Are You Ready to Step Up!

I have been getting a ton of interest/questions on St. Croix Rods lately. There is no disputing they are the “Best Rods on Earth” and when one decides to make the step up to truly get the “upper hand” on the completion you want to make sure you make the right decision for the rod that fits the type/style of fishing you have confidence in.

Most of my friends and acquaintances are of course competitive Bass fisherman so this blog entry will cover those tools/type of rods.  St. Croix has such a great selection of rods it can be initially, a little overwhelming. I hope you find some information here to help you make sure you get what works for your needs. Below I have picked out some of my personal favorites and have tried to give enough explanation (after years of use) to enable you to get a better idea how to meet your specific needs.

Legend Tournament Bass

Totally redesigned for 2018 these are no doubt my favorite St. Croix series. Designed specifically for the tournament angler they are truly a tough tool for the demands a tournament angler puts on his equipment. This technique-specific bass series are light for all day use and feature the best of St. Croix’s unrivaled technology and performance including; SCIV graphite, Fortified Resin System (FRS), Integrated Poly Curve® (IPC®) and Advanced Reinforcing Technology™ (ART™)

(Why St. Croix)

TBC68MF Jerkbait 6'8" M Fast

According to KVD most of us do not use this technique enough. This is a great Jerkbait rod that enables you to get in and around tight/low overhanging cover. The Legend Tournament Jerkbait is also perfect for the Fluke and Senco type baits. A lot of anglers seem to be going to longer and longer rods these days but this 6'8" has the benefits of enabling you to make roll casts and keep the tip out of the water when working in the tight spaces.

TBC68MHF Jig-N-Worm 6'8" MH Fast

Makes a more heavy duty Jerkbait rod, I probably use this more often myself. This rod gives you a little more “power” and can handle those big pointers and other larger Jerkbaits. It also makes a great all ‘round Worm and light Jig rod (again to get in and around tight/low overhanging cover) for those who do not carry 40 rods in the boat.

TBC71MHF Jigs/Baits 7'1" MH Fast

Perfect for vibrating jig type baits. This is a real workhouse with the extra length to cover the gamut of techniques. I use it often for Swim Jigs, Spinnerbaits and Rattlebaits as well.

TBC74HF Slop-N-Frog/Swim Jig 7'4" H Fast

My favorite rod of all time (I have 4 of them).  This is a fantastic Frog rod! The tip is soft enough to let the fish suck down the frog (despite your best attempt to yank it away from him in the excitement) but has great backbone to pull the fish from the nastiest of cover. The fast tip enables long casts with some of the lightest of frog baits but heavy enough to handle even the “King Frogs”. I keep 2 rigged with Frogs and 2 rigged for Jigs. While not my favorite heavy punchin’ rod it is excellent for “standard” (flip) Jigs up to ½ oz, for flippin’ laydowns and deeper cover. This is the ultimate “all terrain” Swim Jig rod as well, again with the backbone to get the fish out of the heaviest of Gator Grass and Pads once hooked. The fast tip enables the all-important shaking action on the retrieve.

TBC71MHXF Swim Jig Finesse 7'1" MH X-Fast

My go-to Swim Jig rod when using lighter line/mono. This rod just feels great in your hand. Like all in the Legend Tournament Bass series is super light but you can feel the power. If I am going to go with fluorocarbon or mono line I use this exclusively for my Swim Jigs. It is fairly versatile for using a variety of other light baits as well. Don’t get carried away with the power you feel in your hand, with the extra fast tip you may want to think twice about boat flipping that 8 pounder!

TBC78MHM Big Cranker 7'8" MH Mod.

Big is a subjective word with today’s HUGE Crankbaits. This is my personal favorite Crankbait rod. It will cast any Crankbait a country mile, effortlessly! The Big Cranker at a mere 4.0 ounces and easy castability allows me to go cast after cast for hours. It is a very accurate casting rod enabling you to get as close to cover as you want or put that bait on a dime. Perfect for everything from Squarebills to deep diving crankbaits. I will definatly be getting a few more this year as I like this so much I have to cut and tie every time I want to use another Crankbait. The designers/engineers at St. Croix that developed this one were definitely Crankbait fishermen as the parabolic’s are phenomenal! (Crankbait lovers just wait for the next installment when I go over the New Legend Glass rods)

Legend Elite

If you want to go straight to St. Croix’s Flagship series, this is it. Each blank is built with high-modulus/high-strain SCV graphite and reinforced with super-high modulus SCVI graphite in the lower section. Loaded up with IPC®, ART™, TET – plus Fuji® Torzite® guides with solid-titanium frames they give you unbelievable sensitivity and incredible balance. Below I give you the Model Numbers that cross to some of the Legend Tournament techniques rods I have talked about;

EC68MF 6'8" M Fast (Jerkbait)
EC68MHF 6'8" MH Fast (Jig-N-Worm Rod)
EC74HF 7'4" H Fast (Slop-N-Frog)
EC71MHXF 7'1" MH X-Fast (Swim Jig Finesse)

Weapons for Bass Fishing Hand-to-Hand Combat

I have always preferred power fishing to any of that finesse stuff. There is just something about battling it out with bruiser largemouth, in their element, with heavy line, big baits and powerful equipment, as opposed to sewing threat and “fairy wands”.  But nothing gets my adrenalin pumping more than having to get down and dirty with some hand-to-hand combat in the thickest nastiest stuff available in the lake. I’m talkin’ ‘bout put your head down total commitment to punchin’ or flippn’ the heaviest cover around. Whether your punchin’ thick hydrilla or matted milfoil in Guntersville or Okeechobee or flippin in the nastiest thorn riddled Mesquite and Huisache (weesatch) trees of Falcon and Choke Canyon in South Texas, nothing consistently produces bigger fish than these techniques. But you better have the right weapons in your hands for this in-your-face, hand-to-hand combat.

If you follow my writings at all you have heard me explain the philosophy that the tackle, rods and reels, and other equipment we use are tools. It is important to use the proper tools for the job/conditions. For way too long the tools required for heavy punchin and flippin just did not exist resulting in lost opportunities and damaged equipment. With the advent of tungsten weights and baits like Oldham’s Big Eye Flippin jigs in 1 to 1½ oz we could penetrate the adversary’s heaviest fortress but were still left without the weapons required for the needed advantage in this up close fighting/hand-to-hand combat. Enter Ardent Reels…                    

Several years ago Ardent revolutionized the tooling required for this most brutal of techniques with the introduction of the Denny Brauer Flip-N-Pitch reel. The fact that the “Godfather” of this technique helped to develop this tool says it all. I have used these reels for almost a decade and can tell you they are the ultimate weapon in this type of combat. And now Ardent has unveiled its latest edition of this in the Apex Flipping Reel. With its High Strength Aluminum frame, Helical Aircraft Aluminum Gear, Carbon Fiber swept back handle, EVA grip knobs on handle, 11 lb. Strike Saver Drag System, this 10+1 High Precision Ball Bearing weapon of mass destruction designed by the #2 all-time B.A.S.S. Elite money winner and King of Flipping is one step closer for the ultimate tool of the trade. (I say “one step closer” because Ardent seems to improve on the beast every few years.) The Apex Flipping Reel and its predecessors are the only tool/weapons specifically engineered for this hand-to-hand combat.

                                                          

You will, no doubt, need “The Best Rod (weapon) on Earth” for the task as well. I prefer to strap my Flipping reel to a St Croix Legend Tournament TBC73XHF Big Jig rod for the nastiest of combat but the 7’ 9” Punchin' rod (TBC79HMF) and 7’ 11’ Flippin' (TBC711HMF) are superior weapons as well. The “Big Jig” is an unforgiving “broomstick” reserved as I said, for the thickest/heaviest of cover. Most often the Punchin’ or Flippin’ can handle any scrape you may get into (depending on your preference of rod length). These tools are not just designed for the job but cutting edge engineering go into building the most advanced fishing rods on earth. St. Croix pushes the outer limits of new manufacturing technologies. They use the latest in CNC (Computer Numerical Control) technology to turn their our own aluminum and plastic trim pieces, wind checks, shims and other rod components producing a better, more consistent product, every time. Engineering breakthroughs like St. Croix’s exclusive Integrated Poly Curve® and Advanced Reinforcing Technology™ leave no doubt that these tools are engineered and developed to outperform all others.

Now that you know the best weapons to use for hand-to-hand combat with monster Bass, round some up and get them loaded with 65 or 80 lb braid and in the next installment I’ll give out some good Army training on how to use them…