[stripermike]

I just picked up the St Croix Ben Doerr surf rod model SS106MH2. Rod seems nice and has had a lot of good feedback on the board but I have a question. I notice the distance between the reel seat and the first line guide seems to be farther than what I am used to seeing on a surf rod. I was wondering does this hinder casting in any way or possibly cause other problems such as line twist, etc? Mind you I am no expert. Have only been surf fishing for 2 years. Have a baitrunner 4500 that I used to fish on a 10' ugly stick. Was looking to upgrade that stick and chose the St. Croix. Any feedback would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

 

[Captneilf]

stripermike

Hi,

St Croix makes very nice rods. Have many good times using it to fight fish.

Test cast the rod and watch how the line goes thru the stripper guide, guide above the fore grip. The line should go thru smooth and linear as possible. If the line bunches up entering the guide OR slaps the blank this is an indication that the striper guide is too close to or to far from the striper guide. This friction will cause the loss of casting distance.

If either of these conditions exist you can try your other reels to see if one will give better conditions. The height of the spool center line above the blank and the diameter of the spool can have an effect.

This is why when I build a spin rod I have the customer bring the reel he will use on that rod and we test cast the rod at a local park. As he casts I watch the line going thru the guide. I move the guide up or down the blank until the line travels thru the guide properly. When we are both satisfied the guides get wrapped in place.

My customers also get measured for proper location of reel seat. This also effects casting distance, proper arm extension.

Factory rods are designed for the mythical AVERAGE person.

Custom rods are designed for that new owner. This is one of the reason why custom rods are expensive.

I hope this helps.

 

[613687]

I have the same st.croix ben doerr rod you mentioned!
I use a penn 704z and sometimes a penn 6500ss.
I really like this rod.
It has alot of backbone to muscle in a fish.
I never had a problem with it and this will be my 3rd season fishing with it.
I toss only lures with this set-up.
Wish you gud luck an hope you catch a Cow! <'..>>>-<

 

[mgfishers]

Good Choice

I have the same setup and have been using it for about six years now. A definate upgrade over the Ugly stick. Don't worry about the distance beween the reel and the first eye-no problem has ever occurred for me because of this. A good all purpose setup. I first started out with a BR 3500 and appropriatly sized Surf system rod and loved it so much that I went with a bigger version for the surf. I love the BR reels and now everone is copying them, though it did take the other companies a few years.

 

[stripermike]

Thanks guys. Sounds like I made a wise decision!