St Croix MOJO BASS 7wt Flyrod 1-year Review

 

St Croix MOJO BASS 7wt 1 Year Review

I picked up the Mojo Bass fly rod during Covid2 winters ago, mostly out of curiosity after seeing the commercials.  It looked like it could be a decent backup to my current glass rod I favor for my tube.  The surprise was, I am still fishing it a year later.

 While 80% of my warmwater fishing is from a float tube, I was concerned that maybe the shorter 7'11" length would be an issue.  It was not.  This rod proved to be one of the easiest to cast that I own. And I own a few. Even with lily pads in the backcast.  The length did not hamper elevation at all.

From #8 thru #4 foam Wogs

To average-sized #4 thru #2 Deer hair poppers, this rod handled them flawlessly.

It was able to load easily for short pick-up-and-drop shots to tiny holes among lily pads

And with a single back-cast, able to toss bassbugs accurately at a distance on open water.

Yet it still had the finesse for pond-hopping after crappie 

The Mojo Bass turned out to be everything the commercials and St Croix videos said it was. And then some. An oddity these days in marketing.  I found no flaws in the build out-of-the-box, and a year of hard use later the only thing that is not like-new is the floatant and algae-stained cork. The finish is extremely durable, the guides are still tight and the cork has no gaps, voids or cracking. The 7wt proved not to be finicky with lines either. It threw a Bass Pro Shop BASS taper, an Orvis Warmwater and an SA Bassbug line, all WF7F equally as well.  The rod balances well in hand, is extremely accurate and very durable. It has the backbone to horse largemouths out of algae mats, yet it is soft enough to still put a nice bend on a fat bluegill. Add to that, if you pick up the rod, look it over and fish it, you would not place the price-point where it is. A great value.

It has become my go-to rod

Coast-To-Coast and 30 Years

 

30 years ago in a land "Far, Far Away Donkey", there were two friends who began their float-tube history on the Chambers Creek Pothole chain, in Washington State chasing wild cutthroat on flies.  

The ugly mug in the pic chewing 'baccy would be me.  The blue Cherokee in the background would be mine.  

This fine looking specimen of a fly fisherman is Troy.  The black Bronco in the first pic would be his.  If memory serves me, he's laughing because of a beaver slapping next to him?  But I could be wrong.

Troy fishing the mouth of the feeder stream.  We fished those potholes all year round and never once saw another car aside from ours.  It was our honey hole, and we were spoiled.  Little did we know at the time, we would remain lifelong friends.

And 30yrs later I would again be getting ready for the spring thaw, tying us up boxes of warmwater bugs. Only now he's in the Great Lakes potholes and cedar bogs of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and I'm in Pennsylvania.

Hopefully, these bugs can help put another smile on his face like they did 30 yrs ago.  I know revisiting these pics did for me. 

Good luck Troy!

See you on the water!

2023 1st Trout and Winter Flies

 

The 1st Trout of 2023

A new year has arrived and it was christened with a January Rainbow. The fly of choice was an Apricot w/blood dot McFly Foam egg.  Typical of winter fishing.  Nothing too big, but beautifully colored.

Bringing the first fish of the year to hand is always a memorable event, especially with mild weather and perfect water conditions for January

Between fishable days, the winter is time to rebuild the fly box...starting with the nymph box since those are the flies that will carry through the next few months.

 Time at the Bench

Re-stocking Beadheads

Enjoy your winter at the bench

See you on the water