Jason S.

Yeah I've almost lost a couple of rods. Luckily I turned around in time to grab 'em before they sank to the bottom of the lake. J

Welcome! -Jason

Thanks Rooster!

In murky water I like to use a spinnerbait with a Colarado blade or any crankbait with a wide side to side wobble. I have luck a lot of the time throwing deep diving cranks with wide wobble digging into the bottom. J.

Just following up on the rod info. I took it out today and it performed great. Didn't get "schooled" on the water and managed to hook a good one....on my worm rod with a spinnerbait. So much for thinking it was the rod. ;D The St. Croix is a great rod nonetheless. Thanks again for all the good info. Jason

Yeah, I saw they were on sale. I'm sure I'll find a reason to get up to BPS in the near future. Never hurts to have a few extra rods. Gander Mountain was pretty cool. The sales staff were friendly and helpful. I do like the St. Croix rod though, we'll see for sure on Saturday. Looks like the weather will be decent.

Wow. Just wow.

Nice! Thanks for the heads up. Got the DVR set.

Thanks for all the good information guys. I appreciate the help! I ended up going to Gander Mtn. since it's close to where I work. I picked up a St. Croix Premier PC70MHM. I probably would have given the BPS Crankin' stick a shot but I needed the rod Sat. and I am far from a BPS. I had actually looked at this rod the last time I was at BPS and thought it was put together well. It feels good in my hands and can even throw the smaller cranks I have believe it or not. (yes I throw baits in my yard....a lot.) ;D I put my Curado on it, not bad at all! I did look at the Skeet Reese crankbait rod. Wow, that thing is YELLOW. HaHa! It's built like a Mac truck and has a VERY flexible tip. I've seen Skeet straight out launch baits a mile and I now can see why. Super cool rod. The St. Croix seemed to match what I needed a little better. If the weather holds out this weekend I'll definitely give you guys a report. Thanks again, Jason

It's probably more speculation on my part, but the only bites I've been able to get lately (which are few) have been from fish that are crushing my lures. My fishing partner has been getting more bites with identical baits using an Ugly Stick. His Ugly Stick has a super flexible tip which leads me to believe that he's getting more of the subtle type bites. The fish are really tuned in to spinnerbaits and cranks right now and we're honestly just casting and reeling. I am beginning to think that if a bass comes up and tries to inhale my bait and does not succeed because of the stiffness of the tip, he may lose interest because of the dropping water temps here and save his energy for an easier meal. Other than making sure I am in the right areas of the lake throwing the right lures, this seems like the next logical step in figuring out why I'm getting schooled every weekend by my partner, haha! I would definitely go for the Compre because I have three already but I'm also trying to buy the HotMaps Platinum as well. I may go for the Vendetta, I've read some good things about those. At least if I do get a crankbait rod and still have trouble, I'll know it's because the fish hate me. ;D

I defintely need a rod with a soft tip. I'm using a worm/jig rod to throw spinnerbaits and crankbaits and I have a feeling I'm missing bites.

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it! J.

I need a decent MH crankbait rod asap but I've only got about $100 to spend. I'm looking for a rod with a medium taper but fairly sensitive. Any suggestions? Thanks! J.