Travis Gasper

I like buying American made when I can, and especially being from and living in WI, I wanted a WI made St. Croix rod. Wanted to see people's opinions to see if the extra $80 was worth it quality wise.

When I was buying the 130 I was debating between Loon and Phantom Shad.

I couldn't resist, I had to order a 130 size in Loon color today. Personally, if a bait catches me good bass, I don't care what the price is.

I ended up buying a 7' medium Avid X last night. I played around with it at home and didn't like the handle, it was too small and didn't fit my hand very well. I have two baitcasters with the split grip handle, so I didn't think that would be a problem. I ended up taking it back today and had them order me a 7' medium Avid since it has the full cork handle like my Fenwick that I really like. Also, I didn't realize the X only has a 15 year warranty unlike the lifetime one the original Avid has.

Man, I wish there was a Bass Pros only 20 miles from me. The closest I believe is about 4 hours away! I have a Gander Mountain 30 miles away that sells them. Otherwise I've ordered them off Amazon too.

If it makes you feel any better, I couldn't get a bite on it after that 30 minutes of craziness. I'll still be throwing it every time I go out now though!

It was the 90 size in I Know It color. Probably going to pick up another in the larger size too. Don't you just love when it works out like that?

Yesterday morning I was throwing a mix of wacky rig senkos and frogs, and for the first hour I had no bites. (I woke up at 5:30am for this!?) Eventually they started hitting the wacky rig on and off for a couple hours. Then for over an hour I got zero bites. I debated taking a nap in my boat, but remembered I had bought a Whopper Plopper a month ago and never used it. So I tied it onto my new Lew's Mach 1 baitcaster and sure enough, second cast out, bam! A couple casts later, another one! After 30 minutes of pure amazement, I had caught 10 bass on the Plopper! At one point, I even had a bass go after the bait while it was in the mouth of the one I was reeling up to the boat! Two bass on one bait would have been amazing. Anyways, just figured I'd confirm the hype is real for anyone on the fence about trying out the Whopper Plopper.... go get one, or two!

If I could find them cheap enough I'd pick up a couple packs. I'm a sucker for cool and unique looking baits. Some I buy just to look at and hang up in my basement.

I plan on buying a 7' medium Avid tomorrow after I'm done fishing for the day. Right now I use a 7' medium Fenwick Eagle with a Shimano Symetre for wacky rigging, and I really like it. I'm curious to see how different the St. Croix Avid will be compared to it.

Man, I wish I could find them that cheap! I did a quick eBay search and the cheapest I found was $10 for a 6 pack. There are turtles all over the place on most of the lakes I fish. I bet I could do some real damage with those.

Never heard of them, but you've got me interested now. I might have to order some of these on eBay.

I've been using my new 7' MH Abu Garcia Pro Max with 50lb braid (Sufix 832) for frogs and I really like it. That said, my last big bass was a 20" hog caught on a 6' 6" medium Pflueger President through heavy pads on 10lb braid with frog. Not ideal, but it works.

I use the low-vis green, although it doesn't hold color after a bit of use. The bass don't seem to mind though. I have colored it black at times. Not sure if it really makes a difference or not.

I've been wacky rigging with 10lb Sufix 832 braid with no leader for the past 6 years and have caught hundreds of bass that way, no matter if it's crystal clear water or dirty. Very sensitive and reliable line.

I have debated that, but with it being a 2 hour drive it would be more of a touristy thing than a money saver. I'm sure I will make the trip someday though. For now, you guys have convinced me on the Avid!

It was from Dick's Sporting Goods. And believe it or not, I went through a week's worth of emails and phone calls between 3 different customer service people. They sent out a replacement one (without my approval) but I had already started using the original one and didn't want to bother with a return, seeing as I don't have a printer to print their return label off and no UPS store nearby to drop it off. It was more of a mess than anything because they said if I didn't send it back they'd charge me for the new one too! I told them to re-rout the new one back to them and I was done with them. I got $15 credit back but that isn't nearly enough in my option. What they should have done is sent me a replacement one free of charge and told me to keep them both.

I think you're right, both would be quality rods. Mojo is made in Mexico, Avid is made right here in WI. It wouldn't make much sense for me wanting a "WI brand" rod and buying the one made in Mexico. Plus the warranty is probably worth the $80 difference.

Maybe a hobby to get into in the future, but for now I'll just be buying. Being from WI, I've wanted a St. Croix for years but didn't have the extra cash to justify it. Now I finally do so I'm in the market for one.

I'm finally going to buy a St. Croix spinning rod, and was just curious to see if it's worth spending an extra $80 to go up from the Mojo to an Avid? I plan on getting a 7' medium for wacky rigging, and pairing it with the new Shimano Nasci reel. Any input would be great.

I'm encouraged to see mostly positive experiences ordering online. I won't let my first time being a bad experience prevent me from ordering again. Maybe just not from Dick's Sporting Goods again lol. I was just shocked by the poor packaging, not even taping the ends so the rod wouldn't slip out.

For what it's worth, I recently purchased my first Lew's setup and I'm very impressed. I got a Lew's Mach 1 baitcaster combo for $110, an absolute steal! I definitely plan on buying more Lew's in the future.

Yikes, I was just thinking of ordering a rod from BPS with a gift card I have. Maybe safer to order a reel from there? I used to work for UPS, I could tell you a thing or two lol. I try to avoid using UPS at all costs.

I ordered a rod and reel combo (a Lew's Mach 1) and was highly disappointed by the packaging. A couple inches of the rod was sticking out of the box! All my other rod and reels I've bought in store, but found a deal online I couldn't pass up. This was from a well-known retailer. Luckily the rod was not damaged from what I can tell, just some marks and scratches. Does anybody else shy away from ordering rods online because of packaging? The best compensation they could offer me was a $15 credit.

I bought one a couple weeks ago and haven't tried it out yet. I keep forgetting I have it. What kinda line are you guys throwing it on?