upnorthbassin

You can purchase it from TW. It's $26 for 300yds. Cabelas sells it through their website but I haven't seen it in their stores.

I just buy things to try them and I can never really stick with one brand because they don't always have something new that I want. I like Pflueger spinning reels but I also like some of the Shimano ones too. I like Lew's casting reels a lot but they are fairly new to me. I also did buy a Pinnacle Optimus XLT a few months back to try too. It seems pretty decent but I paid more for it than the Lew's tp and it's not as smooth and doesn't have as good of a fit and finish when compared to the Lew's. I haven't really given it a good workout yet so I don't know how it performs. It's certainly much better than the other pinnacle equipment I've seen in the past and overall I think it might end up being pretty good. We'll see though. I'm a sucker for a good deal too....so if I see a reel at half price and it looks interesing, I'll probably get it no matter who makes it (for the most part).

I'm debating putting the 20lb supercast sample I got on it. That's around the same diameter as a lot of 10lb mono. Could run an 8lb fluoro leader off of it for the plastics. Hmmmm.

I ordered the XC610MXF. Can't wait to try it. Can't go wrong with an Xtreme for half price.

Yeah, the 5" with hook would max the rated specs by a bit. I figure the 4" should be around the sweet spot. A 3/16 or 1/4 jig alone or maybe with a small grub should probably do it. I don't have a finesse reel for this yet so some things on the smaller side may be a little limited depending on how the reel handles them.

Interesting. It's been a while since I had handled one and I kind of pegged it as I would other St. Croix rods that are similar on paper. Maybe I'll change up what I'm planning just a little bit. I'm thinking this might be a good river smallie rod for me. Smaller size baits, clearer and more open water, etc. I have some smaller craw/creatures and maybe some tubes that it might do ok with. How do you think it would fare with a weightless 4"/5" senko or a 3/16 or smaller jig though? (that's what I was originally thinking of using it for).

Shipping for me was $13. I also have a Dobyns champion which I like so we'll have to see how they compare. I figure this rod will be a good weightless or lighter plastics rod and I'm going to try some small jigs with it too. It would probably do ok with some smaller topwaters also. It seems like it should be fairly versatile.

I think the new ones look ok but I think they feel kinda different. It might take some getting used to but I bet I'd like the new ones too if I had the chance to use one for a while. I do prefer the older style a bit better though (especially looks-wise). They are a little bit lighter too. I haven't got mine in the mail yet but I'm looking forward to trying it.

I ordered the XC610MXF. Not one of the crank rods on there but one heck of a deal.

Alberto knot is good....it's very basic when you look at the overall knot. It's got a lot of wrapping the line but it's not using multiple loops, multiple tag ends..or running line through one part of a double loop, etc...the alberto only uses one loop and then wrap back and forth and back through the loop. Pretty simple really but takes a little more time than some because of the wrapping in the knot.

I got the same model as you. I just recently ordered it so I haven't had a chance to try it yet. I did handle that same model and the 6'8" version in the store a while back....they had them on sale for $279. I almost bought it then but when I saw them in the bargain room I had to get it. I like St. Croix rods and especially the medium power ones. They are a nice compromise between what a lot of companies would call a medium and a medium heavy. This rod seems like it will fill the gap between other rods I own....and I like that, especially when I might only have one or 2 rods with me instead of 4.

I should add that I'm leaning towards either trying supercast (it seems pretty slick) or just using yz hybrid.

I've read a ton of people that say that braid going through recoil guides sounds like a chainsaw (that kind of noise makes me crazy). I just got a St Croix Legend Xtreme that comes with the recoil guides on it. It seems like a good multi-purpose rod so I want to give it a try with some weightless plastics, small 1/4oz jigs, and try it out with some topwater. It will give me a good overall idea of what I want to mostly use it for. I will probably put my Lews TP on it and I would normally probably spool it up with braid because I can modify it for all those uses. Put a fc leader on it when fishing the plastics and jigs maybe...and then no leader for the topwater. All of the talk about recoil guides and braid make me want to try something different instead though. If I use straight fc, it's going to rule out the topwater part of it. If I use mono it's going to get rid of some of the sensitivity part of the other techniques. What would you use?

If you want to polish something, forget brasso. Use Flitz. I have some gun parts I've polished to a mirror-like finish with Flitz. Best stuff around hands down. That being said...I don't think it will help much in a reel but what the heck...I polish stuff that doesn't help any just for the heck of it.

When you take a 3/4oz football jig that probably weights close to 1oz and then add a trailer on it....you're definitely a good bit over 1oz. Some models of my 5/8oz jigs w/trailer are easily over 1oz depending on the trailer on it. Even some 3/8ths hit that area when you add in a rattle, chunkier trailer, etc. Might be kind of heavy to throw out there using a lot of M or MH power rods depending on the company. I tried throwing the 5/8ths with a lower power rod and they were ok but the 3/4 definitely didn't handle like I would want. Maybe I'm just going overkill and I'm definitely not super experienced with jigs...but I'll most likely be using a heavy power rod for those bigger ones this year.

I really like the 30 size pflueger reels for bass fishing. Not too big, not too small...and light weight.

Not a whole lot for me this winter but I got some stuff at the end of fall that didn't get a big workout yet. Lews TP w/ Diesel crank rod Pinnacle Optimus XLT w/ Cabelas XML - a Heavy power setup for heavier jigs, etc Late last fall and into winter I put together a couple of new spinning combos Avid 7'M w/ Symetre 2500 (I might change this...I don't think it balances that well for me). Dobyns Champion 763 w/ Supreme XT 9530

Yeah, fireline is thick for what they say in the specs but that's still thin any way you cut it when you compare it to mono...their 20lb fused line in kinda stiff and more like 30lb braid in some ways. Maybe I've just been closed minded though. I can imagine 20lb power pro on a bc reel but 10lb power pro on say that same lexa? How does that run? I have never tried that myself so I don't have any first hand knowledge of it. Unrelated but I kind of like those lexas and I might buy one at some point.

What are the specs on your setup with the 10lb braid on a baitcasting rig? That's a super thin line for a bc.....somewhere around 2lb mono.

Bank fishing...1 baitcaster and 1 spinning most of the time. Either one soft tackle bag with plano boxes in it with all sorts of stuff inside (pliers, grippers for toothy fish in the dark, scissors, clippers, etc) Or maybe just one or 2 plano boxes of what I'm looking to use that day in a backpack plus a couple extra things along with a drink and maybe a granola bar or trail mix or something. Either way I'll have one pistol on me and a large bottle of poland spring water or a thermos of filtered water from home and a surefire flashlight in case it gets dark. I like to be prepared but I don't want to lug around 50lbs of weight. I will have a setup in the car with one small plano box to stop at a spot and fish for an hour or 2 on my way home from work. That's a mixed bag though depending on the season.

Wow, with the prices going up they are really gonna be up there compared to other non-custom rods. Those NRX rods are going to literally 50% more expensive than a St. Croix Legend Xtreme and over 60% more than a Dobyns Champion Extreme. Now, some may argue that the NRX is better in this way or that way but those other 2 rods I mentioned are no slouches and compete for a lot of the same business that Gloomis does. I like the NRX but I don't know if I'd be willing to shell out $600 after taxes for one.

What lb test super natural are you guys running? I use a decent amount of 12lb hybrid but the breaking strength is way up there on it. I wouldn't guess the super natural is anywhere close but handles a bit easier.

Blasphemy! (just kidding). If they were 1/2 the price I would buy more of them. The problem is that even a fairly small smallmouth hitting a t-rigged senko once will just about wreck it a lot of the time. I've tried using hooks that hold the plastics and other tricks but they still tear easy no matter what. They go for around $6.50 up to almost $7 per pack and I go through them in no time. On the other hand, I can buy 5" Yum dingers from wally world for $3.00 per pack and they last twice as long for less than half the price. The action and weight isn't 100% identical but it's very close and I've had just as good results with the Yum overall. I will still buy senkos if they are a good deal but I'm not paying full price for them again.

I don't get the Invizx stretching too much. It might stretch a little more than some other fc lines but the whole idea that fc has almost no stretch isn't exactly true either. Some fc stretch like mono and some has a bit less. None of them have less compared to braid. Some people read one tackletour artice and their brain is stuck on it. Invisx isn't a rubber band, braid isn't steel, you can break an ugly stik, and that delicious steak you ate while on vacation in europe might just have been donkey meat.

They are selling the Purist for $59 now too. Another good deal.