St. Croix

[Jacob]

I'm new to fly fishing, ive been wanting to do it for a while now so today I went to my local sportsmans warehouse and bought a rod, reel, line etc. I decided not to go for my usual brand of rods because I didnt want to spend that much, being a beginner. I bought a 8'6" 5wt St. Croix, I cant remember the exact model but it was one of their less expensive ones ($70). anyways I brought it home, got everything all set up and went to make a practice cast and it snapped in half

I've heard good things about these rods, has anyone else had problems? im guessing it probably just got mishandled in the store or something. im going to bring it back tomorrow and hopefully they will refund it or replace it.

[shawn]

My first fly fishing set-up was a scientific angler combo.I bought on sale at WAL MART I think it cost about 20.00 bucks.Worked very well but then the bug got me and I started building my own.You know what they say about fly fishing."Teach a man to fish,and he'll eat for the rest of life.Teach him to fly fish and you can sell him thousands of dollars of equipment.

[fish4brains]

St.Croix are great rods. I have 2 spinning rods and have had 4 of their fly rods. The rod either had a manu. defect or got pinched in the store. Anyhow take it back to Sportsmans, they should replace it on the spot. I broke a WWGrigg fly rod after a couple weeks with it and they replaced it no problemo. Let me guess, "Premier" Model? Great learning rod, moderate action, easy to load. If you can go for the 9' length. You won't regret it. " But I fish smaller creeks and brushy areas". If that is the case you need a 7'6". You will not notice 6"more fishing small creeks, but you will notice 6less inches casting in lakes or bigger rivers.

[Rooscooter]

Let us know it they replace it.

St. Croix rods have a good reputation but, like many rod makers, they are having some of their "economy lines" produced overseas and quality can be an issue. I have a 15 year old one that I don't use much any more that served me well.

As a beginner I would urge you to spend a little more on the rod and quality line/leaders and "save" the money with the reel (provided you are not fishing for anything over 4lbs). Reels can get spendy and IMO there is little difference unless you are going for large game and need a quality drag system. I have several rods (more than I need!!) and one of my favorites is my TFO TiCr 5 wt. It is a great rod with the action of much more expensive rods. It doesn't have the prestige of Sage or Winston but it has 95% of the action at 40% of the cost. I think you can get one for around $200.00 or so.

The reason I would opt for a little higher quality rod and line is when learning to cast you should make sure that you are using decent equipment so you don't get discouraged and give it up.

[Jacob]

they replaced it very, very willingly, great place. actually i didnt get it replaced exactly(they offered me several options though;money back, replace, or get a different rod), i decided to get a loomis gl2 its a 9' 5wt. im going test it out tomorrow

[Lotech Joe]

You may have just upgraded from a great rod to an outstanding rod. The GL2 has a MSRP of $180. I fish with a St. Croix 8 1/2'-5 weight Imperial and really like it. Nice move to a GL2.