TNBankFishing

I do my best to be honest on how I use gear. Some folks take great care in their fishing tackle. Reel covers, and rod socks always. I’m simply not one of them. I hope you get sorted out either with some new Croixs or whatever brand you choose.

I’ve been a long time St. Croix user (and abuser) of their rods. I fish from the bank often and end up dropping my rods, slapping them against trees and rocks, and generally not being as nice as I should. Now two similar rods rods snapping during normal use makes me feel you had a couple bad sticks. If you bought them together it could have been a defect in manufacturing not caught during QC. I’d obviously contact the St Croix folks and get replacements or ask them about discounts on a new rod from the same or better line. They have always been awesome to me. Now all I can provide is anecdotal evidence about St. Croix reliability. Gotta preface that first. I’ve never broken a St. Croix rod so far. As I stated above I’m hell on gear, and when I know I’m heading into the backwoods I always grab my St Croixs first. They have been all over east TN wading rivers and up and down campsite trails. I currently own two legend elites and an Xtreme and I throw them around. I’ve owned multiple Victory, Legend Xs, and other lines in the past but prior to moving to MD for a year thinned the herd. Rod breaks can and do happen, the most likely culprits are a ding you didn’t see before going out or a defect in the rod. If I broke any of the three rods I have I’d replace it immediately. I trust the brand and have put enough hours in over the years to believe whatever happened was either: A. Bad luck B. My fault I know losing a rod sucks. I turtled my kayak over 4 feet of water above riprap several years ago and lost a number of sticks I can’t replace.

She really enjoys swimming and being around nature, we camp often and generally spend most of our time outdoors if we can. We have pair of wireless speakers we take camping for times we want to listen to music, so we’d bring them along. If we wanted to camp on bank and cook a meal we have the portable gear as well. I don’t know if we’d ever entertain on it or have more than our son and his fiance with us. We’ve rented pontoons several times on Norris and Watts Bar and have had a blast and it’s usually just the two of us. The reality is I suffer from thalassaphobia which is horribly ironic considering my love of our hobby. For me the rig is solely for fishing. I’ll never willingly get in a tube or attempt to ski behind it, and I’d have issues watching a friend or family member attempt it. If she no longer wants the boat I would put it up for sale. I don’t have issues letting it go for a loss if it no longer fits in our lifestyle.

I will!

Ahh so this just happened.

I don’t know exactly what’s happening. But imma need a lawn chair and some popcorn.

I can confirm my information is also present. This is incredible. The fact they kept the point values and order history is almost unbelievable. They didn’t have to go the extra mile but they did. @Glenn Do you have the ability to modify my initial post to update this information at the top? Otherwise it’s probably a good idea for someone to create a heads up post for those like myself who assumed (incorrectly it’s been shown) the funds were simply lost.

Just did that and got a few dealers that might have something that fits the bill. Is getting a test drive something you can do on a boat? Do dealers have some you can see how they ride? Thank you! I’ll check them out.

You’re totally right, but it’s a weird sort of position to be in. If I need a spool of line I’ll drop by the local shop 10 minutes away. If I’m stocking up on a certain bait the shop in question with the loyalty program might not carry it or have it on sale when I do a bulk order. The chance the stars all align and any given shop has exactly what I want, on sale, in stock, in the quantities I need, and they have a loyalty program is exceedingly small. Just the nature of tackle.

St. Croix 10% for the launch of their new website and storefront. Not much of a discount but when I added a rod to cart they didn’t charge TN taxes. Code is: NEWSITE10

This is a requirement for my wife. It’s the only option outside buying a pontoon. What brand and model? That’s a low draft.

Oh Glenn has an infinite number of good videos. I think what I’m looking for is more on the time water with specific models in similar reservoirs as me. I don’t imagine I’ll find a wealth of info but first hand information is really important to form a solid understanding. Towing capacity is north of 10,000 with our truck. I’m nowhere near touching that. Storage will be under a RV carport. Finding a dealer could be difficult, but again I’m not even sure where to start so I don’t know if anyone’s close. What I’ve heard is to avoid tracker or bass pro boats but that’s pretty much it. I’m not actually all that comfortable going to a boat show now as I don’t know what to look for. I know I’d like a rod locker, not sure what ones are good. I know a live well will help if I ever fish a derby, but again one is the same as the other. I’d prefer a 18+ foot boat because the water around me can get gnarly depending on the weather. I also travel around the southeast and want to be prepared for whatever I pull up too. I know I don’t know anything at the moment.

My wife has been talking about adding a boat to the garage for 2027. I’m happy with a kayak and see boat ownership as just another thing which will drain my bank account. Since we’d be looking for boats next winter, I’d like to educate myself beyond googling “best aluminum boats with Bimini tops” and wasting my money. I want to narrow the list of brands and models down to a select few so I can target getting a deal on one in the off season. I don’t know really anything about newer boats. The last one I owned was 20 years ago and it was old as dirt then. I had the pleasure of riding along some rather nice rigs last year in MD in a club, but I’m not interested in spending north of 60k. My budget would preferably be used under 35k with a trailer. I’m most interested in having a boat which can handle the rivers and reservoirs of the TVA system and can be outfitted to comfortably fish bass, musky, catfish, and occasionally panfish for dinner. It doesn’t need to be a super skinny water rig because that’s what kayaks are for. I’ve looked at seaark catfish boats, some lunds, vexus, and honestly I can’t tell the difference. People seem to say each brand they happen to own or be sponsored by is the best. I’m not concerned with maximizing power or speed, but I do want it relaxed enough for my wife to enjoy a day on the water. We don’t have little kids so that isn’t a concern. I don’t want a pontoon because… well I’m not sure. It seems overkill and they are massive barges. We also won’t be pulling tubes or skiers. Do any of the members here have on the water experience they can throw my way on this particular issue?

I’ll scrabble over chunk rock to get at a 10 foot wide stream. I’ve waddled all over the east TN river system chucking and winding. I fished years out of a kayak in tournaments across the southeast. I spent last year as a co-angler in a bass boat club in MD. I just want at water where green fish with big mouths live. How I get to or on that water has always been secondary. Even with access to boats/kayaks I still spend half my trips on the bank. There is a pure feeling I get while bank fishing the other methods don’t impart. I carry less tackle which weighs me down with less need. I don’t need to have 30 different jigs, or need to bring all my topwaters. It’s just me and some water wrapped up in peace.

My main issue with a loyalty program is if it gates off sales or early access to drops. Omnia for its issues doesn’t as far as I’m aware do this, but ALF and now TRL do. If you force me to buy into a program to have a chance to buy gear at a discount I’ll just not use your storefront. ALF still had ~$100 dollars in points on my account when it went under. Unless a shop can cash out your points you’ve built through their program it’s nothing but a lose/lose proposition. I can understand why people like and use loyalty programs. We’re all creatures of habit and if we have a good time shopping at a store, or they’re knowledgeable and inviting we want to go back. I paid for and enjoyed Omnias program for a couple of years until I realized I wasn’t even getting close to the value out of it. I shop at too many different places online and in person for something like that to be worth the cost.

I have a local shop just like that, except they have NRXs next to NRX+ with the same price tag.

I try to keep my gear to only what I will use. This means I think I’ve got a total of 9 combos of rods and reels. The only floater is my cranking reel which I bust out when I get a wild itch to send deep diving cranks.

Selling something because of age is difficult and usually not worth the hassle. There are a few items which are timeless or close to it, but once a piece of gear reaches the 10 year mark the value to someone else is effectively nill. I tend to only buy a few rods a year and they are often higher end through a sale or calling a shop directly. When I do need to move them because they don’t fit my style or just collect dust I’m usually able to recoup a decent bit.

I appreciate the positive reinforcement and tips, I just don’t mind not having a leader. I’m perfectly happy throwing straight flouro/braid/mono. If I thought it would make an enough of a difference in my bites I’d learn to use it.

Or they could price it correctly at 35% off retail to begin with and avoid the song and dance. If they did the rod I linked would already be sold.

I’m also hyped to build a camping travel set. Hopefully we get enough stock to cover all of the needs.

Call the shop. Any shop. Speak to them and ask about the discount. You’d be surprised how many shops will be willing to cut you a deal. They can’t ADVERTISE any discounts on MAP items. But look how TW gives you that 15% Shimano on your receipt but it doesn’t show in cart. Any retailer can sell anything they’d like for whatever price they want. They are only legally obligated to advertise certain prices. I’ve been doing this since 2019… it’s not a new phenomenon. I’m not bashing the human beings. I’m dissatisfied with the shop. I’d like to remind you I can and will give an honest opinion about a retailer of my hobby. I’m not bashing anyone or anything. Sometimes shops come up short, it’s not an attack on the owner, their family, friends, or anything outside the storefront. Would it matter if I was talking about a random JDM shop?

The Rod LockerG. Loomis 24' GLX 842C MBR 7'0" Medium - Used Casting Rod...G. Loomis 24' GLX 842C MBR 7'0" Medium - Used Casting Rod - Excellent ConditionThis should be sufficient. If you’d like there are another 50+ of similar “discounts” of less than I can buy brand new.

I’m not saying the guys running the shop aren’t good dudes. Everything I’ve ever heard about them has been positive. My post is in regard to the opening of their shop. I want them to succeed, and there is still time. My review is a personal take on a new store opening, and isn’t about any single individual. Their storefront at this time is lacking in quantity and quality. They are overpriced on used gear. They chose to use a loyalty program which is frustrating. These are things which can change and may or may not be things other people care about. The major issue is if this is my first reaction others might be similar. I don’t have a personal connection to the owners or their brand to cover for what negatives I saw. Your first brush with a store should be positive and make you want to spend money.

I can tie one. It will not hold. Go back to straight mainline and call it a day.