Cody28

If you can only have one, would you rather throw relatively small glides/swimbaits on a flipping stick or flip/punch on a swimbait rod. I currently own a St. Croix Bass X 7'10 HF swimbait rod that I used to use for 6 inch magdraft, A rigs, and S-waver 168s a lot. Although it’s labeled fast it’s pretty moderate. I recently moved and the new lake I am fishing has caused me to rethink a lot of my combos. I would still like to throw these lures when its appropriate, but right now on this lake there are tons of mats to fish. I have been managing with my 7'4" heavy, but that is my frog rod so right now I have to retie if I want to fish over top of the mat. I am considering selling this combo and purchasing a St. Croix Victory 7'11" HMF "knockout" flipping stick. Any advice?

I talked to someone more knowledgeable on the history of the lakes than my previous source. Turkeyfoot, Rex, and Mud Lakes were natural. They apparently altered the landscape and redirected water from them to fill in lowland areas that now make up the other lakes/reservoirs. They have systems in place to control water flow down to North Res and Long Lake since it is all a large bowl that collects too much rain water now. So ultimately, it is a mix of natural and man made which explains the lack of a true d**n. Just thought I would let you know.

Just wanted to add to this post for anyone else who is curious. I purchased the 73 MLXF and man that rod is MONEY. I love my 73MXF for many things, but the medium light compliments it perfectly for super light neds, hair jigs, and 1/16 ounce jig heads suspending small fluke plastics like a Damiki rig. I don’t see how this rod could be seen as underpowered so I’m guessing it is very different than the 610MLXF. On my first trip out I already pulled in a 5 pound LMB and was able to control it without issues. Addition: neither of the 73 models have the drop shot hook keeper unfortunately.

So these are man made reservoirs. Water level is kept stable at a few pump stations that attach to nearby lakes. I have not yet found where they bring water in, but they let water out at the north most part of east and west reservoirs where is a butt up against North reservoir and Long Lake’s creek arm. LMB and big big channel cats are the main predators. Used to have tiger musky but they are essentially gone. Blue gill, red ear sunfish, and shad are all plentiful. Occasionally spot a crappie. With the thermocline keep them out of these areas or make them more likely to be there?

I’m docked at the north most part of West Reservoir. I fish East, West, Miller, Mud, Turkeyfoot, and Rex. The only ones not connected are Long Lake and North Reservoir. One end to the other is a 30-45 minute ride. I have a Garmin Echomap UHD 93sv. It’s pretty new to me and I have no yet been able to figure out how to get detailed/updated maps on it yet. I believe I need to purchase an SD card for it. Do you know if the navionics map be uploaded on it?

Hello everyone. This is a map of the lake I’ve been fishing all summer. Been doing pretty well, but as of late the fish have completely vanished from their recent patterns. (Under docks near 8-12 ft of water, lilly pad patches, wind blown banks with shade, etc.) There is lots of milfoil throughout the lake and docks covering 75% of the bank (too many docks to fish them all). I’ve also tried going to deeper waters without any luck. Any suggestions on where to turn my attention next? Is this normal to have fish just vanish over night without major weather changes?

I have this same rod with a 2500 Vanford and absolutely loving it as well. Especially for drop shots and 1/8 Ned’s. I’m looking at the ML for 1/16 oz stuff but other than that, the M covers all other finesse perfectly.

I’m looking at getting either this rod or the 73 version for light Ned’s and maybe even some 1/16 oz. crappie style jigs. Does the 610 you have really work with lures down to 1/16 as it is listed?

Yep. Softer rod = slower action in my brain lol

The reason I personally like a softer rod for chatterbaits is for when they swipe at it. It really helps me keep those hesitant fish pinned. In my area this seems to happen a lot and they just barely get it hooked in the side skin of the mouth. When I have used a jig rod in the past, I kept losing them. Just assumed I was ripping it out of their mouth based on how they were barely hooked when I would land one. Made the switch and greatly increased my hookup ratio.

I love the St. Croix Mod fast tip for chatterbaits, but only the Mojo bass and older lines. Personally, I use the Mojo Bass 7'0" MHMF for all of my 3/8 oz chatterbaits. I have much more expensive rods, but cannot find one that does the job better. The new MHMF as seen in the Victory series, is more of a true crankbait rod.

Do they truly care about the math jumbo jumbo? Of course not haha. It’s just time passing conversation. But I’m willing to bet money the pros care very much if they can’t catch up to a fish they hooked at the end of a long cast.

Long story short. I’m in an ongoing debate with a buddy and would love some back up or explanation if I’m wrong. At the end of a long cast, you get decreased IPT due to the diameter of the spool + line decreasing and therefore bringing in less line per turn of the handle. This is obvious and we agree. Where we do not is how this effects very shallow spools (Daiwa Tatula Elite P/F or Lew’s Pro SP). He says he won’t use them because he gets such low IPT at the end of a cast if he needs anything longer than a pitch. I argue that you may not have much line left on, but you still have relatively equal IPT as other reels because the diameter that would be filled in with line is simply filled in by the wider diameter spool. Isn’t this obvious? Or am I the crazy one?

Noticeable step up in terms of sensitivity? Balance? Both? That range does sound perfect for my needs though.

Thank you for the info. That helps a lot. I am primarily planning to throw 3/8-1/2 oz football jigs, grass flipping jigs, and T rigs. Occasionally will throw a C rig but not often.

I appreciate the apology. Through text it is easy to take people the wrong way and I clearly did. Sorry for my part in the misunderstanding.

I’m not sure where you are quoting “one of a kind” from. I simply stated that the tip is very different than the other medium XF rods I have used personally. I am aware there are other rods out there such as the NRX 872S, that have a similar action, but I have never seen that action near this rods price point. By your numbers it may not even classify as a medium XF, but that’s not really the point. Ask anyone who owns it, it is different than a common XF tipped rod. This is just a thread of people posting from their own experiences and this is just the rod that sparked the idea for me. If we’re going to be technical, there is absolutely nothing hidden gem about the DT series either, but no one is replying to you with their high sales numbers or examples of other crank bait series (strike king/bandit) to tell you that you are wrong for posting it here.

I’ve played with 2-3 other XF rods and this one is definitely different than any others I have tried outside of St. Croix. Tip is wayyy softer than all the others, and the middle of the rod does not have that issue of being too stiff. It may sound similar, but it’s not. Just hard to describe in text.

I’m having a hard time even rationalizing the LTB price tag haha. I have a 75 dollar gift card to burn and that’s the only real reason I wanted to possible go up from the Victory line. That’s honestly as high as I can let myself go for now.

Hey all, Im back looking at rods because you can never have too many am I right? Ive been thinking about branching out and trying something more expensive than my normal set ups (Mojos and Victorys). I would like to have a rod I go to when Im looking for some extra sensitivity and I am thinking I wanna try the legend tournament series. Is this worth the 100 increase over the victory? Would the 73 HXF be the right choice to cover most things bottom contact? Should I just get this rod in the Victory line? Anyone who has had both rod lines, your opinion would greatly be appreciated.

If I can only take out one moving bait rod, this is the one I take. Wouldn’t go real heavy with it but 3/8 oz chatterbaits and spinnerbaits are awesome on it. Holds treble hook baits well too. I personally throw a beefier rod with swim jigs just because of the weed guard, but if you have a nice thin guard it would work for that to. I’ve thrown the 6th sense divine swim jig on it for example.

I regularly use 20 pound line on my casters without issue. This is my preferred line for jerkbaits, flukes, poppers, weightless senkos, etc. Small line equals further casts, faster sink, and a smaller knot if I wanna tie on a leader. I know people warn against it, but if you give it a try is not much more difficult to handle than 30 pound.

I love my Victory even tho it’s a bit out of his budget for rod. 7’3” Heavy XF is a great all around jig rod (so is the 7’3” MH imo). Also love the tat sv, but I would look for a Lew’s Tournament Pro. They are normally $200 but always on some crazy sale on Amazon. I’ve got a few as low as $130. You cannot beat them at that price. Outside of the victory I’d stick with Dobyns and pick up the best line you can afford.

I just picked up a Daiwa Zillion SV TW G which I got on an awesome deal and couldn’t pass up. It was a returned item and that’s why I was able to get it discounted. Nothing wrong with it but I can tell the tension is set to slightly have some side to side play. I thought Daiwa factory set it not to have play. Is this true? Do you think the previous owner changed it? Is there anyway to get it back to factory set if they did?

Any update on the reel?