Finally purchased this rod.
First things though: I originally bought the Curado CDSX74M to throw Ned rigs. Found that it had too much tip to throw anything under 3/8 oz. It was a bit too stiff. Started to use it to throw spybaits and it proven to be really great for that technique.
So I still wanted a longer rod to throw Ned rigs. The St Croix has turned out to be a really great rod for this technique. Paired with a Daiwa Tatula LT 3000 reel, loaded with 12lb Nanofil and no leader. I only use a leader with braid when tossing baits with treble hooks. The leader is usually about 4 to 6 feet long.
I have been using the z-man mushroom head (ned) jigs and Z-man trd finesse worms . This past Saturday fishing was slow. We have had extremely high temperatures this past week and overnight a large drop in temperatures.
Using this rod/technique I outfished my partner who was throwing dropshots, swimbaits (large and small), chatterbaits and shakeyheads.
The rod is extremely sensitive as the bass were not hammering the bait, and I could feel the bait being picked up. I was using a 1/8 jig head and could bomb cast it.
All in all I am very happy with this rod. The only thing I would have liked if it was a 2 piecer like the expride 8'6" rod. The length does make it tricky to move around (house to car to boat and you can't store it anywhere).