skeletor6

According to what was posted earlier about the actual weight of baits, I most likely am throwing not throwing baits below a 1/4 oz. Even if I got a light weight jig I would have a trailer on it which would probably make it above a 1/4 oz. Also, my cranks are heavier then that as well. Is there any chance that since St. Croix is on the stiffer side that this would play out more as a medium powered rod? What I am trying to accomplish if have a solid three rod combo. It seemed from what you guys have told me earlier that I have two solid rods, one that is good for my heavy jigs and heavier rigs and such. And my powell for my lighter jigs and texas rigs. I figured as a third it might be better to get something lighter than the three and that seemed like the best deal right now and was recommended previously by Captain Bob. I do not believe that I will be able to also buy a Daiwa SOL or Curado 50e at the moment I was just trying to take the best advantage of the sale and to have three solid rods. Also, I am not well practiced at using really light fluoro and the only weightless rig I have used is a weightless worm. What do you think?

Thank you rooster and BASSclary I will use them for those purposes. Is there any need for me to get the St. Croix LTB ML version that's on sale?

Excellent explanation, that answered all of my questions. Thank you BASSclary, it sounds like even though they have the same rating the variation between the too will work well for being able to fish different techniques with each. I do notice the exact same qualities in the 683c that I have as well and enjoyed reading your review of the rod. It does have excellent feel and control when I was fishing t-rigs with it my first outing. I felt connected with my bait for the first time fishing which was a great feeling. It will be interesting to see how the St. Croix works for the heavier styles of baits that you mentioned, since I've never worked with a rod of its caliber either.

Okay, so even though they have the same power rating, St. Croix play a little more towards the heavy side than the medium? And that will work well, because I felt the Powell Max 683c did a fine job when I was using lighter rigs with it last time I was out, but it was my first time using a nice rod too so I had nothing to compare it against. But the moment I got my hands on the Powell, I could tell right away it was in another class, just by how it felt, responded, and its design. What are the likely differences between a MH Powell Max and MH St. Croix Legend Tournament Bass?

I went ahead and purchased the St. Croix LTBC70MHXF so that will give me 3 MH setups two 7 footers and one 6'8'' I agree with your philosophy, after using the powell max I did not feel like using my berkley lightning and especially not my shakespeare. Since the MH can be used for multiple purposes I went ahead with your recommendation. Which rod should I use for dropshotting and weightless t-rigs and wacky rigs, either the Powell Max 6'8' MHXF' or the LTB 7' MHXF? I figure I can use the berkley lightning shock for my spinnerbait/cranking/buzzbait/topwater and allow my powell max and St. Croix LTB handle all of my jigging, t-rigging, wacky rigging, and other techniques that really require that added sensitivity and tricky hooksets. Does that sound like a good strategy? I am just throwing out ideas here, because this is coming from someone who is very unexperienced when it comes to this sort of subject. Thanks a bunch!

If you are using it exclusively for drop shotting I would not use braid. If you are set on it, like others have mentioned the improved albright not tied correctly and snipped well will be hardly even noticeable even through micro-guides. If you tie a very short leader you may have to retie the union knot when it gets too short. That can be a nuisance.

Captain Bob, you're really starting to cost me a lot of money. You convinced me into a Lew's Tournament Speed Spool, now this......thanks!

So Rooster, you think I should try to get the St. Croix LTB in MH. Then sell my other rods to get another St. Croix LTB in ML? That idea is appealing, why do you think that that will be my best route to go? How much of an upgrade is a Legend Tournament Bass over my Powell Max 683c?

I narrowed it down to the St. Croix LTB should I get the ML or MH? I have a 7' MH Lightning shock and 6'8 MH Powell Max. This will make my third rod that I will use. From other posts it seems as though I may be limited to 1/4 oz jigs and light t-rigs with the ML. Would the 7'mhxf be able to handle the finesse fishing well and throw larger baits, or by having everything MH am I missing out on a lot of sensitivity and technique when fishing weightless Senkos, light jigs and drop shots? I'm leaning towards MH because of all the mention of getting a heavy powered rod and those arguments. Also because with only three setups I do not want my best rod to be very specific and not very versatile. What do you all think?

I like all of the tips and tricks you guys have mentioned. It sounds like what was happening to me isn't all that uncommon. I noticed the parasite clip in one of your videos A-Jay I should have added that to my cart my last order. Do those clips affect the presentation of a worm? For the record I had this problem using 5" GY Senkos on a 3/0 Gammy EWG hook . I think a variation of slowing down and rigging it correctly and paying attention to how bad the plastic is wearing down should help this happen less often. If all else fails I will try the tricks mentioned throughout. Thanks for the help everybody.

Thank you all for your input and responses. I think I have it narrowed down to three rods. I have yet to decide about the power rating of the rod, but which of these three rods will have the best sensitivity and is the best rod. Either 1) Powell Max 2) St. Croix LEgend Tournament Bass LTBC70MHXF/11 3) Duckett Micro Magic Thank you

Thank you Sam, the PM really helped. And thank you to all that have helped me. My understanding of everything has greatly improved and I will be able to use this knowledge the next time I go out.

Thank you guys for all of the replies. I will say that after using the Powell Max it does make it difficult to feel the same way about my other rods which is exactly why I'm looking for another quality rod. Rooster, thank you for explaining to me about what makes a rod sensitive. Would the quality of materials also play a role? Would a medium powered rod work well for casting jigs of all sizes, t-rigs, drop shot, and forms of finesse fishing? How does the following rods stack up against each other? St. Croix avid used, LTB, Duckett micro magic, and Powell Max. Those are all the rods suggested so far on this thread. Thanks for all of your help!

Just placed an order. Got a lot of jigs for not very much money. Got some big-o's, and zenith pro's along with some standard wire tied with different jig heads to try them all out. I cant wait for them to come in. The free shipping makes this deal awesome, thanks!

Thank you. A lot of new information that I learned from your post. Unfortunately this lake that I am having such a tough time with has the mucky grassy/weedy bottom. I most likely am over doing the action, and will try to be more subtle. I read somewhere that even the gentle movements that your hands make while holding the rod still will give the bait some action. What type of jig do you recommend I start out with? Would a smaller profile 1/4 oz with some type of chunk trailer be good since I am not getting any bites? Right now I have 3/8 oz alien head northstar, and northstar 1/2oz flip n swim. Although I have not caught any fish on a jig before, I find that almost all of my bites occur while my bait is falling. And when you are referring to swimming the jig back, is that basically just involve reeling it in? Also, would a carolina rig be decent for these purposes for feeling what the bottom is like and detecting drop offs and points and structures?

Thanks ***atic I heard the diesel uses the same blank as the max. Is that true? If so, would the diesel have the same sensitivity as the max? Since I have the Powell max 683c which is MH would it be sensible getting the 703c which is also MH? I do not feel that I need the strength of a heavy rod, the fish here just aren't that big. Would a medium powered 702c offer greater sensitivity over my MH 683c? What contributes to rod sensitivity and what's the most sensitive rod in my range. I can get some $200 rods for $150 but I don't see the need if the Powell max's are just as good.

I'll try and see if I can get any recordings of that bassedge podcast you have told me about. That must be really tough having to fish how you do. And I *** those who have those nice fishing boats with the rangefinders and trolling motors. I have a pontoon at this one lake I fish and I try to find a nice spot and set an anchor and fish there for a while. Or if the lake is not that busy, I will go somewhere and let the wind or water current take me and troll me around in it. I do as well look forward to improving. I think I need to fish more finesse style fishing. The lakes here are pretty clear and I fish during the day. Also, its a technique that I should learn. Plus, the bass here are not that large, if I have yet to this day have caught a fish on a jig. I feel I could get an arky head or some other 1/4 oz jig in natural colors with a rage chunk and see if I can get a smaller profile. I just want to catch fish. I do not care much about the size. I just want to land fish.

Great read thank you for the link. I do not choose the days I fish. I just get to fish when time allows for me so the conditions that are given is what I have to deal with. Often, I end up fishing during the middle of the day which is really tough to catch anything. I think I need to start using smaller profile jigs and such because I've caught only 1 fish on every outing, theres something I'm doing wrong definitely. I am trying to gain some confidence. Okay, I'll use those tactics you mentioned to find spots that have those points without a depth and fish finder. If the wind is blowing one direction, I assume that that is the way that the current would be moving. So should I fish my bait back against this current? Or should I go down current, which would involve casting into the wind? I could see the argument for casting into the wind and coming back down current as it seems the bass would ambush the fishing moving along the current, although that leads to tougher casts and shorter casts.

Okay thank you, I will do that. I probably was not going deep enough with the initial step.

Yeah, I may be doing that as well that makes sense. It really does slow me down and sometimes I do not notice so I'll be fishing really slow and by the time i get it back I realized my bait slid down and once it starts happening even if I reinsert the hook it just will keep happening it seems. Also, lately the lake I've been fishing is extremely weedy and grassy, which is why I've been t-rigging. So, maybe it dragging through is pulling it down. Possibly. I'll keep everything you guys have mentioned and try to perfect my rigging of it. I'll rewatch some videos on it and see if I can get it rigged solid. Is a fluke T-rigged on the fatside or the skinny?

So you slide the hook straight down the middle then as soon as it is deep enough to where you can see the bend approaching, you turn and punch it through in the first step? That's how deep I should penetrate in the first step?

That definitely would work, and seems like an old school trick forsure! But I would like to be able to rig it to where doing that is unnecessary. Is this a common problem with texas rigging? I feel it is something I am doing wrong on my end.

What's a good rule of thumb as of how far I should go down before exiting? Should I push it down until the hook begins its curve?

Okay, thank you! That is sound advice that I did not know and need to know. What would you determine as cover? The only cover that I can seem to establish at the lakes I fish is rocks and lillipads. Also, how do I determine where flats and drop offs are without having a range finder. I do not have a fishfinder. I actually was unaware of how people used the term pressure. I was assuming that when everyone was talking about pressure, they were talking about barometric pressure. How does barometric pressure affect how I should fish? Is there any advice that anyone has concerning wind conditions and how that changes. From what I understand, windy conditions stir up the water creating higher oxygen levels that usual near the surface. Does that make topwater styles baits more effective?

Yes, I am pulling it all the way down where I no longer can see the nose metal part of the hook if looking at it from the side, just the line that feeds in. So if I push the hook further down the bait vertically, before making bending it and making it exit during the first step to riggin, this should prevent that from happening?