Poolshark

I would keep the reel and buy a good quality rod, there are tons of good ones within your range. Upgrade the reel when it's worn out. If you want both, i like the bps combo. I've been using the bps rods more and more and definetley like them. I put a symetrey on a bps extreme 7 m/f that I got on sale last year. I think the combo ran me 145. And I'm pleased with it. Fished flukes and senkos nicely.

The word investment was meant to mean the best return for your money. If you are a smart consumer, you can do this buy buying the most durable and best performing equipment to give you years and years of enjoyment and memorable experiences. Wait until it's discounted, and at least in my case.... I could sell five of my seven baitcasters, three of which are over a decade old and come out ahead of what I actually paid for them. Technically, that is a valid monetary investment. Especially if you factor in over a decade of inflation! So.... In retort to your comment, if you were smart, you can invest in quality gear. So long as you take care of it. But that ls probably not why we fish... We fish because it brings us happiness, and that alone is an investment in itself. Is it not?

I've always been partial to investing in the reels myself. I have reels that have been through many rods. Though it's pointless spending money on a reel if the rod isn't good enough to enjoy the combo.

Thank you DVT for clarrifying that.

I'm curious how they compare as well. How do the blanks on the bps rods compare durability wise to the more expensive blanks from other manufactures? I owned extremes before I upgraded to st croix and I liked the bps rods while I had them. It was said once by a guy who builds rods that the difference is that in the bps rods in general, will tend to loose some of their action over time while the more expensive blanks will remain crisp over time. I wasn't sure if he was full of it or not. Can anyone elaborate? Sorry if I hijacked the thread btw. I'm interested in the new bps rods as well.

I inquired about the guide and my concern with the handling of the rod at its retailer. I asked them if I could upgrade and was told to have the model numbers ready prior to calling. As simple as that. It's still going to run me 175 more if I choose to do it. I would be out 75 bucks from the price of the legend elite if I had just bought that first.

The quantum energy is a fine reel. I peg plastics to 1/8 ounce weight all the time and have no problem casting them even with my older reels. 1/16 weights is tough. If you are looking for other reel options, a 50 sized shimano is all that I've ever had experience with, it will cast lighter baits a little easier. I'm sure there are other finesse casting reels out there but I have no experience with them.

By the sound of the lure weights you listed, and you are looking at a st croix mojo rod, my opinion would be for you to get the 7 ft medium fast action. I think they label it as a plastics rod. It is very versatile and in all honesty is a med/heavy powered rod by most manufacturers standards. It's rated 1/4 to 5/8 ounce lures and has a good solid backbone. It will handle the lighter t Riggs, senkos, spinnerbaits and your trebles just fine and as an added bonus is lighter at the tip which makes it much more comfortable to use. If I were to take only one st croix rod with me, and I wasn't flipping this would be the rod I chose.

Like others said, start with 3/8 ounce and up, work on accuracy vs distance, do not try and bomb long cast and practice keeping constant tabs on the spool with your thumb. In time, you will be able to back off the cast controls a bit. Then move down to quarter ounce lures and train your thumb to monitor your spool.

The rod is certainly damaged. I already talked to st croix and they will upgrade it at a cost. I am going to make sure that this time I buy it directly from them instead of going through a retailer. It kinda seems like rod was mishandled at the store. I'm sure that happens. I should have looked over the rod more carefully before I spent that type of money. Gonna learn from it and move on.

I think that you wont go wrong with either of the two, but the stradic looks and feels a little more refined. I own both, I cant speak for the durability of the saros yet, I can definitely say that the stradics Ive owned since 2003 have held up over time. Also, because of their popularity with the inshore crowd, the parts for the stradics of old are still available through my local shop.

I already contacted st Croix. It will cost more to ship to them than to have a shop fix it. It will not void the warranty if I choose to have it done independently, It makes me wonder though if the rod was mishandled at the place I bought it. I looked the blank over and it has a good size nick in it a foot or two from the handle. Im probably going to try to use their upgrade program and either get a legend elite or take it to bps for their trade in program and put that towards another rod. kinda sucks.. its a good rod and has help me catch many big bass. Just not sure how it was handled before I purchased it. I should add that I have confidence in their rods after my excellent experience with them in the past but will look over the rod more carefully before I I purchase a new one. That or I think I will start having my rods custom built. The dick sporting goods I bought it from had two rods there with broken tips on there sales floor.

I have the guide intact. I'm gonna take it down the road and have a local shop do it. If it's ten dollar repair, I don't see the point in mailing it out to st croix. Thanks guys for the replies.

I've owned an ltb worm jig rod for about four months and today while casting the entire second guide from the tip flung out of its socket. I've owned rods from st croix for over a decade and have never experienced any type of problem. Is this worth sending out to st croix? Or is it worth it just bringing it to a local shop for repair? How much would it cost to fix on my own? Has anyone ever experienced this with these rods?

lighter and more sensitive rods will have the benefit of not tiring you out and making you more aware of structure..... These rods tend to cost more. But I lean on the fence on this. I have caught tons of bass on rods that cost 99 dollars and tons of bass on rods that cost 250 dollars. All of my rods have held up over the years except the ones that were carelessly damaged. which leads me to my personal view.... I'm saving my money and finding rods that meet me in the middle. You will catch every bit as much bass with them if you fish them right. And if u treat them carefully they will last you as well. This is coming from an owner of many high end and many "value" sticks. It's really worth it if it means something to you, if it doesn't, then no it isn't worth it.

My first "real" bass rods were extremes and I really liked them. I eventually moved up to st croix but would recommend extremes to anyone looking for a good value setup. I would buy them for myself.

I own and like the ltb worm and jig rod. I enjoy fishing my mhf carbinlites just as much though. As far as performance is concerned. The carbonlites are really not any worse or any better. They both are light and sensitive. Some of the rods out there in the 120!to 150 range can really give a great level of performance. So why not two? You can keep a few baits rigged and ready to go. Depends on what your style.

Also, I try to find the close out models and get them cheaper then msrp.

I look for value, not just meaning a good deal, but also stuff that will give me the most return for my money. Ive kept my bantams, calcuttas and c3s for over a decade in good condition and then finally realized the performance gap from old to new was tremendous. It was time to upgrade. It's not necessarily brand name, but the brands track record for durability, parts availability and hopefully one day resale value are what I look for.

If I were going to start cheap, I would choose a Swedish made abu garcia in the 4600 size. I would choose the ambassadeurs over the Cardiff. What I like most about my c3s are that they perform as well as a Cardiff and the parts will be available when you do finally wear the reel out. If you have the money to burn than the calcutta is a step ahead in performance.

I have two. A falcon 73 heavy and a bantam curado and a bionic blade 76 heavy and a bantam curado. I find more often than not the falcon has enough power for both pitching and flipping, therefore I favor it tremendously because it is much lighter and less fatiguing.

I think it is always a subjective question btw. But this would be my opinion with the rods I have experience using. It's really going to come down to what you personally feel comfortable with. It for most people is going to be a 7 ft mh/f. All brands can help You catch fish but there is no industry standard on rod power. And some like st croix are stouter and some like falcon are weaker than the "norm".

A rod rated for 1/4 to 3/4 ounce lures and a fast action. Medium/fast action st croix avid or ltb would be my first choice. A medium/ heavy/ fast action falcon, gloomis or shimano would be my second. I would say seven ft in length. This gives you a little more leverage when fighting fish in cover, setting the hook with single hook lures, give a little more bend when working treble hook lures and a little more casting distance. Those would be my first choices over and over again..... If I only had one. If I had three or four... This would still be where I started.

I prefer the shorter rods for topwater and jerkbaits. I think st croix medium fast is a good taper and power for those baits as well yet stout enough to be used for spinnerbaits and senkos.

Calcutta b or d series in the 200 size. I have a designated curado bsf that I use as well and love. They make curados and calcuttas in the three hundred size but for me is too heavy duty for all purpose bass fishing.