Anyone have this rod? How soft is the tip? This rod model intrigued me in store, but it was from the mojo line not avid. I am more interested in the avid. XF does not appeal to me much in most brands as I feel it pulls the bait away from the fish, but the mojo 6'8 m xf was nice.

spinning rod i take it?  if so, i think that model is the best in the mojo lineup and i have the rage which is built on the same blank as the avid and couldn't be happier.  Great rod at a good price.  I use it mostly for shaky heads and weightless plastics and never noticed any pulling the bait away from the fish. 

I would suggest the fenwick 6'9" Med/X-fast instead. not that the avid is bad but I have 2 avids, one casting and one spinning and my only complaint is the handle. The fenwick handle is the best handle ever.

well, St. Croix makes arguably one of the fastest tips on the market. I own the Xtreme 68mxf and 69mlxf in the cork version. My favorite 2 spinning rods I've ever owned.  the tips are very fast. I have no issues using them for shakey heads and casting drop shots /w both straight fluoro and braid/leader. If you're wanting to know about senkos, it's a great senko rod. If you have a phobia of a tip being " too fast it pulls a bait away", then the XF st. croix is not for you.I have also not noticed pulling a bait away from a fish due to the tip being too fast.  I have used the avid line for a short time and found the xtreme was a tad faster but nothing you would notice unless you fished both.

well, St. Croix makes arguably one of the fastest tips on the market. I own the Xtreme 68mxf and 69mlxf in the cork version. My favorite 2 spinning rods I've ever owned.  the tips are very fast. I have no issues using them for shakey heads and casting drop shots /w both straight fluoro and braid/leader. If you're wanting to know about senkos, it's a great senko rod. If you have a phobia of a tip being " too fast it pulls a bait away", then the XF st. croix is not for you.I have also not noticed pulling a bait away from a fish due to the tip being too fast.  I have used the avid line for a short time and found the xtreme was a tad faster but nothing you would notice unless you fished both.

you bring up a great point about not noticing it till you fish both a F and an XF.  I had a mojo MF and then when i got the MXF i could tell a big difference, but in a good way. 

Indeed. I really like the XF tips. They are so responsive and load up into the blank into solid backbone. 

 

Aprw, I'm pretty sure you're Afryedknot on other forums and you've used a few high end rods. I'm not sure if you've used the NRX line at all but for comparison sake to St. Croix, the St. croixs have a little more backbone than the NRX counterpart(same can be said for the GLX). For example, the 822 syr would probably be a solid counterpart to the xtreme 69mlxf. both rods respectively have a fairly quick, XF action tip. The difference between the two is the NRX loads more throughout the entire blank where the xtreme (avid pretty much does the same thing) shuts off much quicker and goes into the backbone earlier. the 822 dsr has probably the same XF tip but shuts off further down the blank.

It's more than just the pulling the bait away from fish thing. F action has always felt more versatile to me. XF probably has it's place, but F always worked better for me. I am planning on using this rod for all kinds of different stuff so versatility is really important for this set up.

 

I think I might just wait until icast and checkout the new crucials or whatever else there is.

I have that rod and I love it for any plastic weightless or with a 1/4oz weight.

I used the SCIII 6'8" MXF for years as my tube rod. Recently sold it to build a SCV 6'10" MXF. My favorite rods are the Croix MXF and MLXF

It's more than just the pulling the bait away from fish thing. F action has always felt more versatile to me. XF probably has it's place, but F always worked better for me. I am planning on using this rod for all kinds of different stuff so versatility is really important for this set up.

I think I might just wait until icast and checkout the new crucials or whatever else there is.

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I have limited experience comparing st.croix f vs. Xf I own a 69mlxf and a 7'0mlf been fishing them side by side for about three months. They are both sick rods. Personally I don't know why people consider the 69mlxf a drop shot rod. It's been very versatile for me with small top waters, jerkbaits, wacky worms, grubs and on and on. The key word being small. It's not a rod I would throw a spook jr on but I will throw all the above baits and a spook jr on a 70mlf plus flukes on 1/4 jig heads, senkos 1/4oz tubes etc. If you don't have a lot of cover around I would serioulsy take a look at the 70mlf.

I don't have an Avid, but I've got the same rod in the LTB line and absolutely love it! I use it mainly for wacky rigs and some drop shotting, but it's a very versatile rod. It works for pretty much all finesse applications, you can throw small jerkbaits, topwaters, smaller lipless crankbaits, etc., etc. I'm sure if you got the Avid you would't be disappointed.

When I tried bed-fishing for the first time one of the most enlightening things I came away with was just how fast a fish can pick up and spit a bait. Ever since, I'm no longer worried about pulling anything away from a bass. A jig head or pegged weight can blow their mouth open but that's a whole other thing. I like the XF action, especially on finesse rods and light bites.