Thread: Official Sliming Report

I got a chance to fish the new St Croix Avid 70ULF , this morning.
Sunny , cool ( upper 60’s) and a little windy . A good day to fish a float n jig .
I used a 3mm tungsten hair jig in dark olive , with my old white model Shimano Stradic 1000 and 3# Floroclear . A small weighted 3/4” foam bobber about 18-20” .

The rod cast the float n jig pretty good . It loads and casts without a lot of wobble . Fairly quick recovery for a rod that felt noodlely in my shake test .
This rod just may work out for a F N J rod .

I started in my favorite spot in the far corner of the dam . It took a few casts to catch my first fish , which was a favorite, a nice shellcracker that put a nice bend in the new rod , almost to the handle .

The catching was slower than I like , but I managed to catch three shellcracker and three bluegills before removing the float to see how it would cast with a 4mm tungsten hair jig . Approximately 1/64oz .
I was surprised to get 30-40 feet depending on the wind .
I caught a small bluegill and started working down the bank casting almost parallel to bank , casting out about ten o’clock .
I felt a tap , the rod is surprisingly sensitive for a long rod , and when I raised the rod tip and tightened up the line, the Stradic’s drag start singing . Several long runs .
I eased myself down the bank and was glad the water level had dropped, allow me to get on water level with whatever monster I had on my line .
The rod was bent to handle in a beautiful parabolic bend .
I carefully worked the fish in close and saw what it was , a huge grass carp , over two feet long .
I didn’t want to try to land the fish and risk injuring it , so I got it as close as I could and tried to take a picture of it .
I snapped off three pictures with my phone and all of a sudden the fish found the strength for another run and broke me off .
I lost my jig , but the battle was worth it .

The new rod definitely got a good workout .
I fished floatless for another thirty minutes and caught two more small gills .
I think I’ll try it with some 2# Floroclear next trip and see if I can get a little more distance.

The rod surprised me . I enjoyed fishing with it today .
I had doubts and even took a backup rod , that stayed in the car .

I will post my carp pictures below this post .

Another good outing. Those carp are always a strong fight and a good test of new gear, I’ll take those crackers any day, look good to me.