As you may have read in other parts of these pages, I have been fishing for about five years with a nine foot St. Croix “Truimph” paired with a Shimano “Stratic” 4000 reel and I generally love the pair. They are extraordinarily well balanced combo that meet my exact surf-casting needs, 3-4 hours at a time, most Saturdays and Sundays for about 10 out of 16 weeks of the summer. This year, I just wanted something new. I was not yet ready for the ZeeBaas or Van Staal paired with a custom graphite 1-piece, but I wanted an improvement on what I have without paying a lot. I may have found it at a cost of about $270 over the $250 I paid for the Shimano/St. Croix pair I bought 5 years ago.
I bought a Flueger “Supreme XT” 9040XT paired to a nine foot Tsunami “Trophy Series” surf rod and I really like the combo, but I am not quite used to it so I am struggling with a comparison. The first thing I noticed is that the distance from the rod butt to the reel seat is about 3 inches shorter on about a 20″ handle – that’s a difference of about 15%. (The Tsunami handle is the shorter one.) So what does it matter?
There are two use cases, casting position and retrieving position. From a casting point of view, I’m on the fence. While I think you get a bit more leverage with the shorter Tsunami handle, I’m not sure it translates into greater casting distance. It still feels a bit awkward for me and I’m off on the timing so I won’t know for sure until the end of the summer. Retrieving is definitely different. With the weight a bit more rod-forward, it’s a bit more of a work-out on your forearm.
The reel is a dream. It is has a much smoother action than my Stratic from bail spring operation to general cranking. Some of that can be attributed to age, but that does not explain the improvement I feel. The Supreme XT is loaded with 300 yds of 15lb Spectra which is great for light-lining in the surf and some general purpose fishing. The drag is smooth on small fish (6-7 lbs) and I look forward to feeling larger fish on it. The weight is awesome because it is magnesium and it is very stiff – no flex what so ever.
The summer is off to a great start! There is tons of bait in the water and stripers in the surf!