softwateronly

This 10lb+ grass carp with a jig in its back sure put up a great fight!! Probably took me 10 mins to land it. He went on about a dozen runs, took over a min before I even saw it, straight to the deep water bulldogging the whole way. scott

Some recents, didn't grab pics of all the bigs. Swim jig and pitching jig, I guess that's all I need....

Good choice! Here's my 7'7" expride, 2 piece. scott

It balances best with my Bantam, but I've moved that reel over to a different rod and use a Met, balances right on the front of the locking ring. With the Bantam, similar weight to a DC, it's right in the center of the ring. The rod is so balanced as is, that any reel weight on there will work because the center of gravity is almost directly on the reel seat anyway. scott

I have this rod and love it. So far I'm happy throwing Arigs, glides, soft swimbaits both exposed jig head hook and texsposed weedless, and large 1oz scroungers. The taper from soft tip to backbone is truly unique, in some ways I'm still learning the "feel." I plan on fishing large topwater, heavy jigs, and frogs with it soon. Sensitivity seems good so far, but I havent tried any true bottom contact presentations yet. If it delivers on dragging 5/8-3/4oz jigs in 18+ fow through the weedlines then it'll deliver on everything I could've ever hoped for. I actually love that it's a 7' since most of my rods are between 7'3-7'7 scott part of me thinks this combined with a poison adrena 6'11M+ would be the most versatile 2 rod set up ever. There's hardly a power technique not covered in a good to great fashion.

I throw the california swim jig and the scott canterbury flippin jig, primarily. I'm very happy with everything about them and don't look to change anytime soon. scott

Only you can decide if you have the funds, but I can tell you that I have a JDM Met 20 on a 7'6" MH Expride and 7'7" H Expride and I always want to fish those rods first. Asian Portal Fishing and Digitaka have the Mets for @ $285. scott

3.8" 3/4 -1 oz. I throw it on a dobyns 734 or expride 7'6" MH with braid to leader. Haven't come unbuttoned on any yet. Drag and slow swim, bottom ticking are tied for presentation. FYI the rocks destroy the face of that little bugger. Mend it is a prerequisite. scott

I also really like St Croix and Dobyns, but I find myself gravitating toward my Shimano Exprides. I also tend to like slightly longer rods, 7-7'6" which might not work for bank fishing. The Victory line looks great, I have old run Avid spinning and love them, in Dobyns I have both the Fury and Champion, and I hear nothing but great things about the Tatula series. If you're up for mixing and matching, I'd go Victory or Tatula in a MH/F for bottom contact and go Fury for moving baits. I love the action and feel of the Champions but to me they are a little muted on the sensitivity front compared to the exprides. Should keep you around $450 for 3 rods. scott $550ish Victory - 7'3" Heavy/XF Tatula - 7'3" Heavy Swimbait Fury - 7' MH (703) $450ish Victory - 7'3" Heavy/XF Fury - 7'3" H (735) Fury - 7' MH (703) $525ish 2 rod setup (no personal experience, but I've been looking at em) Poison Adrena - 6'11" M+ Tatula - 7'3" Heavy Swimbait

X2 I love the san diego jam knot. Easy to tie, and easy to verify. Floro burn is the devil. scott

This beaut is a fattie and the keitech football jig with a zman trd craw is a smallie smasher in Lake Michigan. My guesstimate is over 4.5...

Yesterday was a tough day fishing. Got my cousin on the boat for the first time on my lake and was a little too up for a good day and instead we grinded out 10-12 together over 6 hours. Losing the biggest of the day and the only real quality bite of the day bummed me out. My 7'7" review is definitely colored by that. I think a 1/2oz jig on a 35yd cast into 15fow is a tough hookset regardless of the rod. I probably could have and should have set it better. I'll come back with one more review if you're still interested. scott

Yeah, shouldn't write before coffee. I don't expect you to find an issue with a new St Croix, but it is possible. I don't know that Berkley line, maybe it has a history of inconsistency and you got a bad batch? scott

Could be a nick in the guide inserts abrading the line. Braid is really hard on "soft" material guides and can also wear in grooves. You can take a cotton swab and check all your guides looking for any fiber pull. If it's not that, I'm at a loss without more info. scott I haven't finished my coffee...Being a new and good rod, what I wrote seems unlikely but still worth checking in case something happened in transit or on the line....

Dragged a 1/2oz Dirty Jigs Tour level Pitching jig around today on the 7'7", caught 6 on it. But I lost the best one on a jump about 15yds from the boat after getting her head up and coming toward me. I also lost another at the boat. I was throwing 40lb power pro to a 20' 16lb sunline fc leader, water was crystal clear, 18'+, so I had to make long casts into 15 fow. It casts the jig great, sensitivity is still good, better than the dobyns champion 735 that I use to use, but it just doesn't have it for setting the hook from a distance. It's not a jig rod. My 7'6" MH expride is a much better fit for jigs, even a too heavy 1/2oz. The MH also handles swim jigs and paddle tails well, the 7'6" Heavy I don't have experience with in any capacity. scott

I believe Cali is on heavy workplace restrictions due to Covid, if you buy the 2 day shipping, it gets out timely. I think this will be an issue for weeks, they seem slammed. scott

I feel weird inside when fishing and one isn't tied on within reach. From about month ago in Michigan, water might have been 50 because of the rain... scott

Love the spring! Quick stop after work, here's one of two...Missed two others. scott

I haven't really put the 7'7 through its paces at bottom contact, but I haven't lost the 2 i did get on a 3/4 football jig in 17+ fow and I felt the bottom through the entire retrieve. Large swim jigs (3/4oz) and large paddletails (7" scottborough on a 3/4 recon head) and A rigs on the 7'7" have been flawless so far. Really really like the rod, but i do prefer the mod/fast action. Braid to leader says to me you can make either work, you're just gonna have to really be in position with the 7'7" and swing hard. I'm gonna use the 7'7 for trigs this year, just haven't thrown it much yet this spring. If your decision doesn't need to be made for awhile I'll do my best to throw it more in the next week or two for more input. If you're getting it now, I think you just need to weigh your options on what will want to be tied on most frequently. If it's trigs primarily, I think you should go with the 7'6". Perfect world? both. scott

I'm sure I'd say the same thing if I was on the same water. It's just another layer to the whole thing. scott

These regional differences are always hard for me to understand having only fished the midwest and Canada with mostly clear to very clear water. Green pumpkin is a no brainer. Do you all think it has to do with the forage base? scott

I haven't used them yet, still using keitechs. People love them and I'll try them soon, read these if you haven't. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/search-tackle.html?sort=no&start=0&count=30&searchtext=rage+swimmers#customer_reviews scott

Exact same conditions where i fish, green pumpkin and black are tied for me, followed closely by junebug. scott

Love it! Which model Adrena are you paired up with? How's the balance? Close to succumbing to the same bad influences. scott

You're certainly right. I have the 734, 735, 706cb, and the 807swbt, and I love them. The champions are really really good. I just find myself gravitating to my 2 exprides, something about the soft tip transitioning to the blank feels crisper to me. Makes me want to step up one level to the adrenas, because I'd probably stick this selection of rods out for a couple years. scott