as reels have gotten that the 200 size has kinda gotten squeezed out.

If you want to save then graphite reels...I know, I know....graphite.....but it's the aluminum costs that's at the heart of a lot of these recent price increases and it's hit everything across the board.

Most of the monofilament brands you come across are copolymers. That's why they each can sell you a half dozen lines all behaving differently. Monofilament simply means "one filament" or really one extruded strand. Technically, flourocarbon is a monofilament it is just specifically made from polyvinylidene fluoride. What is sometimes referred to as copolymer is really a cofilament line, generally composed of nylon and flouro and often marketed as a 'hybrid'. The marketing is confusing because monofilament lines won't always let you know they're copolymers. They will, however, quickly point out their line is 50% better in all respects to everyone else's.😉 As to hybrid line effectiveness, opinions vary greatly and it's something you really need to try yourself. Some people really love certain brands and some people really, really don't.

As a general rule, I tend to avoid a rod's outer limits. On the low end, it is not that big of a deal because the worst that can happen is the rod just doesn't cast well. On the high end, though, the worst that can happen is you're damaging your rod. These listed rod ranges are, at best, educated guesses. So, just on the basis that you mention you may be casting at or above 1oz i would avoid any rod that I didn't personally have experience that it had ample head room to cover those needs. I also agree, though, this is a lot to ask of one rod.

I just use small diameter mono. 6lb mono in most domestic brands is ludicrously strong because it's so underrated. I'm not saying I always use something that small, but to put this in perspective line that is sold as 17lb here is sold as 29lb in Europe for the same line in the same diameter. With mono, most of the downsides like stretch and manageability get greatly diminished as you decrease in diameter. I go up as I need more abrasion resistance. Contrary to most people, flouro is the line of the big 3 that I don't use. I think it is incredibly overrated with the most downsides.

I don't know if they make a rat box, but if not they should.

They make small boxes with just vertical slots ideal for jerkbaits. That's one of the things common in Asia that allows them to downsize their storage needs is the usage of multiple smaller technique specific containers rather than having an entire system built around the larger, generic plano style boxes.

Phenix does sell both 1pc and 2pc finished rods and blanks on Amazon but sometimes a listing is incredibly confusing as to what you’re really getting.

My bank fishing setups have all gone to fanny packs. I find fixed boxes to be less than ideal these days due to so much of the tackle we commonly use being soft plastics. Even things like terminal tackle I find easier to organize in small ziploc bags as they waste a lot of space in hard boxes. Obviously I like to keep a box around for things like hard baits with treble hooks but I don't need an entire backpack full to carry a few of those lures and I find once you eliminate the hard boxes you can get a much smaller bag and still pack a ton of stuff in it.

I used to always recommend a medium spinning rod as the ultimate all purpose rod, but with so many casting reels now able to cast on the lower end I like this set up in a casting version. Using this rod range as the example, I'm not looking to cast 1/8oz. In my experience with rods with those ranges it's a bit of a stretch to do both of those ends with one rod, let alone one reel. However, that sort of rod normally does 5g (~3/16oz) fairly well and that's really the lower end sweet spot for bass fishing, at least in my opinion. The reason I feel that total weight is important is it is about a 1/8oz jig head and small soft plastic. 1/8 jig heads are very special in that they commonly come in a #2 hook for panfish/trout and a 2/0 hook for bass. That's an enormous range in size that means 5g total weight gives you a huge range of applications available. That lower range will basically cover both finesse bass applications and catch some of the smaller species that often reside in the same areas. If you can approach the top end of that rod range, about 3/4, then that covers your 1/2oz and trailers. Ideally I like such a rod somewhere around a Mod-Fast (leaning to the fast side) or a Fast (leaning to the Mod-Fast side) and anywhere in that 7-7'3" range. Match that up with any number of 70/80 size reels that have become quite common. The only problem doing this in a casting version is many rod manufacturers only make certain rod specs into spinning rods and certain ones into casting rods even though their market is totally saturated with those same rod specs and even though a rod blank is a rod blank and doesn't care one iota in which spec it is made. Unfortunately, this means you probably won't find such a casting rod on your local store shelves and will need to look overseas where such things are more common. This may not directly help the OP, but if you're reading this and you see such a rod, in either spinning or casting, grab it.

Even if it was under warranty, most warranties require something on the users part, such as shipping. This little ramp is literally just a few dollars that can be easily fixed with a screwdriver and some patience. I am reminded of one of my favorite online reviews of all time. This guy bought a cheap reel that didn't have any line on it so he returned it for a new one. To be fair, it was supposed to come prespooled, but I always wonder what he does when he needs to respool line.

This is blasphemy and I don't think we should tolerate such thinking.

Is there any room left for you and the fish or do one of you have to ride in the little rubber dinghy?