St. Croix Rod Length

[JMKC]

Purchasing a New St. Croix Avid, Medium light for lindy-rigging mostly. What does everyone think, should I go 6'6" or 7' ?? Thanks, JJ

[RonH]

For Lindy rigging I'd probably go with a 7', but for an 'all around' rod I'd personally opt for 6-1/2'

[Capt. Paul]

Lindy only, probably the 7. Anything else you may want the 6.6. All of mine are 6.0, and they are a little short for anything but jigging.

[chike]

Two years ago I was crossed between these two rods also. Picked up the 6'9" ASMLXF and it was a done deal. Very versatile as I will use it to jig in deeper water and also throw shallow cranks with it as well. Check it out.

[Rapaleye]

Chike,
Have you tried to lindy with the 6'9" avid? is it soft enough to give a little?
Jim

[chike]

It is my number one lindy rod. It has a great soft tip on it but the taper is very fast and the power on this rod loads quickly. I lindy alot in deeper water, especially in the fall (25-50ft.) and I really think this rod has put many more walleye in the boat for me. Light bite detection then drive the hook home.

[REW]

Rapalaeye,
Yes, you can use the avid 6'9" rod for lindy rigging but there are better rods out there for this job.

This rod really does a steller job of jigging with a 1/4 or 3/8th oz jig.

I personally think it is a touch stiff for jigging with an 1/8th or lighter jig.

I personally prefer a bit longer and a bit more moderate action rod for lindy rigging.
I like the longer more limber rod to give me a nice visual detection for a bite when lindy rigging.

Actually for lindy rigging, I really prefer the less expensive, softer action of the St. Croix Premier 7'm-l action rod.
I think that this particular rod really excells in that job.

Another rod that is an excellent lindy rigging rod is the St. Croix wild river 7'6" medium light rod. This rod has an even slower action with a more moderate bend all the way from the tip to about mid rod length. This is the rod style that allows trout fishermen to use very light line and land very large fish. The rod is forgiving enough to allow you to have some give when using a lighter line - and working big fish. This same softer more moderate action is one of the reasons that it works so well for lindy rigging.

I have seen so many cases that when you use a stiffer or faster action rods, that as soon as you feel or see a bite, the fish feel the same thing and drop the bait. This is particularly true, when the fish are very negative. However, by going to the longer more flexible and more moderate action rod, the tip will telegraph the bite visually to allow you enough time to drop the line and feed line to the fish, so that they can complete inhaling the bait. Count to 10, and set the hook. FISH ON!!

Summary.
The avid 6'9" medium fast action rod will work for lindy rigging, but really excels as a jigging rod, with a 1/4 -3/8th oz jig.

Go to a lighter action, slower action rod in a 7' or 7'6" length and you will likely be happier when used for lindy rigging.

--
However, if you are going to be doing some bottom bouncing with heavier weights, and or spinners, then the heavier action avid can work quite well. Again, if this is a spinning rod, it is really not the best rod suited for this purpose. For bottom bouncing when carrying heavier weights of 3/4 oz and above, it generally works better if this is a bait casting rod. The heavier weights simply work better with the winching action of a bait caster. Then, the 6'6" or 7' lenght works pretty well. If you are carrying a lot of weight and if you are going to be holding the rod, the shorter the rod, the easier it will be to hold against the drag of the weights.
With a fast or even moderate action rod, with enough butt strength to carry the weight, but still have a sensitive tip to feel and or see the bite - you will have a great bottom bouncing rod.

I actually have built the avid 6'9" medium in a bait casting action and routinely use it for bottom bouncing with great success. If I am carrying 2-3 oz weights, I like the shorter lengths due to the weight drag.

Take care
REW

[Mr.Seaguar]

I kinda think line selection is about as important as rod selection.

[fisherboy]

It is important that you have about 1/3 of the rod that bends when fishing and 2/3 for a strong backbone, in my opinion.

[Rapaleye]

REW, as always you are right on. I was up at Cabelas this morning and had a look at the 6'9" avid versus the 7' ML Premier. I have to agree the Premier has a much nicer action. I don't know if you recall but a few years back you talked me out of selling my 5'9" avid on the swap board. Boy do I owe you some thanks. I have had a lot more opportunity to jig with it and it is my favorite jig rod.
Thanks for all the pointers
Jim

[Hawg]

St Croix rods have such long handles the actual rod in front of the handle is about 3 inches shorter than other manufacturers. Compare a couple, I really was not to impressed with the two I had. I thought the Loomis was a much better and more sensitive rod. Just an opinion .

[REW]

It doesn't matter the brand, but I do agree that some rods have handles that are so long that the rods are not as nice as they could be.

I do believe in having a balanced rod and reel setup.
Many manufacturers keep making the handles longer and longer so that the rod and reel will balance. I agree with your point in that if you have a 7 foot rod with a 14 inch handle you really only have a 5'10 inch fishing rod.

Whenever I build a rod, I balance the bare blank, by putting a counterweight on the extreme end of the blank.

Then, the counterweight is under the cork, when the rod is built and is thus invisible. I have found that I would much rather have a rod with a handle lenght that is to my liking and even 1/4 or 3/4 oz heavier, if the rig balances.

I think that too many folks really get a little too excited about the weight of a rod.

Lets say that you have a rod that weighs 3.4 ozs. Then, the angler puts a reel on the rod that weighs 10 ozs. Not unusual for many of todays reels. So, the total rig weigh is 13.4 ozs.
Now, lets say that 1/2 oz weight is added to the rig, but the rig is now balanced. Now the total weight of the rig is about 14 ozs, rather than 13.5 ozs.

My point is that for most of todays rods, the actual weight of the rod is completely masked by the weight of the reel.

I will take a blanced rig with the right handle length every time over a rod with a handle that is too long or an unbalanced rig.

Take care
REW