Thread: Had a busy day today on the water

Wow, Thanks for the pictures. You'll must have had great time filling that ice chest that fast.

Originally Posted by 6poundtest

And actually FILLED my cooler! We had to weight it down between fish at the end or they'd flop out.



There's well over 50 nice 'gills in there, as well as 3 nice crappie. I'm gonna brag a little and be sure to mention that I caught the 3 crappie.

We were late getting on the water, arrived at my favorite piece of real estate about 12:15 pm and we called it quits at 1:45 'cause we started having fish bouncing their way out on their own.

That calico on the top of the pile was a bit over 14" when I pulled him out and laid him on the lid for a quick measurement; the others were just under 14" and right at 12". Here's a better pick or him:



Notice the action on the HB; kinda hard to see but we were in about 21-22' of water and there were fish at the 15-18' mark the hole time we were there but I couldn't get them to bite; we tried lots of things, too before giving up and casting back to where they were biting wildly. We anchored up there and never moved until we quit for the day. The gills were average and above for this water. We only tossed back 3-4 that seemed small compared to the other and wow, did they fight and hit the lures hard; we had a blast! As well as catching the big fish, my partner for the day gleefully reminded me that I caught the small fish, too.......2 actually......small largemouths all of 4" long........ and he didn't let me forget it as we were cleaning them either.

That is some good eating there. Nice job.

Man that's a nice mess of fish. And that's a real nice looking crappie. I like all the yellow in it.

How do you like your st croix panfish rod?

I've come to like it alot. I've had to learn to set the hook harder due to the flexibility of the rod compared to my others. With a tight line after the cast, I can feel every tick coming back through the line; that sensitivity is very helpful in detecting bites. I net pretty much everything hooked on the St. Croix 'cause it bends so easily with the weight of the fish on it. I lose very few fish that I hook with it, due in part to the quick response of the rod as the fish works it around. It seems like they can't get enough slack to gain an advantage to shake the hook out. Would I buy another? Honestly, I'm not sure. It was a lot of coin for me to spend (I'm a frugal New Englander at the core) but I do appreciate good equipment. I worry a lot about breaking it with some stupid move like stepping on it or something, then it will be $100+ out the window.

But, I compare it to one of my fishing partners rods last year. He bought an economical rod/reel combo (around $50 or so) from Cabela's and on his first fish with it, a nice bluegill, he snapped it on the hook set. I was watching it, too and he did nothing out of the ordinary. I saw his tip dip, he set the hook and the rod broke about 2' down from the tip. Cabela's gave him his money back and he invested in a better combo. He did land the fish though; that's how we know what did it. By the time you factor in his expenses back and forth to replace it, he'd have been ahead to have spent the extra at the git-go. But if I step on it or hook it on a tree branch and break it, that's my fault, not the rod's.

Congrats on a great hour on the water!! Looks like a perfect one and didnt even get sun burnt!

Congrats, get the grease hot

Originally Posted by 6poundtest

I've come to like it alot. I've had to learn to set the hook harder due to the flexibility of the rod compared to my others. With a tight line after the cast, I can feel every tick coming back through the line; that sensitivity is very helpful in detecting bites. I net pretty much everything hooked on the St. Croix 'cause it bends so easily with the weight of the fish on it. I lose very few fish that I hook with it, due in part to the quick response of the rod as the fish works it around. It seems like they can't get enough slack to gain an advantage to shake the hook out. Would I buy another? Honestly, I'm not sure. It was a lot of coin for me to spend (I'm a frugal New Englander at the core) but I do appreciate good equipment. I worry a lot about breaking it with some stupid move like stepping on it or something, then it will be $100+ out the window.

But, I compare it to one of my fishing partners rods last year. He bought an economical rod/reel combo (around $50 or so) from Cabela's and on his first fish with it, a nice bluegill, he snapped it on the hook set. I was watching it, too and he did nothing out of the ordinary. I saw his tip dip, he set the hook and the rod broke about 2' down from the tip. Cabela's gave him his money back and he invested in a better combo. He did land the fish though; that's how we know what did it. By the time you factor in his expenses back and forth to replace it, he'd have been ahead to have spent the extra at the git-go. But if I step on it or hook it on a tree branch and break it, that's my fault, not the rod's.

I find that you certainly get what you pay for in rods, It's better to spend a little money especially if you fish gills in the summer in deeper water. Your catch rate will increase for sure. St. Croix is an awesome value in rods, My main gill rod is one of their Avid series rods, not cheap but will last me many years, it's helped put an awful lot of meat in my freezer for sure.