The fine folks over at St.Croix sent us a copy of the new Legend Xtreme series fishing rods; winner of the 2012 ICAST  Best Freshwater Rod. This is an all-new series of rods geared toward those that demand the ultimate in rod performance, and St. Croix definitely delivers. Here’s our review.

Chances are if you've been in your local Walmart or tackle store looking to purchase a spool of line you've seen to many brands/types of line to count.  It's a bit overwhelming.  Our goal with this article is to make it very simple and easy for the most inexperienced angler to understand then properly chose the type of line that best suits the situation.  This is not scripture, just my opinions based on my experience as a full time guide.  I'll keep this short and to the point. 

Use a spinning reel enough, and eventually your line will look like an old phone cord. If you just said “What’s a ‘phone cord’?” then you’re probably too young to read this, but try to keep up. Anyway, it happens because of the mechanics of loading and unloading line onto a spool. A good way to understand how string gets twisted on a coil is to look at a garden hose on a spool, preferably one of those hoses with the stripe one it. Starting with the hose in the yard, if you turn the spool, the hose goes on neat and clean, and the hose in the yard is drawn in untwisted. However, if you wind the hose onto a fixed spool, by swinging your hand around the spool from the end, the hose becomes terribly twisted.

Figure 1.

Ever walk into a tackle shop and feel overwhelmed at the options? There are literally hundreds of rods from which to choose; all of them different. What’s more, you may have a rod locker full of rods, but still grabbing the one with the lure tied on that you want to use, rather than choosing the one that is right for your fishing situation. Knowing how to select and use the right fishing rod is an essential skill that every angler should have. Here, we will describe some of the key points that you should know.

Rod length is defined as the overall length ONLY and has nothing to do with where the reel is located. So, a rod with a very long butt will effectively fish like a shorter rod. 

Longer Rods – Longer rods give more lure speed but may suffer in accuracy, particularly at shorter ranges.  However, the general rule of poorer accuracy breaks down at very short ranges, such as when flipping or pitching, where you can be extremely accurate with a very long rod.

Rod action refers to the taper design built into a rod. The butt of the rod is where you get most of your power. The tip is where you get your sensitivity. The rod design between the two will determine how the rod performs in key areas, such as the cast, the hook set, and the retrieve.

As mentioned in the introduction, rod “weight” that is quoted on the blank refers to the rod stiffness. It is often referred to as “power” in an equivalent sense. For example a “medium power” and “medium weight” rod would be the same thing.

I have to admit, I started out fishing with a Zebco spincast pushbutton and it served me well for many years. The crank handle was on the right, because…. …that’s where the crank handle was (?). I went through several 202’s, and eventually the Cadillac 303. I think I was in middle school when I finally had all I could tolerate of those things fouling up on the bell,