Any St. Croix Fans

[10pointer]

I love my St.croix's

I love my other Sages, Loomis' etc, but you cant beat the customer service of St.Croix.

I actually just got back an avid I sent off about a week and a half ago. They called to ask if i would like to upgrade and only charged me $20 for a new replacement rod even though the break was my fault. Just got it back in the mail yesterday and cant wait to hit Racine in a month with it!

Alot of rod companies could take a lesson from St.Croix when it comes to taking care of their customers, their service is top notch!

[stlfisher]

I tested the rod over the weekend. I am very impressed and it performed great. I even managed to land a few 18-20 inch trout on it. It was certaintly money well spent and I can't wait to get back on the water with it.

[3wt]

7'6" 3wt LU is my go to rod. I used to be a bigger St. Croix fan, but they used to be a bit of a better deal for the quality (cost went up, quality didn't go down.) These days I am kind of impressed by the TFO lines and other "cheapie" mid grade rods. I guess they still fill a gap between the TFO/cabelas/Echo grade and the Sage/Loomis grade stuff.

I think the prices in that sale look about as good as the prices were in '01 when I got mine, so not bad. Can't recommend RIO Grand enough for the LU. I started a GPX on it and replaced it with Grand and was thrilled with the immediate difference and in casting and improved distance capability (which really is important with a 3wt so you don't throw a out rotator cuff when you have no choice but streamers.)

[stlfisher]

7'6" 3wt LU is my go to rod. I used to be a bigger St. Croix fan, but they used to be a bit of a better deal for the quality (cost went up, quality didn't go down.) These days I am kind of impressed by the TFO lines and other "cheapie" mid grade rods. I guess they still fill a gap between the TFO/cabelas/Echo grade and the Sage/Loomis grade stuff.

I think the prices in that sale look about as good as the prices were in '01 when I got mine, so not bad. Can't recommend RIO Grand enough for the LU. I started a GPX on it and replaced it with Grand and was thrilled with the immediate difference and in casting and improved distance capability (which really is important with a 3wt so you don't throw a out rotator cuff when you have no choice but streamers.)

I have heard nothing but great things about TFO and I may end up getting one in a different weight next year. The Professional and the Echo Carbon were on my short list as well. Interesting regarding the line...the gentleman at Cabale's metioned he wasn't sure it was the best line for the rod. It seemed to work fine for me, but maybe I will have to experiment. I have not tried Rio yet.

[3wt]

After looking at the link again, those are even better deals than when I got mine (which is a 7'9" not 7'6" like I said). All things considered, for that price I think I'd take the LU. I like to have one "nice" rod and some others that can skimp on finish and nice things like birdseye maple reel seats. My brother has the TFO pro 4 9', and it's close to the LU 4 of my friend's, probably a little slower the the LU, but it fits his smoother cast perfectly. I honestly don't know which I'd choose.

All I can say is that I've become a Rio fan. I always used their leaders, which held knots well, weren't a wierd shade of yellow like climax, and didn't have horrible memory problems. I use their flouro tippet also, and always have luck with it. The Grand just handled efforlessly. A short lightweight flyrod is not and ideal tool for keeping loops perfect, up in the air and still casting more than 15' without extra exertion. The Rio line was a night and day difference from GPX. I don't know why the cabelas guy wouldn't recommend it. Grand is specifically for fast rods, and the LU is definitely on the fast side, maybe the slowish end of fast, but far from a truly intermediate or moderate action.

I'd see if you can find a dealer with a trial set of GPX and Grand in the weight you want, and cast both. For my set up, I use much less effort to cast the Grand. And you can't hardly get the line to crack, nick or develope the dreaded tip-sink syndrome. I think I'm going on 4 or 5 years, and I'm not the type to baby a line or clean it (ever.) I step on it, stretch it, get it in knots and yank it off of limbs and rocks more than I should.

[stlfisher]

After looking at the link again, those are even better deals than when I got mine (which is a 7'9" not 7'6" like I said). All things considered, for that price I think I'd take the LU. I like to have one "nice" rod and some others that can skimp on finish and nice things like birdseye maple reel seats. My brother has the TFO pro 4 9', and it's close to the LU 4 of my friend's, probably a little slower the the LU, but it fits his smoother cast perfectly. I honestly don't know which I'd choose.

All I can say is that I've become a Rio fan. I always used their leaders, which held knots well, weren't a wierd shade of yellow like climax, and didn't have horrible memory problems. I use their flouro tippet also, and always have luck with it. The Grand just handled efforlessly. A short lightweight flyrod is not and ideal tool for keeping loops perfect, up in the air and still casting more than 15' without extra exertion. The Rio line was a night and day difference from GPX. I don't know why the cabelas guy wouldn't recommend it. Grand is specifically for fast rods, and the LU is definitely on the fast side, maybe the slowish end of fast, but far from a truly intermediate or moderate action.

I'd see if you can find a dealer with a trial set of GPX and Grand in the weight you want, and cast both. For my set up, I use much less effort to cast the Grand. And you can't hardly get the line to crack, nick or develope the dreaded tip-sink syndrome. I think I'm going on 4 or 5 years, and I'm not the type to baby a line or clean it (ever.) I step on it, stretch it, get it in knots and yank it off of limbs and rocks more than I should.

3wt - should have been more clear. The gentleman at Cabela's was referring to the GPX line that came with the setup(GPX might not be the best fit) and not the RIO line.

[strangercreek]

I bought an Avid 5wt this spring and haven't put it down since.

[3wt]

3wt - should have been more clear. The gentleman at Cabela's was referring to the GPX line that came with the setup(GPX might not be the best fit) and not the RIO line.

Ahh, I see.Can't pass up the free GPX for 'bundleing' at cabelas. It is high quality, and designed for fast rods. Should do you good until you (inevitably) upgrade to GPX. What reel did you get with it...I guess I'm assuming you bundled.

[stlfisher]

Ahh, I see.Can't pass up the free GPX for 'bundleing' at cabelas. It is high quality, and designed for fast rods. Should do you good until you (inevitably) upgrade to GPX. What reel did you get with it...I guess I'm assuming you bundled.

Yep, I bundled. I got the RLS reel.

[3wt]

Yep, I bundled. I got the RLS reel.

I've had my eye on that one for my old 5wt that has an old scientific anglers sytem 1 noise maker on it. My brother bundled his TFO pro 4wt with the predecessor (LSR), which is quite a nice reel for the money. I am still kicking myself for not picking one up for my when they switched models and were on clearance for somethign like $45. The reel would have cost less than the line I would put on it.