St croix Legend Elite / Loomis GLX

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Lordwarg
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St croix Legend Elite / Loomis GLX

Post by Lordwarg » Sat Sep 09, 2017 10:51 am

Hi everyone,

I'm in search of a 7' medium spinning rod for zander fishing (european walleye).
I hurried up during the sales of last monday, and I ordered a Legend Elite 7' M on TWH.
But watching the TT review of this rod series, I'm afraid of having a rod that have a too soft tip.
I love fast/extra fast actions for soft baits fishing, so i've seen the loomis glx 843 SJR which seems to be faster than legend elite,
but is the lure rating exact on this rod ?
I'm fishing with 4"/5" soft swimbaits with 3/16 to 3/8oz jigheads (sometimes up to 1/2oz) and I currently have a Kistler micro helium LTA 1/8 - 3/4 that is too flexible for me.

What do you think of that ? Is Legend Elite really fast ?

Thank's

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mysteryang
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Re: St croix Legend Elite / Loomis GLX

Post by mysteryang » Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:43 am

I love my spinning St. Croix Legend Elites and Legend Xtremes. Light in weight, excellent sensitivity, excellent warranty, not mention the superb customer service. In fact when it comes to spinning, I fish only with the Legend Elite and Xtreme in the 7 footers in the medium/fast and medium heavy/fast tapers. What I notice is the Xtreme's tapers are a bit more stiff compared to the Elites even though both are made of the same blank. It's probably the different components built differently that gives both a different feel. Overall, the common census is that Croix rods in general are a bit stiffer when it comes to all the other high end competitors rated in the same lengths, weights, and tapers. And as a predominant shore fishermen, I don't mind this at all.

If you're fishing Walleye or Zander, I think you've made the right choice with the 7' med/fast Legend Elite. That's what I use also with weights starting from 1/16 oz. and sometimes up to 3/4 oz. Yes, 3/4 oz!

But I'll add that 3/4 oz. might be considered overkill by many but if you have to get the lure further, deeper, and faster then you pretty much have no other choice. Any weights less than 3/4 oz. would be optimal.

So if you're staying in the range of 3/16-3/8oz then I think you'll be perfectly fine!

How's the rod coming along? :)

fishindad
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Re: St croix Legend Elite / Loomis GLX

Post by fishindad » Mon Oct 02, 2017 1:05 pm

I agree with mysteryang's comments. I also fish Legend Extreme spinning rods as well as Avids. St Croix's fast actions are truly fast action. But they do tend to underrate the power of their rods - meaning their M power are more like a M-MH and their MH are more MH-H power. But if it says fast action then they are indeed fast action. Compared to Loomis MBR they might be a tad faster.

I agree that the 7 foot M fast rod you have is perfect for the baits you mentioned. I've never fished for zander but do fish for walleye and that spin rod is my go-to.

lilalaune33
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Re: St croix Legend Elite / Loomis GLX

Post by lilalaune33 » Tue Oct 03, 2017 10:02 am

I use a Legend Elite ES86HF2 Salmon Steelhead for jigging zanders - preferably big ones in our rivers (Germany) 8-). It is also rated as fast and indeed it is fast. Nevertheless it works very well to the middle section when you fight with a huge fish.

I mostly use 3/8 up to 5/8 jigheads together with 5 " shads (Easy Shiner etc.). The rod probably can handle more but I am happy with this range. Please note that I don't push my tackle to the limit as it doesn't feel right to me.

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mysteryang
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Re: St croix Legend Elite / Loomis GLX

Post by mysteryang » Tue Oct 03, 2017 1:01 pm

fishindad wrote:I agree with mysteryang's comments. I also fish Legend Extreme spinning rods as well as Avids. St Croix's fast actions are truly fast action. But they do tend to underrate the power of their rods - meaning their M power are more like a M-MH and their MH are more MH-H power. But if it says fast action then they are indeed fast action. Compared to Loomis MBR they might be a tad faster.

I agree that the 7 foot M fast rod you have is perfect for the baits you mentioned. I've never fished for zander but do fish for walleye and that spin rod is my go-to.
Agreed. They do underrate their rods. My 7' medium heavy spinner definitely feels more to the heavy. No complaints though.

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