DaveT63

I have that model and LOVE it. I use it for weighted T-Rigs, usually Beaver and Craw baits. It would be a great rod for light to medium jigs, maybe 1/2 to 3/4 oz. I imagine it could be used for frogs in open water or light cover, but it might be a little light for heavy slop.

I've never used the NRX, but I have a hard time imagining the Xtreme would disappoint you, based my experiences with them.

I caught some smallies on it on a 1/4oz jig head last year.

25+ inch that weighed just under 6 pounds. Caught it on a 4" Powerbait worm fished wacky.

Good to know. My little aluminum v-hull doesn't have a rod locker.

I use mine for topwater.

Look up rodcondom.com. I've been pretty impressed so far.

St Croix Legend Xtreme 7'1" MHXF G Loomis MBR842C GLX

Yep, like everyone else said, those should suit you just fine.

I love mono. With the exception of one reel with flouro (bought it used spooled with new line), and my frog rod spooled with braid, mono is all I use.

If you go with Sunline, check out xtackle.com.

I recommend the Sunline Supernatural Mono. I use it in 10 and 12 lb all the time and love it. Since I'm not sure of all the rules here, if you PM me, I can refer you to a site online that sells 660 yd spools for under $14. They also sell 3300 yd spools for $60.

Green Pumpkin RI Sweet Beaver.

2 St Croix Avids. One trying to free myself from a snag, the other in a car door.

That is a GREAT price for that reel. Grab it and don't look back.

I was going to make a comment on the rod racks, but then got to looking at that awesome collection of rods and reels. That is beautiful!!!

I personally love Sunline Supernatural mono. I fish 12# on my 2500 size spinning reels quite often with very little twist/memory problems.

I really like Sunline Supernatural Mono for my soft plastics. I tried flouro for them a while back, but 1) didn't notice that big a drop-off to mono; maybe that's just me though, and 2) I wasn't quite as proficient with a baitcaster as I am now and lost a lot of flouro to birdnests, which wasted a lot of money. Now that I'm better with a baitcaster, I still like the Sunline.

Back in my young days in the Marine Corps, two of my buddies and I rented a bass boat for a long weekend from Special Services (now known as MWR) at our base. We drove 60 miles to a lake on Friday morning, planning on tearing them up for three days. About halfway there, someone pulls up next to us on the highway and tells us the trailer spare is dragging off the tongue of the trailer. Sure enough, it had been tied on top of the tongue with rope, but the knot loosened enough for the spare to fall and drag. There was a hole in the sidewall big enough to put your thumb through. We finally make it to the lake only to find out it is closed on Fridays. Should have done more research. We head for town, start drinking until we can check into our hotel, and then drink some more. One of my buddies decides to “explore”, and got lost. Didn’t find his way back until about 4 a.m. At least that was his story. We get up early, head to the lake, and back down the ramp. I put my truck in neutral (three on the tree), set the parking brake, get out and unhook the winch, and feel the truck bumper hit the back of my leg. My parking brake is apparently a bit weak, and the truck is slowly rolling down the ramp. I run and jump in the truck and start pulling forward, faster than I intended. The boat zooms backward off the trailer as I pulled right out from under it. The guy in the boat almost fell out. I parked the truck and trailer and head back to meet them at the ramp. But the guy in the boat is having trouble getting the outboard started, and has floated about 75 feet from the dock. After about 20 minutes, he finally gets it started and picks us up at the dock and we head off across the lake, stopping to fish at a good looking spot about a mile from the dock. After a while of no fish, we decide to move to another spot. Once again, the motor won’t start. But this time, it never does. So we decided to just cut our losses and head back before things get any worse. We dropped the TM in the water, and head across the lake. In less than 10 minutes, the battery died out completely. We look for oars, only to find there are none. We break out the beer, and it’s only about 7 a.m. We take turns jumping in and trying to swim and pull the boat behind us. We were getting nowhere fast! After about three turns swimming, one of the guys remembers there is a separate battery in the back for the outboard. So we grabbed it, hooked it up to the TM, and start making some progress back to the dock SLOWLY. A guy in a rowboat passed us about halfway and beat us to the dock by about 10 minutes. When we finally make it to the dock, we get the boat loaded and head home. The two guys with me start drinking beer all the way home, throwing the empties behind the seat. We reached the base and pulled into the barracks parking lot. Just as we open the doors, an MP drives by, and sees at least a dozen beer cans pour out of the cab as we get out, and decides to investigate. So I got to go through a field sobriety test before noon. Fortunately, about the only thing that went right that day is that I quit drinking before we got off the water, never got drunk, and passed the test. We returned the boat and explained our problems, and they offered us a free rental in the future for our troubles. Needless to say, we never took advantage of it. I learned a very valuable lesson that day. Ever since, any time I rent ANYTHING, I give it a VERY thorough check before I leave the rental facility.

I have both a spinning and a baitcasting setup for senkos. My accuracy with a baitcaster is still a bit suspect, especially with trees and overhangs and docks. So I use the baitcaster when I am casting along the shoreline ahead, if it's clear casting. For close in, and places where I need to try to skip it, I use the spinning setup. Spinning: SC Legend Elite 6'8" MXF with a Shimano Stradic CI4 2500 and 10 lb Sunline Supernatural mono Casting: SC Legend Extreme 6'10" MXF with a Shimano Core 51Mg7 and 12 lb Sunline Supernatural Mono

I would consider straight 6-8 floro for that reel and those applications. I bounce between that and, believe it or not, 12 Sunline Supernatural Mono on mine. I really like that mono.

How do you guys store swimbaits like the Shellcracker, the S-Waver, 8" Hudds, and bigger ones? I haven't found a plano box that seems to fit some of them, thought I would ask how others do it. Thanks, Dave

Dobyns 795ML swimbait rod

I picked up one of the new 7'1" MHXF Xtremes last year. I like almost everything about it. The reel seat doesn't bother me, nor does the new handle material. The only thing I don't care for is the metal butt cap. I'm sure it helps with balance, but I don't like it. I agree with the suggestion of doing a custom build. GREAT blanks and easy to customize.

2 St Croix Legend Elites $126 St Croix LTB $125 St Croix LTB $80 2 St Croix Legend Extremes $210 St Croix LTB swim bait rod w/Curado 201D $125 Steez reel $200