I bought a St Croix Panfish rod model 6'9" earlier this year and after the first couple trips noticed that the reel seat was a little loose. I contacted St Croix and they sent for my rod and sent me another exact same model. Well, I finally had enough time to test it out a little bit. The first trip was only about an hour and as I mentioned in another post, I was basically fishing with rusty, dull hooks. At first the rod was not as reactive as I'd hope but I guess it just needed a bit of breaking in because it was soon casting like a champ and I was feeling every bite, every pebble and every blade of grass. The jigs couldn't be helped since I didn't have my trust hook file on my trusty Gerber, but I still caught a few; just missed a lot more than I was used to.

The next trip I had new jigs AND my trusty Gerber and the rod proved to be even better than I expected. The hardest bite to detect for me in the Summer is the Crappie tracking a swimming retrieve bite, and that's how these little fellows were biting. After catching 3 in a row on that soft, tracking, mushy bite and feeling it distinctly, I was more than impressed. The bluegill bites felt like a shot directly into my hand. I really honed the pattern to more repeatable results the 2nd trip. 4lb Trilene XT, 1/32nd oz jig and a 2" watermelon seed triple tip grub steady retrieve less than a couple feet below the surface. I have a few pics but nothing like the normal posts made here by you guys.

Each time I fish a new rod and reel it seems the more time you have to break it in the better it works. Weather I fish for Sunfish or Crappie after a few trips out a new rod and reel seem to work a whole lot better. Casting spinner baits is another story. I can usually pick up a bite pretty good on a new rig after a couple of hours.

This is where I was casting from. Mainly casting to the center left.

Nice variety "Jagg"! Good job. Where wore you fishing?

My best panfish rod is a St. Croix 6' UL. It is very sensitive, a great rod.

Fishing from Haymes Res which is a small 2.5 acre what we call in TX tank. I hear you on the new combo fishing. Normally I have to figure out the best way to fish a new combo and learn how it feels. It's been a long time since I actually had to "break in" a rod like this one. The action and feel of the rod actually changed and got much better over time. I was really worried that I had a "dead stick" on my hands, but from the first cast to about 4 hours worth of fishing, it kept climbing and hasn't plateaued yet. I can't remember the last time I felt I had broken in a rod since most modern rods are what they are right off the shelf. It may be because this particular rod is a blended blank or maybe because this is a niche rod and may not get the hands on work and testing some of the more popular St Croix rods see at the manufacturer. Probably the last rod I felt I broke in was a Shimano spinning rod that I bought to fish smaller lures for bass. It was one of the first rods I bought with my own money. Those were the days.

BTW, I hope I haven't jinxed myself by my repeated mention of the b-word.

St Croix really does make a great spinning rod! I've got a few of their different models for panfish and bass.

That piece of water holds a nice variety of fish. Always nice having a place like that to fish!

I use the Bass Pro series 1 ultra light combos. Took me a few trips to really start feeling the light bites. I have several of the Bass Pro UL combos and love em. Also a great Crappie rig.

That's a very nice rod and reel combo. What type of reel do you have on there?

Glad you're liking the rod better each time you use it. I'm sure you will catch many fish with that rig.

It's a Phlueger President XT size 25. They only made them for a few years, but it's probably the best spinning reel I've ever used.

Thanks for all the information that y'all posted in this thread on rods and line.

later...don

Great information Jagg.

I'm too cheap and too hard on fishing gear to buy the good stuff. I have a couple Pflueger President reels and Ugly stick rods for pan fishing. I spend most of my fishing money on fly fishing gear, LOL!!