[KILSONG]

I got my new 7'6" St. Croix custom rod from Rodwinder along with 7'6" OTI custom rod this morning. Both are rated to 80 lbs and are acid wrapped.
The St. Croix rod from 4M76XHF blank is amazing.
I think the rod/blank is the lightest among 7'6" rods/blanks rated to 80 lbs. The blank weighs only 5 1/2 oz and the completed rod weighs only 12 1/2 oz !
The only question is the light rod can endure heavy pressure of tuna.
I am going to test the rod intensively on upcoming tuna trips.

OTI's 7'6" popping blank is used for the custom conventional acid wrapped rod. Due to the recent airline new regulations, we can not carry over 7' rods for free on airplanes anymore. I found the two-piece OTI's 7'6" rods rated to 80 lbs is a good choice for trevaling
on airplane and the blanks are strong enough for any tuna under 150 lbs. I even carry-on the two-piece rods on airplanes.

Beautiful wrapping job by rodwinder
St Croix 7'6" conventional rod

OTI 7'6" conventional rod

This post edited by KILSONG 10:54 AM 08/02/2008

 

[SwellRider]

Nice wrap Kil. Im sure you'll put those rod to good use.. Did you check out the video? Ken

 

[Meirowitz]

Kil ... you? ... acid wraps? You finally saw the light?

Beautiful wraps by Ralph!

 

[KILSONG]

Meirowitz wrote:
Kil ... you? ... acid wraps? You finally saw the light?

Beautiful wraps by Ralph!

Dick, you know me.
I don't argue much on internet, but when I see some point, I don't hesitate to experiement myself. When Capt Neil showed an acid wrapped custom rod at Freeport show, LI years ago, I thought it makes sense.
SInce then I have experimented with acid wrapped rods,mostly done by rodwinder, for tuna jigging for years and I concluded that the spriral wrappted rods definitely reduce the wobbling problems of big reels when fighting big fish like tuna. I just talked with a professional grouper fisherman in NC and he said he also noticed the lesser wobbling problem when he experimented a spiral wrapped rod after he saw me use the acid wrapped rod for grouper jigging.

This post edited by KILSONG 09:45 PM 08/02/2008

 

[Rodwinder]

HI Kil,

Looking forward to your reports on this St. Croix rod, it has alot of potential

Hi Dick, Thanks

 

[638475]

Any comments or thoughts on how the St. Croix would be as a Cod rod? I was considering these:
4M69XHF 6'9 1 30-65lb. 2-6 oz. XH FAST Classic Jerk
4M76XHF 7'6 1 36-80lb. 3-8oz. XH FAST The Jerk
4M86XHF 8'6 1 36-80lb. 4-10oz. XH FAST Big Dawg
I would love to here some feed back on the jerk, or even ceiling poke thought but another one I am considering is:
4M80MHF 8' 1 20-50lb. 3/4-3oz. MH FAST Top-N-Tail
Any help would be great, how would these blanks compare to a GUSA Wahoo????...I recently had my Cod combo stolen and I am in need of a new one....

 

[paul708]

rods look great kil
good luck with them n the tuna
they look like they should be nice

 

[KILSONG]

walkingontime wrote:
Any comments or thoughts on how the St. Croix would be as a Cod rod? I was considering these:
4M69XHF 6'9 1 30-65lb. 2-6 oz. XH FAST Classic Jerk
4M76XHF 7'6 1 36-80lb. 3-8oz. XH FAST The Jerk
4M86XHF 8'6 1 36-80lb. 4-10oz. XH FAST Big Dawg
I would love to here some feed back on the jerk, or even ceiling poke thought but another one I am considering is:
4M80MHF 8' 1 20-50lb. 3/4-3oz. MH FAST Top-N-Tail
Any help would be great, how would these blanks compare to a GUSA Wahoo????...I recently had my Cod combo stolen and I am in need of a new one....
I chose 4M76XHF as I felt 4M69XHF is a little short and 4M86XHF is a little long for cod/tuna jigging.
I don't think there is any problem to use the rods/blanks for cod though I am not so sure about tuna jigging, but the high price of the blanks(over$200) can be an obstacle to be popularized.

 

[tkfbk]

I built the 4m86xhf for jigging yellow tail in baja last year .I cut tha rod to 8ft .The rod has alot of power and it work great on yellow tail to 50# in mag bay last year . The rod is super lite. I paired it up with a torium 16 . I am going to try it on tuna this year with a ocea jigger 4000p.

 

[tunafever]

walkingontime, that sucks about your cod setup. Check your PM.