Ten Rods for Ten More Bass Jobs

Guide customers and readers often wonder how many rods I have. Admittedly I lose count, and you can’t have enough. Most days of the week, I am carrying over 30 St. Croix Rods in my Ranger – between the decks and storage locker.

Since first introducing my story, “10 Rods for 10 Bass Jobs” to critical acclaim in early 2021, I have been able to further explore the St. Croix Rods brand, and personally tinker and experiment with many more rod models and make discoveries during the last two seasons.

Ten Rods For Ten Bass Jobs

In between then and now, we’ve seen a lot of evolvements in rods, in both the direction of bass fishing, manufacturing processes, and the St. Croix Rods brand. To my dismay St. Croix retired the Avid-X and Avid casting rods, replacing them with a new popular line in the Victory during winter 2021. Recently in 2022, they’ve upgraded and technologically enhanced the Legend Tournament Bass in componentry from top to bottom, and given the entry-level Bass-X a face-lift. Likewise, they’ve also released additional technique-specific rod models to further diversify other lineups, invested heavily into surf and ocean fishing markets, and brought along additional technique-specific rods with focus to other species that includes pike, walleye, and panfish.

Fishing rods vary greatly depending on species and techniques, preferences of anglers, and manufacturing processes and componentry from tip to butt. From materials to rod actions and rod powers, a fishing rod can be made in a multitude of different options as St. Croix intricately and diversely offers. Length, power, action, taper and material as well as process can alter weight and balance of rods and that makes for an endless array of options that anglers have to then decipher and make some sort of educated decision on which rod will best fit their needs.

I continue to be on the receiving end of so many inquiries from prospective rod buyers seeking input about specific fishing rod selection and buyer advice. On a near-weekly basis through both my social media pages and here at Northwoods Bass, I’m frequently greeted with reader or customer questions relating to choosing the best rod for a bass fishing specific technique or strategy.

What is the best rod for this specific technique?

With so many well-designed basscentric rods offered by St. Croix, it’s simply a matter of identifying your personal needs, budget, preferences, rod feel, and the consideration of testimony, credible input, and the recommendations that follow.

Manufacturing the ‘Best Rods on Earth” is a huge responsibility. Consequently, knowing which St. Croix rod needed for the job can be overwhelming and intimidating. Choosing and purchasing a new rod is likewise a complex decision.

What you’re about to learn here is presently the Victory is my go-to rod series for dependability, comfort and all-around construction, and its bass fishing diversity and applications. For a more luxurious fishing experience and high-end rod, I frequently turn to the re-made Legend Tournament Bass. Beyond these two bass rod models domineering my boat, I continue to complimentarily employ the Legend Elite, Mojo Bass, and a few select Bass-X rods.

If seeking reference and aid in matching the best rod available for each strategy from grip to tip, look no further than part-II of this series. Each of the 10 additional bass jobs showcased are my recent discoveries, illustrated by the 10 corresponding technique-specific rods to complete the job.

The Job: Frogs / Buzzbait

The Rod: Legend Tournament Slop-N-Frog (LBTC74HF) and Victory Full Contact (VTC74HF)

DESCRIPTION – Frog and slop fishing requires extra power and heavy backbone. Sensitivity isn’t a necessity for launching baits through casting lanes and open pockets, but by default these two rod models provide it.

My recommended frog gear is the Legend Tournament Slop-N-Frog (LBTC74HF), a 7 ft. 4 in. heavy-fast rated for heavy penetration. Another personal favorite is the Victory Full Contact (VTC74HF), also a 7 ft. 4 in. heavy action designed for slop fishing. You cannot go wrong with either one.

In 2022, the entire Legend Tournament line received a face-lift. Prior, the Slop-N-Frog was a little tip-heavy, with many frog anglers critiquing on its over-stiffness. It also seemed brittle. Newly re-designed, it is now lighter with greater sensitivity and possessing more flexibility on the hook-set and extraction from heavy cover. In 2021 I had fished with the previous-gen Slop-N-Frog. The weight distribution and construction between the old technology and new was noticeably improved. It’s truly a pleasure to fish, and very smooth.

In comparison to the 74HF Legend Tournament, the like-minded Victory Full Contact offers even better flexibility and stronger back-bone thanks in part to the SCIII+ blanks and fortified resins. For about $100 less, you still get the same great performance with better flex which is imperative for casting buzzbaits and punch rigs, my preferred strategies with this rod.

For your heavy-cover fishing, work the two rods with a smooth braided line such as Cortland Silent Flip. Available in 50 and 65 pound size, hearing line whizzing through the guides every cast and hook-set is a thing of the past.  

The Job: Spinnerbait

The Rod: Victory Marshal (VTC73MHF)

DESCRIPTION – I am enamored with the sensitivity and flex, and amazed by the power and backbone of the Marshal (VTC73MHF). Not only is it tech-specific, but universal and multi-purpose as well; traits that I need for the typical guide trip in which numerous fishing scenarios play out over the course of a day. Prior to 2022, The Marshal was my paddletail and Carolina rigging rod. After receiving consultation from Brand Manager, Ryan Teach, The Marshal became my new spinnerbait rod.

For years I had struggled identifying and settling on a spinnerbait rod. My criteria are a longer length, because I am a big guy. And a stiff backbone with MHF action to comfortably fish baits up to ¾ oz. Most rods I had used for spinnerbaits would flex too much, become whippy, and give out too quickly from the resistance of big blades and high-speed retrieve. They would only handle spinnerbaits to a certain weight extent before my own cranking fatigue settled in.

The Marshal is no stranger to launching baits. Some of my favorite spinnerbaits are Freedom Tackle’s double-willow spinnerbait in ½ oz. and Z-Man’s Sling Bladez in 3/8 oz and ½ oz sizes with Colorado and willow blades. With any other rod prior, I wouldn’t be able to fish these comfortably. Throughout the season I was working with 15 lb. Cortland Line mono spooled on my 7.0:1 gear ratio Quantum PT Tour Edition.

The Marshal is an overlooked rod for spinnerbaits. Even though each model Victory is constructed and marketed for a specific technique or bass genera in mind, it’s up to the angler and his/hers creativity to determine each rod’s application and best course of action. I’m glad I consulted with one of the rod’s inventors and found a winner.

The Job: Suspending Jerkbait

The Rod: Mojo Bass Jig/Worm (MJC68MHF)

DESCRIPTION – When it comes to jerkbait fishing, most anglers would likely turn to St Croix’s Victory or Legend Tournament jerkbait rods, both are soft 68MXF models. While I do employ both for a variety of softbait and hardbait strategies, their tip segments of the rod are too whippy for my personal needs.

Most suspending jerkbaits I fish are powerful pointer styles, commonly weighing 3/8 to ½ ounce sizes. They also sport lips that enable the baits to cut and dive to a maximum depth. Work them with too light of a rod, and you won’t achieve the optimal diving depth to better reach down to fish. Work them with a rod that’s heavy enough to support them, you’ll achieve even greater lure action with diving depth, maximizing the lure’s power and underwater capability.

The Mojo Bass Jig-N-Worm (68MHF) is a criminally underrated and gem of a jerkbait rod. Don’t let this rod’s labeling for marketing purposes fool you. The 6 foot 8 inch length and fast action is what you want for comfortable jerkbait cadence and manipulation. The stiffer backbone is what you need to for hook-sets and countering with lure resistance.

I like the shorter length, backbone, and it’s fast MHF action which has a lesser give in the tip section to get the slash baits and cutters to dive and dart even further. Don’t be afraid to fish a MHF like this rod. With the right line such as a low stretch 10 to 12 lb. copolymer or fluorocarbon, you have nothing to worry about on hook-sets or fear of ripping baits away from bass.

Most jerkbait rods have the extra-fast tip segment to counter light bites and nippers, common for cold water fishing. Not ideal for large deep diving rip baits, but are best for soft and medium diving jerkbaits. With a heavier action jerkbait rod like this one, I’m targeting the aggressive bait smashers and big fish.

The Job: Spybait

The Rod: Victory Open Water (VTS710MMF) 

When this rod was released in late 2021, it was on my wish-list. The Victory Open Water rod leaves no guessing on what it excels at. Launching baits in big water, open-water scenarios. Designed for spy baits, the Open Water is a perfect match for the strategy.

My boat does a lot of off-shore casting and search bait fishing during the summer and fall months. Intended for spybait fishing, I found several other uses with it that includes covering water with small swimbaits and swimming grubs. These favorites include Megabass Dark Sleepers, and Z-Man’s 3” Minnowz and 5” Kalin’s Lunker Grubs rigged up on 1/8 oz to ¼ oz. minnow style swimbait heads.

Complemented with a long-cast 3000 or 4000 size spinning reel spooled up with 8 or 10 lb. Cortland Masterbraid, and you have the perfect medium moderate action lure launcher to cast baits far while still being able to make contact with fish and hold on to long-distance hook-sets. The large capacity spinning reels I fish it with have zero affect on the weight distribution or balance with the rod. The long length of the rod enables you to hang on to fish that typically strike mid-retrieve, and from several yards out.

Smallmouth fishing strategies are quickly evolving more to open water. Whether you finesse fish or power fish, The Open Water is a can’t-miss.

The Job: Squarebill Crankbait

The Rod: Legend Glass (LGC72MM)

DESCRIPTION – Glass rods are an acquired feel. It took me a while getting used to the S-glass construction of St. Croix’s Mojo Bass Glass and Legend Glass rods. Nowadays, the feel is second-nature.

The Legend Glass is designed specifically for fishing crankbaits and other reaction baits. Featuring lightweight, super premium 100% linear S-Glass blanks, they offer the precise moderate actions you need to cushion the strike and keep fish pinned with moving baits. St. Croix’s lightweight linear S-Glass blanks deliver a much lighter and more responsive glass rod than previous generation fiberglass technology ever allowed.

On most lakes and river systems, squarebill crankbaits are my fish-finders. I employ them with my 72MM Legend Glass.

To help detect strikes, and tame large fish through current, St. Croix Rods Legend Glass is masterful in this craft. It is constructed from linear S-glass with IPC mandrel technology, and several other high end components. The Legend Glass 72HM (LGC72HM), paired with a 6.3:1 gear ratio reel spooled with 10 to 12 lb. fluorocarbon, is the ultimate river crank baiting rod model.

This won’t be a rod for everyone. These aren’t sticks you can just pick up, match with any reel and line, tie on a bait and proceed with casually. This will be a specialized tool that takes careful consideration and time to grow into. It will launch baits a good distance if you’re using a low stretch line like braid or fluorocarbon.

I wish it had an exposed reel seat to better detect bites like some other glass rods I’ve seen, but for this single shortcoming it makes up with ability, strength, hook-setting power, luxury and cosmetics.

The Job: Ned Rig

The Rod: Victory Finesse (VTS71MF)

DESCRIPTION – The Victory Finesse VTS71MF might be the best ever rod created for handing my self-concocted jigworm – the AR Rig – or any ned rig in general.

I have been fishing the Victory Finesse for almost two seasons and it’s one of the finest spinning rods I’ve ever put in my hands. I’ve had the opportunity to try other rods for my ned system and other finesse plastics, but they just don’t compare to this beautiful stick.

Lightweight, sensitive, and well-balanced, it’s well-suited to casting and jigging applications. It can also do more such as handle the drop shot rig, or live bait rig for walleyes and bass too.

In getting acquainted with the VTS71MF for the first time in summer 2021, I immediately rigged with a Z-man Ned Rig and went to work on smallmouths. Not only will it launch a ned, you can feel it roll and hop, settling and standing up on the bottom, to the point you’ll be able to feel bottom transitions.

The rod has plenty of backbone for handling 4 and 5 pound smallmouths. It’s another must-have rod if your game is finesse plastics, or spend a lot of time on clear water fisheries that would necessitate a rod of this style and caliber.

The Job: Damiki Rig

The Rod: Victory Tactical (VTS68MXF)

DESCRIPTION – Do you ever go vertical for smallmouths? Check out this rod, if you ever have the interest to damiki rig.

This is a unique soft plastics technique for catching suspended bass. It works really well on our Northwoods Wisconsin cisco and smelt-based fisheries. Typically, smallmouths school and roam the open water and around deep structure on these pelagic fisheries. It catches a ton of fish whose lifestyles and lake locations revolve on deep water forage.

Good electronics on the boat makes this bite possible. Since smallmouth are visual feeders, open water fish tend to feed upward, you must watch the bait fall and hang on your screen and then lift upward to the desired depth just above suspending smallmouth.  

I make my magic happen with a Victory Tactical VTS68MXF. I like its shorter length to hang baits beneath the boat and while in range of the transducer. The extra-fast action is then a tool for bite detection and hook-sets. Often, smallmouths will gently nip or slurp the minnow. The light ping of the rod tip is your strike indicator, while rod backbone enables you to hoist fish upward.

It doubles as an awesome walleye rod too, for vertical jigging.

The Job: Drop Shot

The Rod: Victory Max Tactical (VTS73MXF)

DESCRIPTION – I dislike drop-shot fishing due to the tendency of catching little fish and propensity of losing very big fish due to light line and small hook usage. However, this specific rod operates oppositely from all of the previous misfortune that I’ve been subjected to.

The Victory Max Tactical has become a technique-specific drop-shot rod for me. I fish the presentation vertically over deep structure, as well as power-shotting (casting) through shallower and mid-depth structure. It has the feels of a medium action rod, but the extra-fast tip gives it the finesse rating.

As you might expect, it can handle casting duties of lightweight baits very easily. If you like ned rigs and swimming with plastics, it’s a good rod for those too.

The other benefit of an extra-fast tapered rod is that reassuring power you get when you do set hard. My hook up ratio with this rod is excellent and while there’s only so much control you can wield on a fish when using a medium powered rod of 10 lb. Cortland Masterbraid with an 8 lb. fluorocarbon leader. The VTS73MXF has a nice, smooth power curve perfectly suited for light line applications and more.

The fore-grip design could take some getting used to. For me, it’s the way I prefer holding my spinning rods.

It’s not a flashy rod. It gets the job done. As a favorite for drop-shotting, the placement of the hook keeper isn’t very practical, as there is nowhere to stow your dropper weight to prevent it from swinging and tangling.

The St. Croix Victory VTS73MXF is durable, reliable, and sensitive for drop-shotting. It has eliminated my phobia of losing monster smallmouths like I had previously farted and done thanks to my prior use of small hooks with wimpy drop shot rods.

The Job: Flipping & Pitching

The Rod: Victory Flip’N (VTC73HMF)

DESCRIPTION – If flipping and pitching is your game, the Victory Flip’N is a must-have largemouth stick. It does a lot more beyond this too, and is capable of punching, Texas rigging, and even casting jigs.

You might think you’ll need a pool cue or heavyweight rod for this style of fishing. But one does not. The VTC73HMF has the capacity of handling lighter offerings from 3/8 oz. to 1 oz. or heavier.

Pitching and flipping was an integral strategy for my boat this past May and June. Our lakes were running low on emerging weed growth, so many largemouths were relocating and adapting to the overabundance of wood cover and flooded bogs that were available for habitat. The Victory Flip’N enabled me to penetrate into the wood and brush, and extract largemouths from these areas.

Paired up with my Quantum Accurist 500PT’s with flipping switches and spooled up with 30 lb. Cortland Masterbraid on the low end and 50 lb. Cortland Silent Flip on the high end, it handled my baits with ease. Throughout the season it worked with a lot of texas rigged tubes and creature baits, and flipping jigs. It’s a fun rod to fish, and gets used often for the heavy cover largemouth fishing I like to do in spring and summer.

The Job: Hair Jig

The Rod: Legend Tournament Hair Jig (LBTS710MLXF)

DESCRIPTION –  Hair jigs catch just about every fish that swims, but there are a lot of design differences based on the target species and time of year. Perfectly employing and executing with them requires specialized gear.

You need a long rod with a large capacity spool to get the fur-ball out there. I’ve previously favored 7 and a half foot medium light rods such as the Mojo Bass Hair Jig (MJS76MLXF), however St. Croix’s new introduction of the Legend Tournament Hair Jig (LBTS710MLXF) overtook it as being my favorite. It launches hair jigs a mile, as evidenced by my guide customers who themselves owned this rod this past season.

Smallmouth will often follow the bait a long distance before striking, so you increase your odds with a long rod, large spool spinning reel, and light braided line. The ultra light-weight and extreme slow fall of the hair jig makes it possible to drag the bait across rough hard bottom terrain. The slow glide also enables it to hang in range of a smallmouth’s strike zone.

On a spring trip in May 2022, my customer Roger Praefke jumped aboard in excitement with his new hair jig setup. His St. Croix Legend Tournament Bass LBTS710MLXF Hair Jig rod was beautiful. Roger slung his new rod with hair jigs all day, catching some 30+ fish by himself – smallmouths to 21 inches, and walleyes of similar size too.

This is a gorgeous, highly coveted rod that every serious smallmouth angler needs for his arsenal.

Obviously, my preferences and needs as a technical angler could greatly differ from yours. The beauty about St. Croix’s rod lineups and offerings is they’ve got a rod hand crafted for every type of angler, a rod for every fishing situation, and a rod type available for all budgetary limitations or needs.

Got questions? I’ll be glad to answer you personally. Hopefully part-II of this rod guide series helps influence your rod buys for these ten bass jobs.

Victory Tactical (VTS68MXF)

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Andrew Ragas splits time between the Chicago area and Wisconsin’s Northwoods. Based in Minocqua, WI, he specializes in trophy bass fishing and offers guided trips from May thru October. While big bass is the passion, he dabbles in multi-species as well. He may be visited online at www.northwoodsbass.com