Bob Downey Bends His Top 3 St Croix Rods

Video Transcript

Hey evryone, elite series pro Bob Downey here filling in for Polish Pete and we're doing a Rod bending series here with the victory lineup from St Croix This particular one seven three medium heavy fast bait casting rod This is one of the most versatile rods in my opinion in StCroix lineup. I use this rod for several different techniques It's become my Preferred swim jig rod lately. I'll pair it up with 30 to 40 pound braid and you can swim a jig in pretty much any sort of Submergent or emergent type cover. I also love throwing a Texas rig on this rod on offshore cover whether that's brush piles grass lines dragging on offshore rock and gravel on a weed edge. This is a really good rod for that You can throw four to six inch swim baits on this rod more of an open hook on a jig head Winded across grass flats You could throw it for shallow smallmouth in that two to six foot range on sand flats. That's sort of deal Just an extremely versatile rod. I love the handle on these victories. They're super comfortable in hand We're gonna do a quick rod bend here and show you guys why I like it for those techniques Alright, we got the seven three medium heavy fast in the victory series We're gonna do a quick rod bend here show you guys the action and then why I use this rod for those techniques All right, here we go. So you can see that fast action brings that bend back into the medium to butt section of the rod You know an extra fast tip is gonna be more in those first three to four guides there So this thing you could say it has a bit of a parabolic bend it doesn't get bent all the way back to the handle here Which for throwing a swim jig Texas rig a swim bait? You know you want a bit of a beefy back end here To really drive that hook when I get a bite on a fast action rod That bends back into the middle of the tip or middle of the rod there. I tend to not lose as many fish on those type of bait so It's got a great backbone to drive that hook as you can see there a nice Semi parabolic bend I would call it to keep those fishpin and in the victory series of material that they use is just a hair softer than some of their let's say a legend elite series of rods it doesn't mean it's not sensitive or lightweight But it's SC3 plus material So the SC3 has always been a super fishy material with St. Croix But the plus factor lightens up the rod a bit creates a little bit more sensitivity So it's a really nice rod for throwing those Reaction style baits like a swim jig and a swim bait, but it's also sensitive enough where you can throw You know a 10 inch worm on a grass line I threw this rod a couple years ago on Lake Fork flipping eight to ten foot trees with a big worm and it handled it perfectly So the seven three medium heavy fast in the victory series of rods. It's super versatile You can do tons of different techniques for both large mouth small mouth and spot of bass everyone Bob Downey here back at you with my second preferred rod that I have to have in the boat when I'm going bass fishing This is a rod that I've used for years. They just revamped it a little bit It's the avid series from St. Croix. This is a seven foot medium fast spinning rod Extremely versatile rod right seven foot medium fast. You can do so many things with it My preferred technique is throwing a drop shot I've thrown the avid series in this particular length model in action with a drop shot for 10 plus years probably they just reimagine this series a little bit new logo definitely a different handle here and Different material slightly. It's the SC3 plus material So it's gonna lighten up the blank a little bit a little bit more sensitive But it still is soft in ways that you want it to be soft And we'll explain that a little bit here when we do the rod bending series and show you on the wall behind us But I use this drop shot wacky rig you could throw small tubes with it small swim baits Extremely versatile rod if you're looking for a bass rod in the spinning category that you can do a lot of things with the St. Croix avid seven foot medium fast is definitely a go-to of mine. We're on the rod bending wall here seven foot medium fast in the avid spinning series We'll do a quick bend As you guys can see that medium action bends back behind this last guide here, so I would say that's a pretty true medium action in my eyes Reasons I like that for throwing a drop shot is typically you're using a slightly smaller hook a little bit lighter gauge hook I like to throw a braid to a fluorocarbon leader. So that medium action is gonna absorb any sort of You know dive at the boat that those fish are making on those light light hooks , but also on the hook set too You know for me It's just typically a nice light hook set and a reel into that fish and this medium action just pins them perfectly with the braid and the no stretch braid another technique I like with this is throwing small swim baits and Reason being you know wine and bait reaction style bait You want a little bit bigger bend all the way in the back of the rod So when that fish grabs that bait it absorbs it and gets the hook really good Doesn't pull it loose from its mouth. So seven foot medium fast like I said, this has been my go-to Drop shot rod for years. I just got a lot of confidence in the SC3 material. It 's a little bit softer than some of their higher end materials But now that it's SC3 plus It lightens up this rod quite a bit and it makes it a little bit more sensitive We were just on Lake Murray a couple weeks ago. I weighed 90% of my fish on this rod on a drop shot And I'm really looking forward to using this rod when we go to small mouth country too for throwing a drop shot So if you want a versatile spinning rod at a great price point In a rod that's been improved a bit from what it used to be Check out the seven foot medium fast in the avid series from St. Croix. Alright everyone. This is my third rod in my must-haves for bass fishing This is more of a reaction style Technique type rod. What do I mean by that? This is called the ripping chatter Legend tournament bass. This is a 7 to heavy moderate This is more of your composite type rod. There's some glass in this rod. There 's some carbon in this rod What I like about that, you know versus just an all-glass rod when you You know put a little bit of carbon in there. It's gonna lighten it up and make it a hair more sensitive And I think you're a little bit more accurate on small target casting situations, so if you're throwing a chatter bait around docks you're throwing a chatter bait around little isolated You know grass clumps on the bank. You're a little bit more accurate It's a little more responsive than just a full glass rod and also lightens it up as we talked about So it's a little more pleasant to use when you're on the water eight to ten hours a day So chatter bait, you know great chatter bait rod, but you can also throw bigger square bills So you're 1.5 2.0 2.5 square bills It's a great rod for that throwing over grass flats or maybe clay points if you 're down in the south on southern reservoirs Another technique. I really like this rod for is throwing topwater walking ba its I pair it with 30 to 40-pound braid and I'll throw You know your walking baits on shallow bars if you're on a Tennessee River from the Mississippi River You might throw it over sand flats If you're on a natural lake you might throw it over a grass flat in a post- spawn situation But it's a really good topwater rod when you pair it with braid to and we'll kind of show you what I mean by that This has a really great parabolic bend But it stiffens up a little bit in the butt section which you need for throwing some of those baits So let's get on the wall We'll do a rod bend and I'll show you why this is my third pick in my must-h aves for bass fishing All right guys, we're here on the wall. We're gonna bend this rod Show you what we're working with with the 7-2 heavy moderate in the legend tournament bass So we got a really nice bend all the way into the backbone here In comparison to that medium heavy that you know kind of quit bending in the middle section of this rod This thing gets all the way down to the handle What I like about that when you're throwing a bladed jig That fish absorbs that bait a lot better. You have a better tendency to not only hook that fish but land them and Let's say you're throwing a topwater with braid you're dealing with treble hooks That braid is gonna allow you to throw that bait a lot further and get good hooks in it on a long cast But you need a softer rod to fight that fish and land them and this is a really good rod for that You can see like once again. I'll far into the backbone that thing bends We're dealing with a moderate action here. So All the way almost to the handle here is where that thing bends for us It's gonna allow you to really land those fish at a higher percentage Lastly square bills once again treble hook bait more of a moderate action Just a really good reaction bait Type rod for us. You're not gonna want to flip a jig with this or throw a Texas rig or drag a football jig That's not what we're doing with this rod. This is more of a reaction bait Rod where we're casting and winding those baits back at a good clip It's the ripping chatter like we said it has some glass in it. It has some carbon in it So you get the effects of a glass rod, but it's a lot lighter and just a hair more sensitive Really good rod for making tight roll casts around cover with a chatter bait Square bill that sort of deal. So check it out. This is my third in my must-h aves For fishing large mouse mama all spotted bass and it's definitely one I have in my boat at all times You a (upbeat music) (tense music)