Come on all you pro`s, give me your opinions! Looking to build a 6' medium or medium light Smallmouth Bass rod. Should i go G loomis or St Croix? Any particular model with either brand? It would be a spinning rod also. Thanks
Frank J Harvey



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2008 08:04PM by Frank J Harvey.

At this point in time, and looking to the future, I'd go with St. Croix. Look at something along the lines of a 4S66MLF. Super fast and light enough to be fun but with plenty of power in the butt. Also long enough to set a hook solidly. It's length, not power, that sets the hook.

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You will be hard pressed to beat a particular St Croix SC4 ... 4S510MXF. It is one bad to the bone blank.

I would have to agree with Tom, the St. Croix 4S66MLF is a great blank for the task at hand. I have a 3C62MXF that I use as well, but prefer the MLF action for smallies.

Tom, somewhere hidden in your very neat inventory of blanks is a Castaway XP3 842.

Line 6 - 12#
Lure Wt - 1/8 - 1/4 Oz
Power Light
Action Fast

Give it a shake and wiggle - compare for this use

When you walked off with it in your hand you smiled and said thank you!

The price you paid is no longer available!

[www.swamplandtackle.com]

I't s a great blank, but not quite what I'd recommend for smallmouth bass river fishing.

Now if we were talking lake fishing, then I might indeed recommend it over the other.

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My customers' most popular smallmouth spinning rod has started off with a St. Croix SCV 66MLF blank , a local expert smallmouth fisherman and I "designed " our model based on a similar St. Croix AVID blank I had used for a "prototype" (both quoted words used lightly.) Help came from this board and articles from the print media, Tom's book.

I don't see how power is not in the equation as part of the hook set. I see the length of the rod is crucial, but I also know I don't use a light power rod to go froggin'
Just my thought

Hook set depends mainly on how far you move the line. You can put a hook in a rock if the rod is long enough, but even a short, stout rod won't get the job done.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2008 08:16PM by Tom Kirkman.

The rod will be used for small creek/river smallmouth bass fishing. Average fish are 10'' to 14'' with a rare 20'' once in a blue moon. Have lost 3 17''to 20'' fish in the last 10 years with my 5' 6'' graphite store bought rod. Thanks everybody for replying. Frank

I wasn't dis-agreeing about the line movement, as I'm all for longer rods, but you still need the power in some applications or you simply wont bury the hook.

A sharp hook doesn't require much effort to bury it but you have to overcome the stretch in the line. Short, powerful rods are sometimes prone to having the fish throw the hook if the fisherman isn't careful to set the hook several times. Softer but longer rods will set the hook easier and you don't tend to get as many thrown hooks with them. Odd but true.

A lot of steelhead/salmon are caught on rods with about the same of less power than the blank Tom mentioned on hooks from #6 to 1/0 depending on the presentation/lure used.

I personally prefer a Loomis Spin Jig taper for my feel presentations for Smallmouth. Its a faster taper, and is roughly the same as St. Croix's XF tapers. Power depends on the baits you're going to be throwing. For more of an "all around" rod, I tend to like St. Croix's F actioned rods.

Loomis SJ781
Loomis SJ782
St. Croix 66MLF
St. Croix 63MXF

Any are good options, however my favorite is the 781.


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Better to have and not need than to need and not have.

I build a LOT of smallie and walleye rods on St. Croix Legend (SCV and SCIV) spin rods both in the medum and medium light. Medium light lets you load and cast smaller jigs/lures. Customers love them. No complaints and a great warranty. Customer brought back a broken SCIV custom. Sent in the broken rod and got a new blank AND the broken rod back. Go with the St. Croix.

Thanks everybody!
Frank

I agree. The 6'6" rod will help a lot. That little bit of extra length will get you hooked up, and you'll stay hooked up better.

Personally, I use a 3S66LF (rather than the ML version) for river smallies. But, I rarely come across a fish bigger than 16", so it's plenty of rod. I've landed fish larger than that, but it's quite an adventure.