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Posts: 668
Location: mercer wi | Looking for reviews from people who have used them. I don't like my big dawg because it's too short for me. I've been taking to SC about a 9' xh in their lt series. I don't like the 19" rear on premier, of I buy a 10'r I'll have my buddy who builds rods cut rear down to 18" and put full eva foam on rear. |
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Posts: 2280
Location: Chisholm, MN | I’ve used one. I liked it but I prefer my Thorne bro’s predator. I would suggest getting that already custom to your preferences rather than buying something else then modifying it. |
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Posts: 253
| Thorne Bro now stretches their predator blanks up to 10 feet. |
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Posts: 668
Location: mercer wi | Question was about st Croix |
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Location: Vilas | A 19" rear handle is too long.... but 18" is ok? |
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Posts: 668
Location: mercer wi | Weird right the extra inch catches my jacket, hoodie, sleeves just right. I get it, it's strange but just my experience. Also the thickness of the the premier doesn't help, that theodel with a 19" rear |
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Posts: 523
| To be fair, the predator blanks that Thorne Bros uses are the Legend Tournament blanks made by St Croix... You could just as well go the custom route and then have the handle exactly the way you want it. There probably wouldn’t be a huge difference in cost either. Cutting the but end of a factory built rod will likely void the warranty if that matters to you at all.
All that being said, I have extended a couple of Legend Elite blanks out to 10 feet and absolutely love the way they fish. I have also fished with a few of the factory built 10 footers and they are pretty great as well. I wouldn’t hesitate to get one if I didn’t build my own rods. |
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Posts: 668
Location: mercer wi | Extendedo the rear or adding full cork doesn't void warrenty. Only if you modify from the reel seat forward |
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Posts: 1100
| Ohh how i wish the 10 footers or Predators were available here in Europe. |
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Posts: 379
Location: Thief River Falls MN | Double posted |
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Posts: 379
Location: Thief River Falls MN | I own the 10' Blade Master and really like it. The extra 2" behind the reel puts the butt behind my ribs which I like compared to the length of the Big Nasty and Big Dawg. To me action is pretty close to perfect for big blades and you can really launch em if need be. |
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Posts: 242
Location: Madison | Does Cabelas carry them? |
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Posts: 256
Location: plant earth | Yes i ordered one online and shipped to my local store. It took about two weeks from ordering as it ships directly from St. croix to your store. |
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Posts: 242
Location: Madison | Jason,
I sent you a pm. |
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Posts: 35
| The person I usually fish with in Canada and Minnesota had an 18' Ranger Fisherman we took on trips for many years. I had a 9'3" and 9' rod and they were both great in that boat and every other boat for that matter including the old 2000 Champion I have. Those were the old Rollie and Helen's rods that Elk River used to make for them. I really like both of those rods and use them a lot. Either way my buddy traded his 18' Ranger and went to a 19' Ranger which sat up higher in the water. When in the front of the boat running the troller, you sat up very high compared to any other boat I had fished out of. 2018 was the first year we fished in Canada with his new Ranger. Over our week long vacation, I had at least 6 fish that were 48" or better follow that I could not get as wide of figure eight's as I needed. The 9'3" rod was close to what I needed but I screwed up every single 8 on that trip with that rod. And a couple of those fish really wanted to eat but I would usually short change them on the turn, or I'd move too much going in to the 8 where the fish would get spooked. I was having to work a lot harder to get good 8's with the rods I had. I struggled on that trip and knew I wanted to figure something else out. I was actually trying to re-figure out what I needed to do on the 8 playing mental mind games in my head and it was frustrating especially since I only get to Canada once a year now. So last year I started looking at other options. I went to the St. Croix plant in January of 2019 to see the 10' rods they had. I actually went to get one at Rollie and Helen's but they did not have any. The St. Croix plant had one and I got it. It wasn't cheap but I had a couple of gift cards from Christmas that helped. I matched it up with a Revo and I was set. I found the rod to be really nice to use. The handle grip took me a bit of time to get used to, but figure 8's were now really easy to perform from the higher boat especially compared to what I was using. Of the 8 fish I caught in Canada this past year (we count only fish over 40 in our tallys), 7 were caught on the 10' rod. And 5 of those were caught on figure 8's at the boat (49, 45, 44, 41, 40). So I have to give it a good review as the best rod I have used to this point. It does not store real easy in my boat so that is the only issue I had. But I figured out a way to make it work. So I guess if you have the cash to do it, it is a good tool. However if you don't fish out of a boat that sits high in the water you may not need to go that long. As I said earlier the 9 and 9-3 were really great when fishing in a boat that is closer to the water. Hopefully this helps you in any decisions anyone might make. Just an FYI... I did see that Rollie and Helen's does carry the 10' rods - at least when I was there in October they had a couple. Take care... |
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