|
|
Posts: 97
| Anyone have experience throwing cowgirls with a St Croix Premier 8'6" (PMXHF)? I just got done with a week of throwing them with an 8' Avid, which seemed good to me, but due to a mishap on another St Croix rod, it looks like I will be stopping at Park Falls to swap out a rod. That, and the Legend were the rods they recommended, but the legend is a little too rich for my blood.
Thanks in advance.
Edited by 55esox 8/18/2008 12:01 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 238
| Yes i got one about three weeks ago for a client rod,it works like a charm for cowgirls.I threw cowgirls on it all day yesterday and really liked how it felt.
Since its purchase i tried callcutta 400te,700te and trinidad 14 on this rod and all felt very good.
I used it to throw dawgs one day with the 400te,verry nice.
The 700te and the trinidad were used for strictly double tens.
If your looking for a rod in this price range for double tens this would be my go to rod for sure.
I threw double tens for a season and half on the 8' foot avid heavy,which does an admirable job but the 8-6xh is way better.
The 8 foot avid heavy is now my go to heavy bucktail rod ie.eagletails,just an awsome big bucktail and spinnerbait rod.
I also have the 8-6xh legend which is a GREAT rod as well but the premier is the same rod except just a little heavier but not alot,except for the slight weight difference your not gaining anthing with the legeng except a liftime warranty.
St Croix will have a specific double ten rod know as the legend sling blade out soon which is going to be an 8-6 heavy,i cant wait to try that one out. |
|
| |
|
| The rod is waay to heavy with not enough tip to be a good cowgirl rod. If all you are looking for is a rod to throw cowgirls, I would advise the Premier MH and if possible get just the blank and have a rod builder build it to 8'9. I know a lot of guys who love that rod for cowgirls.
BTW The best rod St Croix currently makes for cowgirls is the 8ft XH bass swimbait rod. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 97
| Thanks....Im going to put a Penn 975 on the Premier for the 10's and probably a Morrum or Calcutta on the Avid for the other stuff.
|
|
| |
|
| MH for #10's? Too soft which will make the blades feel harder pulling. The rod will load in an 8 when speed is applied as well. I'd listen to the experts who have tried 'em all though. |
|
| |
|
| huh?- You have two conflicting issues when fishing with a cowgirl or any bigger bladed bucktail. #1. The bait is not a good casting lure, they get hung up by the wind. The Premier line seems to be a little bit on the heavier sider then a lot of musky rods, so the MH Premier is almost a Heavy medium heavy action. If I only had to cast and not retrieve cowgirls I would use my 8'9" Diamondback MH. That brings us to #2. The cowgirl is a hard pulling bait, which means my D-back mh is too soft to fish the lures. But the Premier being a little bit on the heavier side fishes them just fine. It is a nice medium if you will. I have used 4 main rods for fishing cowgirls, my 8'6 H Avid, 8'9 H Diamondback, 8'9 steel 20 and an 8'9 xh legend tournament swimbait rod (the bass rod that came out before the musky line). The Heavy Avid struggles when casting into a stiff breeze and that Premier xh has a heavier action then my Avid. Sure, it will be easier to retrieve with your xh premier, but if you can't get the bait out there whats the point? |
|
| |
|
Posts: 90
| last post was from me. |
|
| |
|
| How do you like the steel 20? What do you use it for? |
|
| |
|
Posts: 238
| Guest - 8/18/2008 5:30 PM
huh?- You have two conflicting issues when fishing with a cowgirl or any bigger bladed bucktail. #1. The bait is not a good casting lure, they get hung up by the wind. The Premier line seems to be a little bit on the heavier sider then a lot of musky rods, so the MH Premier is almost a Heavy medium heavy action. If I only had to cast and not retrieve cowgirls I would use my 8'9" Diamondback MH. That brings us to #2. The cowgirl is a hard pulling bait, which means my D-back mh is too soft to fish the lures. But the Premier being a little bit on the heavier side fishes them just fine. It is a nice medium if you will. I have used 4 main rods for fishing cowgirls, my 8'6 H Avid, 8'9 H Diamondback, 8'9 steel 20 and an 8'9 xh legend tournament swimbait rod (the bass rod that came out before the musky line). The Heavy Avid struggles when casting into a stiff breeze and that Premier xh has a heavier action then my Avid. Sure, it will be easier to retrieve with your xh premier, but if you can't get the bait out there whats the point?
I have spent alot of time casting cowgirls on every st.croix rod made for musky except customs derived from bass blanks.
The medium heavy blanks cast baits well but thats about it,they over work you on the retrieve and bow to the bait on the eight.
The xh works the bait great,awsome in the eight and i for one have no problum casting cowgirls with this rod,i can bomb casts even into a stiff wind with ease,like really easy,almost no effort.
The rod just plain outperforms a medium heavy blank hands down.
I have thrown d10s on the legeng 8-6xh for a season and 1/2 and just recently the premier 8-6xh and except for a couple ounces in blank weight these rods perform and feel identical.
Both of these rods due an outstanding job in all aspects with regards to d10s.
To each there own,what feels and works good for you,might not for me but i can say without a dought that the either of the st.croix 8-6 xh blanks are not to heavy for d10s and do a great job.
This conclusion comes from countless hours of on the water testing with every st.croix muskie rod in production today.
From an off the shelf production rod in st croix,s line up nothing handles a d10 better than there 8-6 xh,s. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 90
| If the 8'6 is the be all end all for St Croix, then why is St. Croix coming out with a lighter model that is specifically designed for fishing cowgirls?
Phil- The steel 20 is an amazing rod. I am currently using it with my Trinidad 16 for burning bucktails and cowgirls. I can't say enough nice things about that rod. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 697
Location: Minnetonka | My current choice for big blades is the 9' Hamer rod. Awesome action if you like long casts and slamming hooks to fish... also you can't beat the price for a 9-footer.
Edited by Hammskie 8/19/2008 12:12 PM
|
|
| |
|
| Thanks veha, I've been thinking about that blank for some time. Like you, I tend towards the lighter end of the spectrum for a given bait. Have you ever used a heavy diamondback? That's what I'm currently using for big blades and wonder how it compares to the steel 20. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 556
| i have a st. croix 8'6 that you guys are talking about it works excellent for cowgirls a rod with a bit of tip is fine but a lot of tip just makes it harder to pull in and do a good figure 8 |
|
| |
|
Posts: 90
| Its not the lighter side for cowgirls, its normal. The Steel blank has a softer tip to it then the Diamondback. I run an 8'9 H Diamondback with a 400te for regular cowgirls, Jakes, Pacemakers and Lowriders mid size and up etc. I have a Steel 20 with the Trinidad 16 for things I want to go fast with. I can't tell you which I like better, but if you are going to get a custom built play around with the blanks and pick out one that is on the lighter side. Not all of the blanks are the same and you can generally find one to fit what you prefer. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 97
| guts...are you using the 8'6" xh premier or Tournament? |
|
| |
|
Posts: 90
| 55esox- I guess the best way to answer your question is to ask you, What type of rod do you like? Do you like something that is a little heavier then the normal? Some people do. My fishing partner is in love with his H Avid kicked out to 8'9, but he admits that he likes his rods on the heavier side. He uses my H Diamondback for Killer Eels where I use my MH. If that is the case you might just like the Premier XH. The H Avid is the heaviest I have seen people fish cowgirls for extended periods of time and enjoy it. That Premier rod is heavier then the Avid.
Bring a reel spooled up with line, a leader, a cowgirl and see if Croix will let you cast them to try them out. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 97
| Thanks for everyones input.
You see, part of the problem is I am not really sure what I need. I do know that the 2 rods I have available to me are the premier xh and the avid. If those rods do the job....fine. If not, they will be used for other applications. I used the Avid last week, and it seemed to do the job fine, but the problem with that is....I might think the performance of that rod is acceptable, when there is another rod type that makes using these baits even easier. I had more of an issue using an reel without a power handle, so maybe any flaw in the rod choice was overshadowed by the fact that I probably need to replace some tendons in my thumbs from cranking those stupid things in.
Looking back on the Avid, it casted fine. I do remember some decent pressure on figure 8's, and casting behind the boat was a no-no. It handled a couple 50" fish without any problems, and was able to get one to eat at the boat on an 8. At the end of the week, any punishment was due to the reel as opposed to the rod.
If I was to answer your question, I guess I would lean a little on the lighter side as opposed to a broomstick. I would think a rod with a fair amount of flex in the tip, but gets into the backbone quickly would be what I would want. I'll give them both a shot and see what the verdict is.
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 238
| veha45 - 8/19/2008 12:03 PM
If the 8'6 is the be all end all for St Croix, then why is St. Croix coming out with a lighter model that is specifically designed for fishing cowgirls?
Phil- The steel 20 is an amazing rod. I am currently using it with my Trinidad 16 for burning bucktails and cowgirls. I can't say enough nice things about that rod. I never said the 8-6xh was the be all end all for st, croix.I only stated that the 8-6xh does a great job with d10s and is currently the best rod in st.croix,s
off the shelf prodution rod available for the job.There is no casting issues associated with the rod it cast d10s just fine,almost effortless.
If you had read my original post you would have noticed that i did not say the rod was perfect,but very suitable to the job of d10s.
I will be getting the new slingblade 8-6h for myself as well as mentioned earlier.
The originator of this post was looking for hands on feed back on a specific st.croix rod and having used one extensivly for the subject at hand i gave my honest feedback on the product and nothing more or less.
My statements were based solely on stock over the counter st.croix product,nothing modified or custom as the original poster already stated the legends,which are close to or less than custom rods were a little rich for his blood. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1462
Location: Davenport, IA | I don't see how a lighter rod makes a retrieve harder. I have no bend in my rod during a retrieve and do not see why anyone would. It may make the figure 8 slightly harder, but I don't' see there being a huge difference. |
|
| |
|
| It doesn't make the retrieve or figure 8 harder. What causes drag is the bait. Unless there's some new law of physics that I'm not aware of, a rod doesn't affect the drag a bait has. Now does it load up when you go into the eight? Sure. And does the lure slow down when the rod loads up? Yep, no argument there. But since the drag of the lure hasn't somehow magically increased as you start your 8, you can actually move your rod a bit faster, and this will compensate for the 'give' in the rod. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 556
| 55esox - 8/19/2008 1:05 PM
guts...are you using the 8'6" xh premier or Tournament?
premier |
|
| |
|
Posts: 457
Location: Minneconia | Thorne's c series 8'6" heavy, great dub 10 rod for $200. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 531
Location: Hugo, MN | I built an 8'6" rod on a blank from Gary Wick, of Gary's Custom Rod, and it is great for DCG's. It is actually the same blank as Thorne's C series. Pretty heavy action, but loads up nicely and casts great. I like a little lighter rod for the fatigue factor. Heavy rods are hard on the elbows and wrists. It seems to me there are some pretty heavy rods on the market today, intended for heavy plastics. I don't like throwing the heavier baits with my 8'6". It seems like extra work to me. I also built a 7'6" rod with Gary that is essentially the same rod minus a foot off the butt section. This rod seems to throw the big baits just fine, and doesn't hurt as bad. Just my 2 cents. |
|
| |
Cowgirl Rod