St Croix Legend X 7MHF vs 71MHXF

[Scud_Muffin]

Question for those familiar with the St Croix Legend lineup enough to know the difference between those two surprisingly different rods:

Looking for a multipurpose rod that is focused around jigs and t-rigs, with the ability to throw a wider variety as well. What I am looking for is a well rounded "1 rod" for when I only want to take 1 casting rod or paired with something spinning.

I basically handled a version of each in the store. The 7'MHF seemed to have a really stiff butt section with a soft-ish tip. Its clearly a great rod for t-rigs and jigs. Its rated for 3/8-1 oz so its the heavier of the two ratings. I'm thinking that this one will expand into frogs, carolina territory but may not be as suitable for the moving baits.


The 7'1 MHXF was actually surprisingly a bit softer in the tip and it bent further down into the blank. Its rated for a slightly lower range as well, 1/4-3/4. I'm guessing this will pair better with moving baits like spinnerbaits, swimjigs, maybe flukes or even some topwater, but may have trouble going into heavier stuff. It makes me wonder how well it will do with 1/2 oz jigs comparatively to the other though.

I've heard people say that one particular rod is more versatile than the other, but I've heard it both ways. So am I accurate in my assumptions about which areas one will outperform the other? Which one is actually the more versatile?

I tend to fish for a mix of river bass (wading) and lake bass (shoreline, kayak, inflatable pontoon) down in Georgia.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. I appreciate the help!

[lakesareabassin]

I own the 7'1 MHXF rod and it's a really fun rod. I own Steez and MB Destroyer P5 rods mainly and this one will stay in my lineup no question, so that says something. The 7'1 is versatile. I use it a lot for skipping jigs and t-rigs. I also use it a lot for finesse jig fishing. I think it does those bottom contact techniques very well. I have used it for moving baits as well. I actually really liked it for chatterbaits in the grass where you have to snap them a bit more. Same with the spinnerbaits in that scenario. It has an extra fast tip, but I think St. Croix generally is less XF than other brands. This rod would work well for swim jigs too, but I haven't used it for that yet. I did use it for some lipless cranks, I'd say it feels fine, but you will probably lose more fish that you'd like. So I'd imagine you'd have the same issue with some top water. My $0.02 would be that while it is quite versatile, I'd imagine the 7 MH Fast would be more so. Especially if you imagine using any treble hook type baits with it. I'd lean the 7'1XF to more bottom contact or single hook applications and the 7'F could do more.

Oh the frog question, it'd have to be open water, I don't think I'd throw this into pads much at all.

[Scud_Muffin]

My $0.02 would be that while it is quite versatile, I'd imagine the 7 MH Fast would be more so. Especially if you imagine using any treble hook type baits with it. I'd lean the 7'1XF to more bottom contact or single hook applications and the 7'F could do more.

Oh the frog question, it'd have to be open water, I don't think I'd throw this into pads much at all.

Thanks for your opinion on the matter! Everyone I know who has that rod seems to love it. And yes, for frogging I was imagining little frogs outside of lily pads.

That does sound pretty dang versatile. I wonder if it would actually be better at treble hooks than the MHF because despite the designation it actually seems more limber throughout.