help upgrading walleye rods arsenal

[goblue4016]

Hey All,

Long time follower, first time poster. I am hoping there are some people out there willing to help me choose some new rods to upgrade my arsenal. I have fished with 1 rod only since I began fishing about 6 years ago. A St. Croix spinning Premier 6'6" MLF. I love it, probably because im so used to it now but I use it for fishing every technique from jigging, rigging, casting flicker shads, lindy rig, and even trolling lol. I really only fish for Walleye and bass (mostly smallmouth) up in green bay/ sturgeon bay area. Sometimes i get an occasional northern as well. This next year I intend to do a lot more fishing and want to get some better rods for each technique to help me hook more fish. I tend to loose a decent number of fish and I know its probably because of me 1st, and also my rod power/action. I have 2 Shimano Stradic Ci4 spinning reels now, I bought one and got one for my b day.

And now I want to start getting some decent spinning rods that's will last me a long time. I intend to stick with all St. Croix because I can get a discount through them. I have read almost every thread about rods on here so below is what I was thinking, but any feedback or comments would be appreciated.

Jigging/all around rod: legend elite 6'6" MLF

Rigging: St Croix Avid 7' MF

casting/lindy rig 5/8 of 3/4 jig: Legend Tournament 7' MM (if sensitivity doesn't matter for casting then maybe the eyecon 7' MM?

spinner rig/bait rig - Avid 7' MLF

Yes I know that's some serious coin for all those rods but I have learned the hard way to buy higher quality once instead of buying crap 20 times. My goal is to buy maybe 2-4 rods that can cover me for really any fishing situation minus deep trolling for walleye/smallmouth. And i will be keeping the premier rod as a backup/my girlfriends rod.

If you think I need to add/delete/change anything please feel free to comment below I would love to hear your comments!

[REW]

About the only thing that I would change would be for the rigging rod.

I would go with a 7'6" premier or wild river in ml moderate action.

I prefer the use of basically trout or salmon rods for this purpose, since many trout and salmon have this nice moderate action that gives the user of the rod while rigging a nice visual indication of a strike when a fish picks up the bait.


However, when I check the current St. Croix catalog - I find that they don't carry such a rod, unless you go to an 8 foot avid. That length might be a bit long for you



Good luck

[Moff]

Rod exists in the current St. Croix catalog for the rigging. No reason to downgrade to a premier.



See attached

[twistertom]

I would suggest going with a 7' rod for your jigs. Will give you a little more feel as well as casting distance when using 1/16 & 1/8 jigs.

[Wall-i-Lama]

Originally Posted by goblue4016

Hey All,

Long time follower, first time poster. I am hoping there are some people out there willing to help me choose some new rods to upgrade my arsenal. I have fished with 1 rod only since I began fishing about 6 years ago. A St. Croix spinning Premier 6'6" MLF. I love it, probably because im so used to it now but I use it for fishing every technique from jigging, rigging, casting flicker shads, lindy rig, and even trolling lol. I really only fish for Walleye and bass (mostly smallmouth) up in green bay/ sturgeon bay area. Sometimes i get an occasional northern as well. This next year I intend to do a lot more fishing and want to get some better rods for each technique to help me hook more fish. I tend to loose a decent number of fish and I know its probably because of me 1st, and also my rod power/action. I have 2 Shimano Stradic Ci4 spinning reels now, I bought one and got one for my b day.

And now I want to start getting some decent spinning rods that's will last me a long time. I intend to stick with all St. Croix because I can get a discount through them. I have read almost every thread about rods on here so below is what I was thinking, but any feedback or comments would be appreciated.

Jigging/all around rod: legend elite 6'6" MLF

Rigging: St Croix Avid 7' MF

casting/lindy rig 5/8 of 3/4 jig: Legend Tournament 7' MM (if sensitivity doesn't matter for casting then maybe the eyecon 7' MM?

spinner rig/bait rig - Avid 7' MLF

Yes I know that's some serious coin for all those rods but I have learned the hard way to buy higher quality once instead of buying crap 20 times. My goal is to buy maybe 2-4 rods that can cover me for really any fishing situation minus deep trolling for walleye/smallmouth. And i will be keeping the premier rod as a backup/my girlfriends rod.

If you think I need to add/delete/change anything please feel free to comment below I would love to hear your comments!

Go blue, My advice is to consider moving both or one of your ML rods to M. My favorite St Croix Rods are M with XF tips. I've found over the years that the M simply gives you more backbone to handle larger fish, but you wont loose any sensitivity moving from ML to M. I've found, especially on a jigging rods that the F and XF tips have the same sensitivity, but the XF has an advantage in that the fish seem to detect the fisherman less than on a F tip. I find this is important on a lite jigging bite.

Additional, I would go with Avid and above on all the rods, but don't think you have to go all the way to Legend Elite. I stay in the Avid and Legend Tournament range and simply buy more rods.

I think staying with St Croix is a great plan. I have Ci 4s also and they pair up well with these rods, making very light combos.

Good luck with your decisions!

[goblue4016]

thanks for your suggestions all! I have another question as well. As far as casting flicker shades or lindy rigging. What’s the difference performance wise between a 7’ medium action or fast action. I’ve seen people split down the middle between which they use for both casting and lindy rig rods

[B-man]

Originally Posted by goblue4016

thanks for your suggestions all! I have another question as well. As far as casting flicker shades or lindy rigging. What’s the difference performance wise between a 7’ medium action or fast action. I’ve seen people split down the middle between which they use for both casting and lindy rig rods

I think you're mixing a rod's power up with how a rod bends (action).

Power (how stiff the overall rod is) is referenced in medium, light, medium-light, heavy, extra heavy, ultra light etc etc.

The action of the rod is referenced by slow, moderate slow, moderate, moderate fast, fast, extra fast, etc. Basically how fast or slow a rod "loads up."

A MM rod is medium power, moderate action. A MXF is medium power, extra fast action. A MLF is medium light power fast action. Etc

[goblue4016]

Originally Posted by B-man

I think you're mixing a rod's power up with how a rod bends (action).

Power (how stiff the overall rod is) is referenced in medium, light, medium-light, heavy, extra heavy, ultra light etc etc.

The action of the rod is referenced by slow, moderate slow, moderate, moderate fast, fast, extra fast, etc. Basically how fast or slow a rod "loads up."

A MM rod is medium power, moderate action. A MXF is medium power, extra fast action. A MLF is medium light power fast action. Etc

Sorry if my post was confusing as I understand that. I should have said for casting or lindy rigging purposes what is the difference between a 7’ MM and a 7’ MF.

The things I have read say that the fast action will help cast farther and the medium action will help with fish not knowing their hooked as quickly.

And same for lindy rigging. I would imagine the fast action would be more sensitive but maybe the moderate would help with fish not knowing their hooked as quickly.

I hope that makes sense

[WillowAce]

For cranks I always use a moderate action rod. X-fast and fast rods tend to pull the bait away from the fish and if you are using braided line it only gets worse. I know you said St. Croix and I believe they have moderate action rods in the premier line, casting only, and I believe in their tournament legend line. For a crank rod check out Elk River Custom Rods website. The Walleye Silver line has a 7' medium moderate spinning rod that is designed for casting walleye crank baits.

For jigging rods, if you go anything over 6'6" choose your reel carefully. Long rods have advantages, but they need a heavy reel to balance out the length. If the reel is too light the rod gets tip heavy and you loose the sensitivity you seek.