My head hurts.

Being a hunter all of my life I accumulated rifle calibers from .22LR to .375 H&H. I can tell you what bullet works best in each and what it should be used for. Of course there is over lap between several. When I look at my fishing rods I find that most of them are 6 - 6.5', medium or medium light power. How did that happen? I think the answer is I wasn't serious about fishing until recently and being cheap wanted a rod that I thought could do multiple jobs. I guess I could get by with a 6' medium for trout, bass, crappie and float fishing, the little bit of each that I did. Now I am serious about putting crappie in the boat and find I need/want (I tell the wife I Need) some different weapons. Since finding the forum I have been trying to learn to cast jigs and my old rods are not cutting it. Some do ok with a 1/16 oz. but not great. I have come down in line weight from 6 to 4 which helped. I use Pflueger Presidents 25. I am wanting to throw the !/16s better and also use 1/32. I "need" a new rod. I searched on the forum and found tons of threads on ultra light rods. It was pretty confusing but I am starting to narrow it down. I think I want a 6' - 7", ultra lite, fast action, rated for 2lb line and 1/32oz lures. I would prefer a two piece but not all of the ones I like come that way. I think I have it narrowed down to a St. Croix pan fish series, a Bass Pro panfish elite, and TCP. I have been reading about a lot of tip breakage. I don't abuse my equipment but I use it pretty hard. That is one reason I wanted a two piece. I thought it would be easier to replace the tip than try to salvage the remains. I read you don't even want to lift a panfish into the boat with the ultra lights? I probably have a lot to learn about this kind of tool. I go back and forth on picking a favorite but have pretty much decided I am going to buy the TCP for sure and one of the others. I am leaning toward the St. Croix. One problem is I would like to lay hands on all of them before buying. There is a fishing show in Richmond next weekend and I am hoping it is big enough to attract some rod makers. There is also a BPS and Cabela close to Richmond. Only Walmart where I live. Reading the threads, I never imagined there were so many rod makers out there. I am going to try to keep cost to no higher than the St. Croix level, $135.

I am probably making this harder than it needs to be, I usually do before spending money. Just seeing all of this in print clears my head a little.

If you’re interested in St. Croix, check out their “trout” rods. They would be great for what you want to do. Also, most of the rods are 2-piece.

TROUT SERIES SPINNING RODS - St. Croix Rod

The TCB is a very nice rod for the money (trout magnet has a good price) but it is not a “slinging rod”. It was not designed to do that. Very sensitive and a fun rod to fish with 2lb line and 1/64 and 1/32 jigs. I wade fish with mine and when bringing a fish to hand slide my hand down the line while the fish is still in the water and then lifting it out by hand taking any pressure off of the rod. If bank fishing I have a net. good luck with your search. The St Croix are certainly very nice rods.
Bob

The TCB and St Croix are both great rods at each price point. This slinging…boat lifting…..whatever one wants to call it does not belong in the UL world. Now I know some are gonna chime in and say they’re been slinging fish for years using UL rods. But sooner or later…and much sooner if you have a high graphite UL rod….it is going to break. The very first thing I did about 14 years back when I went to UL fishing exclusively was to get a net. I have 3 nets…one for bank fishing…wade fishing and a net for the boat. You won’t go wrong with either rod you have mentioned.

Regards


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

Deleted double post.