ICAST 2015 Coverage - St. Croix Rods

ICAST 2015 Coverage

How is it Possible? St. Croix Continues to up their Game!

Date:	8/3/15
Location:	Orlando, FL
Admission:	Buyers & Press Only
Manufacturer:	St. Croix Rods
Reviewer:	Cal

Introduction: It's no secret that St. Croix rods out of Park Falls, Wisconsin is regarded as one of the premier rod manufacturers in the world. Not only are their sticks always meticulously crafted, but they invest a lot in their own technology to improve the blanks and strengthen them from the inside out. We look forward to visiting their booth each year to see what's new.

Best of Show Saltwater Rod this year goes to St. Croix Avid Inshore!

The series has been totally revamped.

Avid Inshore: The afore mentioned accolades for St. Croix were once again validated when their newly revamped Avid Inshore rods won Best of Show Saltwater Rod at ICAST's New Product Showcase. the sticks feature newly revamped SC^III blanks, Kigan Master Hand Zerio Tangle guides with solid titanium frames, and a new, seafoam green metallic finish. Reel seats are either Fuji DPS (spinning), ECS or TCS finished with a gunsmoke hood and grips are made of what St. Croix refers to as super-grade cork. Retail price is between $230 - $290.

Now featuring Kigan solid titanium framed guides.

Retail is set for between $230 - $290.

Legend Elite: St. Croix has also upped their game with their top end Legend Elite rods. Constantly improving their blank technology, the SC^V and SC^VI blended graphite blanks are now designed with a new, Taper Enhancement Technology (TET) where the company uses computer designed and cut patterns to improve each rod's action and increase sensitivity through the elimination of unneeded material.

Legend Elite receives an overhaul as well.

Super-grade cork.

There are 57 models in all in the newly revamped Legend Elite series covering everything from bass, walleye, pike, musky, salmon and steelhead. Components for the newly redesigned series are now feature Fuji Torzite guides, Fuji's new TVS seats for spinning rods and the new PTS seat for casting rods. Musky sticks will feature Fuji's PLS-LD palming seats. Despite the upgraded blanks and components, prices will stay close to the same between $370 - $550 depending on the model.

Fuji PTS reel seats reminiscent of Daiwa.

TVS Spinning seats reminiscent of Alien.

But the big component news is Fuji Torzite guides.

57 models in all for 6 different species of fish!

Mojo Bass: Mojo Bass was previously built upon St. Croix's SC^II blanks, but this year, the series receives an upgrade to SC^III delivering many rods in the series up to 15% weight savings and better balance and sensitivity. Cranking rods in the series will remain unchanged since they were made from different blanks (SC^I linear S-Glass).

Mojo Bass graduates blanks!

Mojo Bass was previously built upon St. Croix's SC^II blanks, but this year, the series receives an upgrade to SC^III delivering many rods in the series up to 15% weight savings and better balance and sensitivity. Cranking rods in the series will remain unchanged since they were made from different blanks (SC^I linear S-Glass).

It seems more and more manufacturers are turning towards Kigan for their guides.

All the rods feature Kigan Master Hand 3D guides with aluminum-oxide inserts and premium grade cork split rear grips. Retail for the newly revamped series will be $120 - $140.

The new Mojo Bass will retail for between $120 - $140.

These beefy sticks caught our attention just as we were leaving the booth - Mojo Cat!

Mojo Cat: Just as we were leaving St. Croix's booth, we caught a glimpse of the new Mojo Cat Rods. These beefy sticks are made from a blend of SC^II and SC^I linear S-Glass material to deliver sticks with strong lifting power, yet a flexible, soft tip.

Made from a blend of two different blank materials.

These sticks range from 7' - 8' in length and are all about power with a soft tip.

The series includes five casting and two spinning models ranging from 7'-0" to 8'-0" in length with the same Kigan Master Hand 3D guides with aluminum-oxide inserts. The sticks are hand crafted in St. Croix's factory in Mexico and retail for $150 - $200 depending on the model.

Dave, Rich, and Jeff from St. Croix show us what's new for ICAST 2015.

Earlier this year, I had the honor of sharing the water with Paul Schluter, CEO of St. Croix Rods out on Lake Powell, AZ as gave us a personal preview of the new Legend Elites.

Conclusion: We were lucky enough to preview some of the new Legend Elite bass sticks with St. Croix at Lake Powell, AZ earlier this year so you know a full blown review will be on its way in time for the Spring 2016 season. In the meantime, our thanks go out to the team and family at St. Croix for their generosity both on the water and at ICAST 2015.