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 .

Carp pictures

Good job. Glad the rod worked out for you and hope it finds a place in your arsenal. Thanks for sharing.

Carp are a fun by-catch, but they sure are ugly ! I bet you had a good time with it !

Nice redear and congrats on the proper sliming of the new rod with the grass carp. I love the longer rods, protects light line really well when the big ones hit. The more you use them the more fun and rewarding they will be.

Good review. Thanks for sharing your success

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.