What high end spinning rod?

Hey all,

I’ve been using decent $100-150 rod for jigging walleyes most my life, but I’ve decided its time to splurge on a truly high end rod. For those of you who are fishing $350+ rods, what are you fishing? I have mainly been looking at the Gloomis GLX and the St. Croix Legend Xtreme. Anybody have experience with these rods?

I’m planning to mostly pitch jigs and plastics for walleye and smallmouth, but I also will probably do some vertical jigging with it. What length/action would you recommend? I was thinking something like a 6’9 ML XF…

I have a couple of legend xtreme rods and have Shimano stradic CI4 reels on them. Very happy with both and the CI4 is light and balances very well.

Not that they are worth the Money, but The Loomis NRX’s are the real deal. Never felt anything close once using a couple.
If you live in the twin city area, go see Dean or any of the crew up at Capra’s.
No one will have near the selection to chose from (other brands included)
No ties with them, just great service and awesome selection
My $.02

Use to use alot of fenwicks…bought a g loomis walleye jigging rod in a 6′ 10″ mag light and ill never use anything else for jigs again…pitch alot of 1/16th to 1/8..never have use plastics with it but they might be a little much its deff a finesse rod..they discontinued that line and now i believe its the walleye imx line

Dan –

Check out the JTX from JT Custom Rods. Sent you a PM as well.

In my opinion while the rod certainly can help when it comes to Walleyes either you feel ’em or you don’t. High end St. Croix aren’t any better then a $60 Cabelas rod for some guys.

Take a look a the newest St.Croix Legend Elite series.

Delete…double post

IMO the new St. Croix Legend Elite 6’10” MLXF is the perfect walleye rod. I know people rave about the NRX and it probably is very nice, but I haven’t used one so I can’t say it is or isnt worth the extra $100. But I know the Elite is worth the $400 and the warranty through St.Croix seems to be better from what I have found through some online reading

Personally I would look for a ML XF 6’8″ or 6’10”. All mfg’s make a great blank for me the handle design is what gets to me. Certain ones will feel better.
Guides are where a lot of the money will be in a higher end stick. REC Recoil guides are great but they do make some noise with braided line. I use them on all my lighter walleye rods. They are some of the lightest guides I ever used.

Look for a rod in the 3-4 oz range and it will feel more lively too.

I build rods for myself as a side hobby mostly on St. Croix because they are readily available. If you are going to go with St. Croix, the Legend Elite is a much better value because you are getting the top end Fuji Titanium guides whereas the Legend Extreme uses Stainless Steel guides. Also, it should be noted the blanks are pretty much identical just a different color.

I put Recoil guides and a full cork Tennessee handle on all my rods and when you combine that with the St. Croix blank you can’t find a much lighter rod.

I run a g loomis nrx with a stratic C14. I’m very happy with this setup.

The G Loomis walleye series GLX822 jigging rod is the best rod I’ve ever used. I hardly use any of the other rods I even own. I have a Shimano Stradic Ci4 on it and it’s incredibly light

Thanks for all the responses guys, I’m going to have a tough decision to make.

Does anybody have any experience with the newer GLX jig & worm rods? I’ve been eyeing the 6’8 M XF (802). These rods are more geared towards the bass guys but I’m thinking they’d make a killer jig stick for walleyes as well.

I run the Loomis GLX Walleye Series Jigging/Pitching rods in medium and mag light with Shimano Stratic CI and could not be happier.

Jake Hendrickson wrote:

Dan –

Check out the JTX from JT Custom Rods. Sent you a PM as well.

Double down on that

I have used the jig and worm gods too, but I like the faster tip of the walleye series jigging rods much more. The decision would be as to what size jigs you plan to use.

Gloomis GLX 6’3″ walleye series. Hands down best all around rod I’ve owned for walleye.

For what it’s worth I have a number of Loomis and St. Croix rods, all very nice however I now use Scheels One Series Limited edition. They are extremely light and strong, have the new recoil guides which are nice, super fast actions, and in my opinion are right up there in quality with the others and they come with a no questions free replacement guarantee. Not bad if you have access to a Scheels store. They are on sale now for $239.00. I still like my Loomis GLX’s and St. Croix Legends but uffda, they are expensive. I have 4 of the Scheels One’s now and highly recommend them.

http://www.scheels.com/shop/scheels-catalog/fishing/rods-and-reels/spinning-rods/scheels-outfitters-2015-one-series-limited-edition-rod-3340-oneb-f5

Most $100 rods were $300 a couple years ago. The $100 shimano rods are a great value. They bought out loomis and are using that technology now. I just can’t justify the extra money for a walleye rod. For saltwater fishing equipment is very important. For freshwater not so much.

I bought my first legend extreme in 6’10” MLXF last spring and fell in love with it. I’ll fight my own kin for it. I fish mainly the missouri river in Bismarck and it is amazing for pitching light jigs. I just put in an order for a 7′ LF to have another option. A guy can use a 2×4 to drag bait around but I want sensitivity for pitching jigs in swift current.