St Croix trolling rod advise

[FISHER ED]

I'm in the market for another trolling rod for walleyes. It will mainly be used to pull 1.5-3oz bottom bouncers with a baitcating reel spooled with Fireline. My current rod is a St Croix Avid 6'2" medium action with an extra fast tip. I am a fan of the St Croix's so would like to stay with them. I know this current rod probably isn't the best choice for this due to it's action but I have to use what I have right now. It seems to handle the weight just fine the the sensitivity is great for feeling the fish when they just hang on to the bait.

What should I look for in a new rod? What length, action and tip is preferred? I see where St Croix has an Avid 7' med heavy with either an extra fast tip or a fast tip and also a 7' heavy with a fast tip. They also have their Legend bouncer rods in a 7' med or med heavy with moderate tip.

How much do the tip actions differ and does it make that much difference for bottom bouncer trolling? I want the sensitivity because I find most of my fish hanging on to the bait instead of the typical "tap-tap" bite.

Or should I be looking at a different rod all together?

[Northlander]

That bouncer rod would be best. It has a nice moderate action. You dont want or nead a fast tip.

Bass Pro makes some good bottom bouncer rods too.

[JohnMickish]

I use that blue Legend Tournament bottom bouncer rod, a 7' medium power moderate action baitcasting rod. It freaking rocks! Bottom bouncing is my prefered method in the summer months and I have used many rods trying to find the "right" one. This one is it. Heavy enough to handle a 3oz weight with an action that will not only let you feel the hits but also lets you see it as well. An awsome rod and well worth the $230 asking price. You can find it during the sales for around $180 or so. There are many rods out there that will work but very few that have been designed from the ground up as a BB rod. If you decide to go in another direction a crankbait rod will work nicely as a BB rod too. Keep the action to a moderate or medium. I've use the Loomis BB rods but I don't like them since for me I feel their actions are to fast for this application.

I have this paired with a Cabelas baitcaster with a flippin switch which makes it nice to adjust depth.

I use 12lb mono to the quality swivel. This line give me the stretch needed for BIG fish but stiff enough to telegraph what's going on.

I also have the same rod in a MHM but it's just a bit to heavy for most of the walleye fishing we do.

[Northlander]

I also used a baitcaster with flippin switch and 12# trilene XT. When running 4 rods I run 2 of the bass pro 6' bottom bouncer combos on the inside and 2 9' rods with my line counters on the outside. Give you a good spread. You can also stager 1 long on boats front rt and one short on front left and 1 long on back left and 1 short on back rt. Both ways work well.

[fishwater]

A lot of guys like to use the St. Croix tidemaster TIC76MM for bottom bouncing. They have a similar action and are significantly cheaper than the legend tournament bouncer rod, also 6" longer which is nice.

[JohnMickish]

Thats a nice tip on the Tidemaster rods, but they use the same ScII blank as the Premier line, and the Premier line is cheaper. The Tidemaster has a 5 year warranty Vs. a lifetime on the Legend.

I do like that they have a 7'6" rod in that action.

Options, tons of options.....

[FISHER ED]

Thanks for the opinions guys. I think I'll try to get my hands on a Legend Tourney and see how it balances out and feels and go from there. That was the direction I was starting to lean toward anyhow.