Gear review: St. Croix Avid/Shimano Nasci

[MNtransplant]

After some research and low pressure salesmanship from @JestersHK i finally decided to pull the trigger on purchasing my first higher end rod..a St. Croix Avid series Spinning rod in a 6'-6" length medium light power fast action...i went over to the Bass Pro outlet and found a good deal on a Shimano Nasci size 2500 reel at half price and threw some 10 lb braid on it. This will primarily be a jerkbait setup for night fishing on Taneycomo but I decided to tie on a mono leader and try it out as a jig rod on some creek walleyes and white bass last night..everything worked as advertised! Very sensitive, smooth hooksets and played fish very nicely in the current..i could feel the gravel while swimming a jig along the bottom very easily...and unfortunately I got to test out the durability of the setup when I took a face plant and bashed the rod into a mud bank...cleaned it off at home and hardly a scratch..can't wait to try it again! Well worth the purchase price so far!

[dtrs5kprs]

Cool. St Croix builds a really nice, durable stick. Have many of them.

[MNtransplant]

39 minutes ago, dtrs5kprs said:

Cool. St Croix builds a really nice, durable stick. Have many of them.

Dtrs, what other setups do you have and what do you use them for. I'm thinking my next one will be a light action with lighter line for trout jigs..

[snagged in outlet 3]

I have 3 Eyecons I use for that.

Both 7' and one is light action for jigs and the other med/light for jerks, neds and whacky rigs.

Great rods.  Save a few bucks over the avid.

[Bushbeater]

I've had a Shimano Nasci a couple years now, it's been great but I'll never buy another spinning reel without a free spool switch.

[Mitch f]

St. Croix has great customer service

[MNtransplant]

6 hours ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

I have 3 Eyecons I use for that.

Both 7' and one is light action for jigs and the other med/light for jerks, neds and whacky rigs.

Great rods.  Save a few bucks over the avid.

Do the eyecons have the same 15 year warranty as the avids?

[snagged in outlet 3]

58 minutes ago, MNtransplant said:

Do the eyecons have the same 15 year warranty as the avids?

5 years. 

[Dutch]

I found a good deal on Avids one time and bought 4.  They are all 6.5’ medium.  I kept one for myself and gave the other 3 away.  I use mine primarily for tubes with 10# fluorocarbon line.

[dtrs5kprs]

19 hours ago, MNtransplant said:

Dtrs, what other setups do you have and what do you use them for. I'm thinking my next one will be a light action with lighter line for trout jigs..

Hoo boy...

Triumph 6'6" ML spinning x2- single tail grubs and drop shot

Triumph 6'6" M spin x2- split shot/mojo/whatever you call your mini Carolina Rig, occasionally a senko

6'9" SCIII (Avid DS blank) custom split grip TN handle- light end of Ned Rigging, aka "Little Ugly"

Eyecon 6'6" spin x 3- my original Ned Rig rod, maybe the best factory Ned rod under 7'6"

Premier 6'6" M casting- topwater with braid

Premier 6'6" M casting crankbait label- wake baits with braid... it's a noodle

Legend Tournament 7' MH casting "sweeper spinnerbait" x2 (the old split grip blue rods)- swing heads, frogs in the summer

Legend Tournament Extreme 7' H casting (2009 model, green color flip blank, split grip)- big football jigs, C-rig, pitch and flip jigs

Spin rods all have older Daiwa Exceler 3000 with mix of 6#/8# Seaguar, or some 8# Daiwa J-Braid. Casting sticks mostly have Lew's, the Extreme has an old Chronarch on it. Everything from 15# Seaguar to 50# J-Braid.