Winter Jerkbait Fishing with St. Croix’s Application Specific Legend Tournament Rod

Total Score: 8.00 - GREAT

Introduction: St. Croix continues to ratchet up their bass offerings and the Legend Tournament series are designed to appeal to serious bass anglers looking for truly application specific rods. Over the course of two winter seasons we put the “Jerkbait” rod in the company’s series to the test. 

There are 24 application specific rods in St. Croix's Legend Tournament series, we take a look at the company's jerkbait rod

Impressions: I used to dislike bass fishing in the winter, the combination of cold weather and a slow bite can put a serious damper on fishing, but over the years as I have learned to adapt to different situations with new techniques and have come to actually enjoy fishing in the cold. With warm clothes and the proper gear fishing in the winter can actually yield some exceptional fish. With reduced pressure on the lake it is actually prime time to target lunkers, and if you’re a fan of jerkbaits and ripbaits the winter can be an outstanding time to utilize these lures as well.

The Daiwa Sol matches perfectly in both color and ergonomics with this rod

The rod we are looking at this winter is the St. Croix LTBC66MF which is 6’6” in length and makes use of the company’s IPC tooling, IPC stands for “Integrated Poly Curve” and was developed and is exclusively used by St. Croix to eliminate transitional points in the rod blank, IPC-engineered rods are designed to exhibit smoother actions, increased strength and greater sensitivity.

No mistaking what this rod is intended for

The LTBC66MF (Legend Tournament Jerkbait) rod makes use of high modulus/high strain graphite built with the company’s ART (Advanced Reinforcing Technology). St. Croix describes the Advanced Reinforcing Technology™ (ART™) as an exotic carbon fiber material that adds a magnitude (10X) of strength with virtually no increase in blank diameter or weight. ART significantly improves the hoop strength of the blank by preventing it from deforming or “ovaling” under severe loads, such as a powerful hook set or battle with big fish. ART is also a critical part of the company’s slim-profile ferrule design.

The rod makes use of a Fuji ECS reel seat

When it comes to styling it is easy to see why the St. Croix rods are so popular, each rod the company makes is handsomely adorned with graphics that tie the rod families together, and when it comes to components the team at St. Croix has mastered the combination of simple yet stylish design with application specific functionality. The LTBC66MF features a blue blank covered with two layers of “Flex Coat” gloss and is loaded with ten Fuji Alconite guides held in place with chrome frames.