McAlpine

7' M casting rod with a snappy backbone. Pretty much good for everything. Great generalist rod. I use these for jigs in open water, 1/4-1/2oz spinnerbaits and buzzbaits, lipless cranks, etc.

Oops. MGX is not $150 better than the STX I mean. Doh. However if anyone wants to send me an MGX feel free to do so. :-P

Ok, actually I take it back. That was a dumb statement and not actually the way I meant it. I recently needed a new reel and spent a lot of time at my local BPS trying them all out. The new currado's are not built as well as the old ones. Period. Also the Revo-S is a better reel. The Citca to me was a better reel than the Revo-S but then the Revo-STX is a smoother, better feeling reel than the new Citca.. This is my opinion so you don't have to agree but go try them all side by side then come tell me I'm wrong. ;-) What I really meant is that for the price, the new currado's just aren't the go to reel any more. It's like any technology. Competitors normally leap-frog one another. At this time, for the price point, Abu is in the lead. I'm not sold on any single brand ever and I buy what works best for the price. I bought an STX due to flat honest comparison. If price didn't matter I would have bought an MGX. However; as nice as this reel is, it's not $100 better than the STX.

Use whatever you are comfortable with. However as someone who grew up using spinning reels and never even held a baitcaster till I was nearly 30 I will tell you that I am glad I decided to diversify. Today, a good 10-12 years after I decided to learn how to use a baitcaster, 70-80% of my bass fishing is with a baitcaster. The other 20-30% is still with spinning reels though. I think that if you try one out and get used to it you will find it so much easier to present certain types of baits in certain ways. Conversely, the guys that refuse to use spinning reels are WAAAYYY missing out on a way to expand their repertoire as well. for me: 1/4oz or heavier spinnerbaits or buzzbaits - baitcaster under 1/4oz spinnerbaits or bussbaits - spinnning inline spinners - spinning topwater like a popR - spinning topwater frogs or big spook - baitcasting small crankbaits like a rapala - spinning deep water crankbaits and squarebills - baitcasting lipless cranks - baitcasting jigs, t-rig, lizards, etc - baitcasting drop shot, senko, weihtless plastics, flukes - spinning Anyway, the point i want to make to you above is, learn new techniques and you will find that it will make you a better fisherman. There is no right way or wrong way, other than the way that works best for you. Good luck!

Agree on the silvermax. I was given one as a gift and have used it for 2 years on a squarebill rod. This year is the year it goes in the trash. It really was a fine reel but the gears just flat wore out and it feels very tight now. To be fair, for a couple times a year guy one of these would be great for the money and out of the box it was a good little reel. If you are fishing tournaments 1-2 times a month on top of any other time you can get out on the water, it will wear out fast. Honestly, I should have retired it in the middle of this year.

Unfortunatly the Curado's are not what they used to be. I would not buy a new one. The Citca is nice but if you bump your price a bit for the same money you can get an Abu Revo STX and in my opinion preferable to the new Citca. Good luck.

I will agree with you. Your assessment of the action as crisp is a considerably better definition than I used.

Dang...$90 with free shipping at TW. Glad this topic came up. I'm getting the 6'6" spinning right now. For that price this rod is a no-brainer. No other sub $100 rod out there that compares. At the original $150 I paid for the one I have there are other options that are equally nice.

x2. The Ducket's make incredible flipping/pitching rods. Pair one with a Revo STX.

I bought a medium action 7' microguide Smoke casting rod this last year when I picked up my Smoke reel. Just decided to try the combo out. It is a very LIGHT combo. So far I have used it as a spinnerbait rod and it's worked out very well. I have caught bass up to a bit better than 4lb's on it and the rod works well, gives when it has to and is very sensitive. I can feel those blades turning so I can keep the speed exactly where I want it, any small piece of grass I hit I can feel so I can rip the bait and let it die. Compared to a veritas a smoke rod is a work of art. However; there are much better rods out there than the smoke too. It just depends upon what you want to spend and what you are using it for. I have one veritas MH and it's.....meh...not bad...not impressive. Downside for you is the stiffness that works for my application will not work for yours. I would caution you against using it as a crankbait rod. I have not looked at the spinning rods and would expect them to be inherently softer than the baitcasters but you want at minimum a medium speed tip or you will rip those little trebles right out of your fish.

It's fall. Go to the lake with a spinnerbait and your set.

done, good luck

Actually, I just had this exact prediciment. Someone gave me..yes gave..a new 7'0", medium heavy veritas. Not a bad rod. I decided I was going to use it for flipping creature baits to cover. I narrowed down my reel search to both the Chronarch and the Revo STX. I looked at both of them at my local BPS and tried them on the rod. My findings: The Chronarch is a bit heavier than the Revo. This extra weight actually balances out the 7' rod perfectly. The Revo puts the rod at just barely tip heavy. The Chronarch has a silly gap on the side of the thumb bar. Annoying. Same thing on the newer Curado's. Revo feels much better in the hand. Both reels are very smooth reeling and the free spool on both is excellent. The Revo is a little bit smoother. Fit and finish on the Chronarch from a visual standpoint is very good. Same on the Revo. The reel handle on the Chronarch has a little play in it. Going to anti-reverse on the Chronarch has a little play. The Revo anti-reverse and reel handle are superior. Overall the Revo STX is a better reel in my opinion. That's what I purchased. Either are fine but after really looking things over, the Chronarch and Curado's are not what they used to be. Now, the best reel I held was actually the Revo MGX....However; at $350....didn't come home with me. Regardless, I would put the Revo STX right in line with my Smoke PT but at $15 cheaper. If I could change the Revo at all it would be to add a little weight, it would balance out a long rod better. I did try a smoke on the rod and it was way to light and made the rod far to tip heavy. Now my smoke reel on smoke rod...that is a beautiful thing. Good luck.

That's awesome. Well done Pinnacle!

Has anyone had a chance to handle the new Purist spinning reel yet? Looks interesting.

But I thought "sapling with a line on it" was pretty witty. ;-)

I agree, that's why I was asking about the LXT rather than just dismiss it. Again, I figured someone would get bent with my "junk" comment but that's just honestly what I have experienced with every one of them I had seen so far. I really just dont know what their higher end rods are like. Additionally; I do not agree that one can say that this should be expected of standard store level merchandise. Look at the Berkley and Diawa rods. These can be had very reasonably at such grand outlets as 'WalMart'. And honestly; they are pretty darn decent rods for the money. I just dont find any excuse for a company to put out an $80-$100 rod that is like what you would get if you dug up a sapling and put line on it. Regardless; I apprecaite the input. At $250, I may go for one of those discounted LXT's. Thanks guys!

Oooh, I like deep discounts. Thanks a ton for the heads up! and yes, you are correct on the models of St. Croix I have held. NOT impressive.

Ok, 2012 ICAST rod winner. Everyone seems to love them. but...$350ish? On top of that every St. Croix I have ever seen is honestly junk. Ok, so some people will be upset with me on that. The St. Croix rods I have seen in stores are just flimsy whipy, heavy, might as well all be glass rods. But I am still really intrigued on this Legend Extreme. I am in the market for a really nice spinning rod in a medium weight around 6'-6". I busted the tip off of an old favorite this year and replaced it but it's just not the same plus the reel on it is just about dead. Time for a new rig. So any input on this baby? Anyone know of any store that carries these in the midwest/Louisville KY area? They don't have them at our local BPS, and the local Dick's only has the St. Croix's that I have seen that I hate. Would really like to handle one before laying out that kind of cash. Or anyone have any suggestions on a great spinning rod? Not a good one, a GREAT one? Thanks in advance guys.

I have heard good things about the sniper, might have to try that next year.

Actually, I pretty well agree with you. it was just this year that I decided to attempt this aproach. Honestly, I have never been a fan of braid anyway. However; the benefits of a braid or more specifically a superline on a spinning reel had me hooked this year (bad pun intended). Of course I am generally utilzing my spinning reels for drop shotting, flukes, weightless worms, etc, other small baits in higher visibilty situations. I also started to migrate my jig rods to braid with a flouro leader but I think I am begining to realize this is just silly and will probably just go back to straight flouro in a heavier weight. I have had just about as many line messes with the braid flipping as with straight flouro and they are honestly harder to pick out with braid after it digs in. I am a fan of superline on the spinning reel though, that has been very nice for applications where you dont have a taught line on the retreive.

Anyone have a suggestion on a better quality flouro as well? Not sure I am willing to go to Tatsu...any other suggestions? Or should I just bite the bullet? Last year I used Vicous and honestly, it's strong line but not at the knot. I moved away from that because my knot's kept slipping (Homer Circle Knot).

I dont usually wet this knot, maybe I am pinching the line. I do 6-8 wraps on both sides depending upon the line. Still seems odd that it keep popping though. It really feels like the hookset is causing a whip and the line takes too much stress but .....it's supposed to. It's been annoying.

So i've been having a major problem that is driving me crazy.... Just this year I started to use braid with a flouro leader. I'm using different` brands of braid based upon the reel/rod set up but in general using 8 or 10lb XPS flourocarbon leader. This is happening on baitasting and spinning setups. I'm using a double uni to join the two. All year I have been having trouble with my leader breaking when I set the hook on a decent fish. I"m not a haul off and rip their heads off kind of guy on the hookset. Just a solid reel down and pull up with my hand going from 3 o'clock to 12 o'clock. I've never had these line breaking problems until this year. Many times I find the leader broken right at the leader side of the knot joining it to the braid. So, is XPS known to break? I know that berkley line is horrible for this, not sure about the XPS. Is it just me? Do I need to be gentle due to the low strech of braid and flouro? It's happened 3 or 4 times in tournaments on good fish, I'm really sick over it.

tournament and 1/4oz or larger spinnerbait = always. fishing for fun, meh. 1/8oz or smaller spinnerbait, never saw the need.