St croix 2024

MuskyTooth35 reply :

greetings anglers, would a 7 ft medium fast st. croix premier be the way to go if fishing 1/8 oz tubes for smallies in rivers? any reply helps, thanks and fish on!

fishballer06 reply :

Sounds like a great choice.

Goose52 reply :

Are you talking about a spinning or casting rod?

What is the total actual weight of the bait you want to toss?

You could probably get away with using the medium power if you're talking about a spinning rod, but for a casting rod you might need to consider a medium-light.

If you WERE talking about a casting rod, I have two of the 7' med-fast Premier casting rods and they are fairly stout for a medium and have an upper lure weight of 3/4 oz, the same as many medium-heavy rods - not a rod that I would use at the lighter end of it's range.

MuskyTooth35 reply :

@Goose52 i was referring to a spinning rod, and as for the actual weight, not sure. I would be throwing a 1/8 oz tube jig head with a 3.5 in or 4 in tube. I would probably be using 8 lb fluro as well.

Goose52 reply :

On 2/16/2016 at 11:21 PM, MuskyTooth35 said:

@Goose52 i was referring to a spinning rod, and as for the actual weight, not sure. I would be throwing a 1/8 oz tube jig head with a 3.5 in or 4 in tube. I would probably be using 8 lb fluro as well.

Ah - gotcha. You're probably good to go with the medium-fast then...

Cgrinder reply :

Certainly try a MLF spinning rod from the St. Croix lineup of your choosing. If you already have the Medium, it will likely be fine.

S Hovanec reply :

I have an old medium Premier....close to 20 years I'd say. I'd call it a MH any day if the week. IMO, you may want to look at the ML for your application.

offsidewing reply :

I used a 7' MLF Premier spinning rod for anything lighter than a 4" senko or 1/4 oz. It was so handy that I hung onto it even after I replaced it with better quality stuff. Definitely go with a ML vs a Medium.

smallie.mike reply :

I think the 7' medium is perfect. I'm not a fan of medium light rods when fishing rivers with snaggy bottoms. I use a 7' medium avid for 1/8oz tubes and it works perfect. 90% of my fishing is for river smallmouth.

If you are rigging the tubes weedless I would strongly suggest a medium over a medium light. A medium light just doesn't have enough backbone to get a good hook set with a Texas rigged tube imo.

WIGuide reply :

I think a medium will work for what you're doing. It might be worth checking out a medium light as others have stated.

Turkey sandwich reply :

I have a 7" M Fast Premier spinning rod that's almost always rigged with a 1/8-1/4oz tube if I'm on the river. I also fish the Susquehanna, which is way more boulders than weeds. This allows me to just use tube jig heads instead of T-rigging.

I also have an Avid X ML XF drop shot rod that I can substitute that throws tubes well, though I usually keep that rigged with a dropshot. Both sticks fish tubes well, and really, to me, it would come down to conditions and just general preference.

ww2farmer reply :

On 2/16/2016 at 11:26 PM, S Hovanec said:

I have an old medium Premier....close to 20 years I'd say. I'd call it a MH any day if the week. IMO, you may want to look at the ML for your application.

What he said....................when I used St Croix rods, there M power, fast action spinning rods all "felt" like MH's from other brands. I never cared for them.........except the 6'8" M/XF Mojo I had.

MuskyTooth35 reply :

thanks for all of the replies! You guys make it tough to decide between MF or MLF. I know for a fact im gonna get an Avid instead of a premier at this point. Keep the replies coming!!

smallie.mike reply :

On 2/17/2016 at 8:28 AM, MuskyTooth35 said:

thanks for all of the replies! You guys make it tough to decide between MF or MLF. I know for a fact im gonna get an Avid instead of a premier at this point. Keep the replies coming!!

How will you be rigging the tubes?

I wouldn't lump all st croix medium power spinning rods into one catagory. For example I have a 7' medium fast avid and a legend tournament 7'1 medium fast. The legend tournament is definitely a stiffer rod than the avid.

zell_pop1 reply :

If you don't mind the grip on a rage rod you could buy a 6'10" mxf rod for $89 at St croixs website.

MuskyTooth35 reply :

On 2/17/2016 at 8:54 AM, smallie.mike said:

How will you be rigging the tubes?

I wouldn't lump all st croix medium power spinning rods into one catagory. For example I have a 7' medium fast avid and a legend tournament 7'1 medium fast. The legend tournament is definitely a stiffer rod than the avid.

Honestly mike, this is gonna be my first experience fishing with tubes for smallies. What I think im gonna do is just use a 1/8 oz tube jig head and slide it into the tube with an exposed hook, is their a better way to rig these tubes?

smallie.mike reply :

On 2/17/2016 at 9:29 AM, MuskyTooth35 said:

Honestly mike, this is gonna be my first experience fishing with tubes for smallies. What I think im gonna do is just use a 1/8 oz tube jig head and slide it into the tube with an exposed hook, is their a better way to rig these tubes?

It depends on the structure you are fishing. A tube rigged with an exposed hook will get hung up very easily in most river situations and can be extremely frustrating. It may work well for you though depending on the structure of the river you are fishing. For most of my tube fishing for river smallmouth I either Texas rig them with an insert weight, or rig them stupid tube style. Google stupid tube if you've never heard of it.

MuskyTooth35 reply :

On 2/17/2016 at 9:40 AM, smallie.mike said:

It depends on the structure you are fishing. A tube rigged with an exposed hook will get hung up very easily in most river situations and can be extremely frustrating. It may work well for you though depending on the structure of the river you are fishing. For most of my tube fishing for river smallmouth I either Texas rig them with an insert weight, or rig them stupid tube style. Google stupid tube if you've never heard of it.

Okay just googled it and makes perfect sense, theirs a creek that flows into the river that is a silt bottom where nice smallies like to sit, and most days the water is pretty clear so in that situation ill fish the exposed hook, but it times where I can't see the bottom, ill try the texas rig or stupid tube. But what size weight and hook size should I use when i would texas rig the tube?

Allen Der reply :

I'd go with the 7ft medium. it is designed for tube baits, grubs and small worms.

MuskyTooth35 reply :

On 2/17/2016 at 11:46 AM, Allen Der said:

I'd go with the 7ft medium. it is designed for tube baits, grubs and small worms.

do you think 8lb fluro would be good for this setup?

Allen Der reply :

On 2/17/2016 at 12:00 PM, MuskyTooth35 said:

do you think 8lb fluro would be good for this setup?

I'm not a fan of fluoro on spinning reels. I'd go with braid with fluoro leader or good old 8lb trilene XL

MuskyTooth35 reply :

On 2/17/2016 at 12:27 PM, Allen Der said:

I'm not a fan of fluoro on spinning reels. I'd go with braid with fluoro leader or good old 8lb trilene XL

alright cool, any good braids you would recommend and what lb?

Allen Der reply :

I like sufix 832. 10lb should be plenty but you could go 20lb

Turkey sandwich reply :

10 or 20lb braid will suffice, ideally in high vis. I also suggest a flouro or copolymer leader to decrease visibility and add a ton of abrasion resistance.

I texas rig only around vegetation. When I'm fishing rocky rivers, I have almost no trouble with VMC tube Jig heads, or any tube heads with up to 4/O hooks. Any snags are easy to remedy either by paddling, wading, or using the trolling motor to un-snag. Last year I put literally hundreds of smallies in the boat and lost less than a dozen jigs.

Jig heads = rocks, T-rig = weeds

MuskyTooth35 reply :

On 2/17/2016 at 3:14 PM, Turkey sandwich said:

10 or 20lb braid will suffice, ideally in high vis. I also suggest a flouro or copolymer leader to decrease visibility and add a ton of abrasion resistance.

I texas rig only around vegetation. When I'm fishing rocky rivers, I have almost no trouble with VMC tube Jig heads, or any tube heads with up to 4/O hooks. Any snags are easy to remedy either by paddling, wading, or using the trolling motor to un-snag. Last year I put literally hundreds of smallies in the boat and lost less than a dozen jigs.

Jig heads = rocks, T-rig = weeds

thanks for the info man, how long should the fluro leader be

smallie.mike reply :

On 2/17/2016 at 3:14 PM, Turkey sandwich said:

10 or 20lb braid will suffice, ideally in high vis. I also suggest a flouro or copolymer leader to decrease visibility and add a ton of abrasion resistance.

I texas rig only around vegetation. When I'm fishing rocky rivers, I have almost no trouble with VMC tube Jig heads, or any tube heads with up to 4/O hooks. Any snags are easy to remedy either by paddling, wading, or using the trolling motor to un-snag. Last year I put literally hundreds of smallies in the boat and lost less than a dozen jigs.

Jig heads = rocks, T-rig = weeds

Like I said before it depends on the river, all rock is not the same. There are many different types of structure in rivers besides just weed and rock. There's no way I could get away with using an open hook jig in a tube on my local river.

Turkey sandwich reply :

On 2/17/2016 at 8:22 PM, MuskyTooth35 said:

thanks for the info man, how long should the fluro leader be

The leader should never be so long the knot winds up on spool. I'll fish them typically on a 7' Rod and my leaders are usually 5-7". Some folks go shorter, but I like longer leaders for two reasons. 1) if I'm bumping rocks in current, I want flouro or a copoly line like Yozuri Hybrid (my first choice around rocks) making contact instead of braid that will shred. 2). Since, I'm bouncing rocks, I'll likely be re-tieing a bunch as my leader gets scuffed. If I start with 6' of leader, it gives me a lot more to work with throughout the day, versus tieing a new 2' leader every time I have to re-tie.

On 2/18/2016 at 5:45 AM, smallie.mike said:

Like I said before it depends on the river, all rock is not the same. There are many different types of structure in rivers besides just weed and rock. There's no way I could get away with using an open hook jig in a tube on my local river.

Oh, absolutely. If I were fishing anywhere near trees, windfall, stumps, etc, I'm going to be T-rigging or fishing a jig w/craw trailer instead.

hookset on 3 reply :

For line on that set-up, I use Seaguar Smackdon 15lb with a Seaguar Tatsu 8lb Fluoro leader. I prefer a leader length that puts the knot just above the reel when I'm ready to make a cast.

Are you shore bound, wading or in a boat/yak?

Mike2841 reply :

On 2/17/2016 at 8:28 AM, MuskyTooth35 said:

thanks for all of the replies! You guys make it tough to decide between MF or MLF. I know for a fact im gonna get an Avid instead of a premier at this point. Keep the replies coming!!

Good call on the avid, I think it's noticeably better than the premier and worth the extra money. I think the ml xfast, mxf, or the mf would do the trick. I use both the 6'8 mxf and a 6'6 mf and I'm not sure which one I like better.

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