mike bat

hey thanks for the reply ... i have all ltb rods ... and i thought about the ltb pitching stick ,, but i wanted a 1 peice rod ... i also thought the ltb may be tip heavy with the split cork in the back and the extra length in the front ... i do have 3 ltb rods all 7fters ,, they dont seem tip heavy to me at 7ft ... thats why i thought about the avid ,,, full cork ,, 1 peice ... i also mounted a zillion on it ,, seems to ballance out well ... now i havent fished this rod yet ,, but im almost 100% i will be this summer ... ;D thanks again ,, and i may have to get that Carolina Rig rod too ,, just to be on the safe side ...

the best advice i can give you ( as a novice ) ... call some local fishing shops / tackle shops / gander mt ... most of these places have a guy or know a guy who will put a new eye right on your rod ... its pritty cheap too ,, i had a rod done a few years back the work was great ... couldent even tell the eye had been replaced

i dont own any revos ... i have played with all the revos execp the skeet reese ... i do however own 3 zillions soon i will own 2 more ... my olny comment on the revos is i do feel they lack refinement ... the zillion on the other hand is smoth as butter and refined ... this is just IMO ,,, but just handling a revo and a zillion it was easy to tell witch reels i would use ... i also prefer the looks and detail of the zillion ...

anyone using this stick ??? if so ,, any thoughts ... i will be getting one for pitching jigs 1/2-3/4 oz ... i picked one up and was really impressed with this stick ... i also looked at the ltb series 7ft6 med-hev mod fast ... it was ok but i prefer the one peice and full cork the avid offers ... anyone wanna chime in with any thoughts ... i will be running 40lb - 50lb braid or 15lb cxx on a zillion ... i did throw a zillion on this rod ,, it really ballances out the stick nice ... this may be just what im looking for ...

well i dont wanna throw gas on the fire ,, but i have to LOL ... how or why would you even concider compairing a croix to a carrot ?? croix have been around since 1954 ... so why ,, why must we do this ??? please dont compair a company that has payed its dues for over 50 years ... st croix has been will always be in the fishing industry ... so IMO there is no compairison at all ... e21 is a golf club company that decided they wanted to sell fishing rods ... st croix sold fishing rods ,, see the difference ... im not bashing your carrot ,, just stating the facts ... i know muddy im from WI ,, but even if i wasnt i would still fish st croix ... they do have great rods to offer ... and yes muddy even people that dont live in WI like st croix rods ... ;D

ive never had this problem ... me and my friends have been fishing premieres for years ,,, never seen this or heard about it till now ... more than likely what happened was a bad batch of eyes were sold to croix ... st croix does have a solid warrenty ,, a great warrenty ... so if you send it in they will take care of you ... also i must seconed what roadwarrior said .... the avid is one sweet stick ... for the price it really is hard to beat ... if i ever need to buy a rod asap ,, i would buy an avid with out any thought ...

for the money its hard to beat a fat free shad ... also the nice part about the fat free is they catch fish ...

i love 10inch power worms ... but after looking at the pic ,, i like the design ... theres no doubt that worm will get slamed ... i like that big ribbon ,, in fact im getting some of these ..

the rod is pritty stiff ... or yes its a beef stick ... but remember if you want to fish some of the bigger baits you listed ,, you gonna need that xtra power for setting hooks ... the rod doesnt seem that heavy when you have a bait tied on tho ... even when i fish a mattlure babybass this rod seems perfect ,, keep in mind the baby bass is around 2oz ... so some of the bigger baits you listed may exceed this weight ... just a thought ... at the end of the day you have to fish the rod you buy ... so dont run out and get a rod we tell you to get ... go to a store that the sells the rods you are looking at ... slap the reel you want to use on there and get a feel for the stick ... pick what works for you ... the med-hev may be the stick you want ... all im saying here is the heavy is fine for the fishing im doing ,, and i like mine ... good luck out on the water ... dont rush ,, take your time and think about what you need this stick to do ... then you will have the answer you need ... im sure the okuma will suit you fine ,, so think about if you want the med-hev or the hev ....

i rely on the old school spooks love em ... i have a box full of the spro chug minows too ,, havent had a chance to toss em tho ... they sure do look sweet ,,, and the hooks on the chug minnows are insanly sharp ...

i had the same set up but i had the cardiff 301 ... i just picked up a calcutta 251 basicly the same line cap as the cardif 301 ... the calcutta is sweet i cant wait to stick a hogg with the upgraded combo ... ;D

id suggest the 7ft6 heavy fast ... imo this is the most versitile rod ,, and will cover every bait you have listed ... also if you plan on using big twitching baits like the dead or alive ,, or the tripple trout /// i think the shorter 7ft6 would be an easier rod to use ... this is just my opnion .... i also have the 7ft6 heavy okuma and i love it for the swimbaiting i do ...

im looking into the new zillion 7ft6 heavy fast ... this is a one peice rod ... this thing looks sweet too ..

come on guys ... why do you want to seal the hole ???? use bbs do not seal the hole with anything ... the hooks shaft will keep the bbs in the frog ... if you seal the hole one of 2 things will happen ... the frog will not compress during a bite ,,, this means you will not get as many solid hook ups .... or 2 the air will be forced through the nose ... if this happens the frog will take water on ... that nose needs to be sealed to the line tie .... so if you need weight add bbs or glass beads ,,, i like glass beads ... get a bead that you will need to force through the hole where the hooks come outta the frog on the bottom ... no need to seal the bottom hole ...

i just wanna adress you ,, this is your post ... before you do anything rash ... you need to think about what you need your rod to do ... the dark angel may be able to cover that range ,, but i highly doubt it ... my suggestion for you ,,, think about the size/weight of the baits you want to toss ... also consider the price of the baits ... once you buy a combo you will need baits ... if you need a budget combo for a beginer ,,, bizz hit it ... get the okuma big bait spec and a cardiff ,, you can score this combo for around 200 ... thats the exact combo i have .... for the swimbaiting i do around WI its perfect .... im not tryin to dog the dark angel ,, it just hasnt been provin as a good rod yet ... that worries me ... the okuma on the other hand has been used for some time now .... also it seems to be a great stick for the money ... as bizz said i also ran mine through the ringer ... she is still catching bass ... so just stop and think about what you need and want ... then as you are doing here get some feed back and buy your rod ... good luck fishing and good luck on the rod ;D

you must have a mattlures baby bass and blue gill ... these two are a must for you ... i live in WI ,, the mattlures work really good here ... hud offers a 6inch bait that should work fine too ( i havent baught one yet but they look killer ) ... 3;16 baby wake i will have 2 of these for this season ,,, again KILLER BAIT ....other than that there are tons of smaller options out there ...id suggest getting a few different options ... topwaters ,, some hard bodys ,, some softys ... really you just never know what the bass want till you try ... but for the price and preformance the mattlures baby bass series is a must have ...

you have quiet a few questions there ... why not pm fourbizz he will have solid info for ya ... he knows swimbait gear

i have to tell you guys ... the spro frog IMO just cant be beat .. im talking the regular size spro not the jr ... i have seen people fish the jr and i have heard they take water on ... but i have yet to have a regular size spro take water on ,, unless i caught a ton of fish on it and it was wonded in battle ...

i cant say i have ever used these rods ,,, so i cant be certin ... but IMO a rod cant cover that much ground and offer effective preformance in each weight class .... for instance a rod rated for 8-10oz baits wont prefrom well when tossing a 2oz bait ... just my opnion but to cover that much ground and get the preformance you will need at least 2 different rods ... you cant tell me one rod will cover all that ... dont get me wrong im sure you could fish all the different weight baits on one rod ,, but each rod will have a certin weight area that it will preform best ...

is that the kistlers jig and toad rod ??? if so ,, i tested 3 different frog rods before i settled on the ltb rod ... the kistlers jig and toad rod was one ,, the loomis frog rod was one and finally the st croix slop in frog ... i also tryed a st croix flipping stick ... out of all these rods the slop n frog IMO is the better stick by far ... i dont wanna get into every little detal but the difference is night and day ... IMO the other rods all had draw backs mainly slow actions ... i feel the loomis and kistler rods are pritty even as far as frogging goes ,, however for me the kistlers was also lacking in power and doesnt have enough feel for me to fish a jig with ( and i did try ,, but my avid was so much better for jigs ) ... the slop n frog is awsome .... just switching to the LTB rod my catch ratio went way up ... i was able to get solid hook sets on those fast bites ... thats why im always ranting about this rod ... catch ratio is way up ,, i still miss a few but no where near as many ... i really love the action ,, look ,, feel ,, and cant say enough about the power of the slop n frog ... for me the proof was in the pudding ... thats for me ... so i cant tell you that this stick will be the best option for you ,., you have to decide for your self ... keep in mind i spent well over a 700 bucks on rods alone ,,, i just wish i would have baught the ltb first ... i was tryin to get a cheap or better deal on a rod .... at the end of the day i spent way more than i had to .. get out there and compair the sticks ,,, in person ... dont just look at pics and prices over the net .... thats the best advice i could give you ... good luck frogging ...

ive seen the big jig rod ,, however i never used this stick or baught this stick ... mainly because that big jig rod is a beef stick ... in all honisty for any type of hollow body frogs the ltb slop frog is perfect ,, well for me ... my brother inlaw is a loomis guy ,, that being said he just baught the ltb slop n frog ... he says that more than likly the olny croix rod he will ever buy ,, but after seeing me have such a good experience with the ltb he had to have one ... to me that says alot ... this stick has more than enough power for WI lakes ... i have ran this rod through its paces ,,, ive also pushed this rod to and over what i thought its breaking point was - it never broke or even buckled or showed any signs of stress ... the crisp action and ability to get a solid hook set on a fast bite is a key feature with this rod .. this slop frog is the best rod i believe i ever baught ,,, and trust i have baught plenty of quality rods ... this rod just does what it says it should ... thats fish a frog in the slop ... great rod i would take a long close look at this rod ...

id get a avid 6ft6 med fast ... great all around spinning rod ... good for smallys or largees ... also depending on how you fish you may concider the 7ft med fast ... personally for me i use the 6ft6 ,, but i fish rivers and i tend to walk the river with waiders ... so the 6ft6 is easy to move through what ever i may incounter ,,, it also is great for many different baits ... now if i had a boat there is no doubt in my mind id get the 7fter ...

i do bolth ,,, i like a trailer tho .... maybe just for me but i prefer the look of a jig with a trailer ... i did have great days with just a jig also ... who knows

this will also depend on how you fish a frog also ... i tend to keep my rod tip low ,, i use a snapping retrieve simmilar to a spook walk the dog ... i tend to keep good contact with the frog as im working it to the boat ... so any fast strikes or slurps ,, i tend to set the hook quick ... you spend too much time the bass will spit the frog ,, mainly on a quick bite ... i also make long casts and have a good hookup ratio ... so take some time as brokeju says ,, think about every little detail ... i didnt so i baught 3 frog rods and 1 reg rod for frogging before i setteled on a LTB frog rod ... i sure wish i would have really thought about what i needed and took more time before just buying a rod ...

not always true .. i find longer sticks tend to be slugish on hooksets ... ive used 2 different frog rods longer than 7ft bolth had issues setting the hook on that quick bite ... also the more i fish a frog i found out how important it is to hit precise spots with the frog ,, the 7ft rod will be more accurate ... for my frogging there is one rod ... the st croix LTB slop n frog rod ,,, this rod is 7ft heavy fast ... dont ever be fooled the LTB is a beast ... it preformes above and beyond in almost every froging situtation ... crisp fast hooksets or those fast bites ,,,, rock solid power throughout ... for get about what the rod looks like or even that is says st croix on it ,,, the ltb slop n frog does just that and does it well ... ive put mine through the paces it has handled everything exactly like it should ... if you fish frogs alot there is no need for any other rod ...