MontclairDave

St. Croix Cyber Monday deal just came through my email box....first time they’re doing this, apparently. No sales listed yet, just a teaser, but sounds promising. http://mailchi.mp/stcroixrods/the-latest-special-offerings-from-st-croix-rods-zh1ouhewrx-2077493?e=e5a1f0c9f5

Saw this on Sierra Trading for about $90 (MSR $169, but available elsewhere for $109.) Anyone have any experience with this rod? Already got Mojo Bass MH F 6’10” as my first casting rod, paired with Tatula type R, but a buddy just gave me his backup baitcasting reel (green Curado) so of course I need another rod! Dobyns 704 was my first choice but the mojo was too good a price to pass up...still kinda leaning towards the 704 for just $20 or $30 more... thanks! Wright & McGill Skeet Reese Victory Pro Carbon Series Casting Rod - 1-Piece, 7’, Fast 10-20 lb line, 1/4-3/4 oz Item #289JY

Well, changed my mind! At $70 (retails for $130), I couldn’t resist the NIB Mojo Bass. New version with SC III seems more sensitive that the older versions based on reviews I’ve seen, so hopefully it will serve me well. Plus I’m sure there will be a Tatula in my future! Thanks again for all the feedback.

Thanks so much for the advice. Gonna hit the buy button on that Tatula today. I hear you about the spring chicken thing. I used to surf cast all night long during the spring and fall striper runs along the NY and NJ coast and then work all day the next day. Just don’t have that in me any more. Fresh water fishing definitely more my style these days!

By the way do you think the 6’10 MHF size and power is the Tatula model to get as my first casting rod? I’d like my first to be versatile and function as an all-round rod for awhile, at least until I can get the scratch together for a 2nd casting rod. Jet.com only has the 6’10 on sale...but Sportsman’s Outfitters has a few more...

Ebay had a MH that’s now gone but there’s a Medium still available: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F112628842179 Nice! I may be pulling the trigger on that one myself...

Wow. Went to sleep planning on buying one of these when there were eight left and boom they were gone! That shows the buying power of this site I think! Too bad...this was a sweet deal.

Well, that would be the Dobyns, which has a great rep for customer service, and the Fenwick, from ffo.com, which I've never bought from but I've read is a good site. The St. Croix is fleabay (nuff said) Customer service definitely a consideration, thanks! The mojo looks like the newer model although hard to tell in the photo. Yeah, that Tatula was definitely on my list. And my reel is a Tatula, for whatever that's worth in terms of rod/reel matching. It's a tough one...by the way couldn't find the Tat rod on jet.com, only had the Tat XT which I think is a different animal...

Decisions, decisions. I see three great sales online: a Fenwich Elite Tech Smallmouth casting rod, ESMC69MHF, $75; a St. Croix Mojo Bass rod (jig-worm) MJC68MHF, $70; and a Daiwa Tatula MHF 6'8" for $109. I've read the reviews on all three on this site and they each have their fans (and some critics). Also considering a Dobyns 704, which retails for around $100 (no sales I can find) based on recommendations from my last post (thanks!) Whatever I choose needs to function as an all-arounder for at least a while, cause I don't have the funds (wor space!) for multiple casting rods. Some jigs, plastics, not too much heavy cover, maybe some spinnerbaits. gonna pair it with a Daiwa Tatula type r. Any clear winner?

Hi all, Relatively new to the site. Lots of great info! Just bought my first casting reel after 20+ years of spinfishing! A Daiwa Tatula type r. Want to pair it with a Dobyns based on positive reviews of that rod series on these threads. But not sure which model. Seems like medium heavy, fast action gets the nod for a versatile all around rod. But length is throwing me. I do 75% of my fishing from a canoe, and 7' rods feel a tad long and unwieldy to me. So I'm thinking about their 6' 6" model FR 663C / 6'6" / $109.99 DETAILS / VIDEOS / REVIEWS DESCRIPTION: 6'6" 1pc. 10-17lb, 1/4-3/4oz, Med/Hvy Fast Action TECHNIQUES: Flukes / Jigs / Senkos / Spinnerbaits / Texas Rigs I fish a lot of jig/paddletail (Keitech) combos up to 1/2 ounce, as well as spinnerbaits and jig/craw combos. (probably will leave the unweighted senkos to my spinning setups.) Mostly in open water or along weed edges: not gotten into pitching or flipping yet. Thoughts on the Dobyns pick above? Any other rods I should consider? Fenwick Elite Tech smallmouth on sale at one clearance site for $75, medium heavy, 6" 9" I think... Thanks!

Just used the St. Croix on the lovely Passaic River in Northern NJ; urban angling at its best! Caught a healthy 3 lb smallie on first cast by a bridge tower where the current breaks, and the rod (ML) worked like a charm!

Those VMC weedless hooks are EVIL. I've also lost a lot of fish on em. Plus the wire guards get mangled and hard to reposition. No idea why they get so much shelf space in Dick's Sporting Goods but it ain't because of their effectiveness.

Yup that's the one! I figured someone as obsessed with eBay as me would suss that one out. For now, the lack of a warranty scared me off and so I got the St. Croix Premier 6'6" medium light. Came yesterday. For targeting smallies on Delaware River. I know some think that's a tad underpowered to fight big fish in current. But most of the fish I catch in the stretch I fish are 1-2 lbs so I wanted to go lighter. I have a medium powered Avid AVS68xf for when I'm feeling lucky and want to target bigger fish. (Crazy good Senko rod) Still...some of your comments on the quality of those older Loomis blanks have me thinking...might be a future purchase. But if my wife sees one more rod tube mailer on the porch I am a dead man!

They were holding in about 10 feet of water. And I was using braid, so it's floating tendency may indeed have been part of the problem. And I was definitely using reel and probably jigging too vertically as opposed to the technique you described, using the rod to drag the bait and keep it on bottom, below the current. That sounds like a great technique to try. as for the water, I'm sure there are big browns and rainbows in there, and it does have a reputation for great trout catches. But the smallie fishery is also top notch. That's at least what we were targeting. I've caught a few small trout in the shallowe riffles with small inline spinners when targeting smallies, so I know they're there! If you have any links or suggestions for reading up on fly fish drifting techniques for rivers that I could apply to spinning, please send. trying to get back on river for one more trip: I think this weekend is the last that my fav outfitter puts boats on the water. (We were using a canoe to drift.) tight lines!

Not sure how many of you fish these waters--I'm new to the forums--but figured I'd give a quick report on my last float trip down this gorgeous river. We put in about 10 miles north of Port Jervis, NY--a stretch of river that gets very little traffic. Very low water conditions = smallies concentrated along the many rock ledges that line the right side of the river (looking downstream). Caught about 20 bass in four hours, which is frankly a SLOW bite in this river. Usually I get 90% of my fish on Gitzit or Zoom coffee tubes, but this day they turned their noses at those offerings; all they wanted was 4" Senkos wacky rigged. (By the way, VMC weedless wacky hooks had BAD hookup ratio. Switched to Gammy octopus hooks, not weedless, and stuck and landed lots more fish, with very few snags.) None of the fish were very big: 1-2 lbers. All the big boys (girls!?) were visibly stacked on the bottom in deeper drop offs, but I couldn't seem to get my tubes down to them....jig weight (1/8 oz) too light I guess. Switched to a jig/craw combo (1/4) but that didn't get down there either. Current I guess. (I'm not that experienced with river fishing--my third or fourth trip ever--so I look forward to learning more techniques as I get more time on the river. ) A bonus on the day: saw a few bald eagles directly overhead. Awesome birds...wingspan had to be nearly 8 feet across. Had no idea how frigging big those birds are! Pretty effing awesome day.

Hi! New to these forums, looking forward to participating! Question: I'm looking at a custom built ML 7' 2-piece spin jig rod built on a G Loomis IM6 blank from the early 1990s. High quality reel seat, grade A cork and guides. Very reputable builder who sells on eBay. How would this rod compare in action and quality to a new St. Croix Premier spinning rod? I know IM6 is a lower-modulus grade of graphite than the SCII St. Croix uses, but not sure how important a comparison that really is? Price for both rods would be about the same. Thanks!