Hulkster

Several years ago I started upgrading my main gear to 7'6 and 7'5 rods. I primarily fish from the bank so the extra length really helps with long casts.

The largest for me is 12 pound Sufix Siege, which I think is 0.014 diameter. With a palomar knot I can't break it when I get snagged, I have to cut it

I picked up a Stradic FM this year and it is amazing. Super smooth with a very smooth drag and rock solid when you crank. Some people said the FL was better because in the early run of these reels there was handle play and some tolerance issues but those problems must be long gone because my 1000 size is rock solid.

Wow that's awful

These would be similar to the original Legend Elites from the late 90s although with a better graphite used. I'm pretty sure the originals had full grip and fuji ECS seats

I looked last night and it looks like the 2000 is a 1000 size reel with a shallow spool, so its actually smaller in capacity than the 1000 size. The 1000 spool is rated for 140 yards of 4 pound mono, the 2000 is only rated for 100 yards of 4 pound mono.

oh I agree but it's usually about the 1.5 pound bass that they are calling 4 pounds! When their St. Croix rod breaks or their trigon handle falls apart that's not exaggeration. just saying. The denial here is quite astounding.

Wow. You should go on the threads on reddit, facebook, instagram and youtube and tell the upset people posting their broken rods and reel seats this.. you might change your mind. Like I said, pretending the issues don't exist or are exaggerated doesn't help any one. Especially St. Croix.

Hopefully these don't fall apart or break like seemingly everything that St. Croix has made since the pandemic..all the social media platforms like reddit, youtube and facebook are filled with broken St. Croix rods, reel seats that fall apart and warranty claims. That being said, St. Croix has been around for a long time so hopefully they can turn things around. These new rods look great although the lack of a built in hook keeper sucks. They just attached an after market one lol Come on St. Croix! Unfortunately, people are now having their trigon rods fall apart too: from reddit: I know there are people who are sponsored by St. Croix who try to pretend these issues aren't happening, I've seen the replies on social media. But that really doesn't help things at all. Own up to the problems and help St. Croix turn things around. Minimizing the ongoing issues is the worst thing you can do.

Makes sense. The Exprides are made in China if i recall.

I have two imx pro models that I use all the time and love: SJR 901S and MBR 903C. Two very different but awesome rods. I would probably pick one of these as NRX offers both models

I have said before, to me it makes no sense to get an Expride at the new price when you can get an Imx Pro for a little bit more. So far, Loomis prices haven't increased..even though Shimano has owned them for almost 30 years now lol

So, I replaced a Nasci 1000FC with a Stradic 1000 FM and the drag on the stradic is noticably smoother. Is this because of the "duracross" drag on all models of the Stradic FM?

So, my slightly older Stradic FK is still smooth, the new FM is solid and smooth. Time will tell the new FM remains that way but to be honest, I don't think I've had a shimano spinning reel that hasn't remained smooth even a few years later. So I can't see why this one would be any different. Was that Stradic Ci4+ used in saltwater? Because that could certainly do it.

not sure, I have an FK as well and one thing I did notice was that on the Fk and prior the line roller was titanium (gold colored?). On the FL and FM it is not. Not sure how big of a difference it makes, if any?

nice! for many model generations the only difference to my knowledge was an extra ball bearing and a nicer handle on the Stradic. This stradic has conquered some nice ocean fish, this one in Prince Edward Island

so this reel was released in 2011, I bought it in 2014. But I don't use 4000 size spinning reels much anymore except when fall salmon pier fishing and if I go to the ocean in Atlantic Canada for stripers or down south. So even though its old, it hasn't really seen a ton of usage for its age. But i will never sell it lol

for the record, I still think that the First Generation of St. Croix Avid rods with the full cork handles and the Fuji Alconite guides was still THE best bang for the buck in 'good' rods out there. They were sensitive, light, cast great and didn't cost $300 but they sure felt like they did. The new generation has cheaper guides which kind of sucks.

you have to fish with a high end rod to know. I upgraded my 2 main setups to Loomis IMX Pro rods and the difference is like night and day from what I had before. - they are lighter - better balanced -way more sensitive -more powerful -cast way better (a lot farther) -get much better hooksets. -more durable -way better warranty if something were to go wrong its got nothing to do with 'more expensive so must be about ego and not advantages' etc' there are many tangible benefits that aren't always obvious until you start casting and fishing with them. Sure you can tell they are light and well balanced in the store but it really starts to come together when you put a reel on them and start to fish. That being said, I'd give my pecker away to fish with the next level up (the new GLX rods)

Siege is a bit more abrasion resistant, but I don't have a ton of experience with Elite as I only use the 4 pound on my UL setup.

Siege and Elite are actually the same diameter. They just both handle so well you wouldn't know that they were actually on the thicker side of mono.

but there's more to a mono line than just diameter. Some mono lines are more limp, more slick, have more memory that others etc. even at equal diameters.

True but keep in mind Siege is very slick with low memory so even though it might have a higher diameter it casts really well even on spinning gear, which not many 'higher diameter' mono lines can do. Siege is a "do everything well" mono.

Yes. Sufix Siege. With a palomar knot I can't break it in 12 pound test, I have to cut it, and using 6 pound I can bend the hook on a #3 Mepps and get my lure unsnagged. And it casts like a dream even on spinning gear. It's miles ahead of any other mono I've ever used.

yes. The imx pro has Fuji K frame Alconite guides. Which reel was this? The Saros?