st. croix premier ice?

[bgreen82]

$35 at cabelas, are these good for that price? looking at the M power panfish/walleye combo.

[zachp]

I bought two of these combos a couple years ago and have thrown the reels away, they're junk, but i did buy 4 other premier rods since and like them a lot. For about $15 extra bucks a tica gv500 will pair up with the rod much better, the drag system on the tica's is inferior, very smooth for such a small reel, most people on here like the sb and ss 500's, I have the ss and gv and cannot tell the difference between the two, both are very smooth and reliable, the only difference is the extra spool and a couple bearings for the ss (and $25 more dollars). The GV500 will cost you around $30 and just the premier rod $20. If you are looking for a panfish/walleye rod i'd go with the Medium light as the medium is a bit heavy for those tender crappie lips, and there is enough back bone in the ML to tangle with a good sized walleye, i've caught quite a few 4 to 6 lb northerns on my medium light while fishing walleyes on a area lake and the rod can hold it's own.

[Pantherburn]

The reels are junk...can't say much for the rods either. First time using it last winter and set the hook and began to reel in and the screw popped out. I had tightened it prior to use as well. I put a new reel on the rod and brought it with for some run and gun panfishing in Grand Rapids and on the first day, the line froze to the tip when I was jiggin' and when I set the hook, the tip broke. It was a nice crappie but surely not enough to break a rod, one would think. I liked it with a spring bobber for pannies but I can get a more reliable rig for $35. Just an opinion, like I said, I liked it before it broke.

[harvey lee]

I've had two Premier ice rods and broke the tips on both. I would save up just a bit more and get yourself a Thorne Bros Perch Sweetheart. Good for the crappies and will also handle the eyes. I believe they are around 50.00. Then put a Tica reel on it and you will have a awesome rod and reel set up.

[iland99]

Put me in the "broken Premier" club too. The nice thing about St. Croix customer service is that when you do break a rod, they refuse to fix it, so you'll never make the mistake of buying a Premier rod again!

[hanson]

I bought my dad a couple Premier combos as well about 2 years ago to upgrade his sticks. They both have broken tips now. Dad takes care of his gear and even stores the rods in Ready Rig cases and both tips broke somehow.

I really can't justify buying ice rods from them anymore.

My darn Legend spring bobber rod still has a line guide problem. Every time I take the rod out of my case, the guides have rotated a little bit around the blank. Its like the blank is getting a twist in it and it stays. Yuck!

My 10 year old Thorne Bros rod is still going strong. Good stuff!

[smg04]

earlyer this year i was looking at the ice rods at gandermt, and right next to the premier combos they had the guide series combos, i compaired them side by side and it was hands down guide series in quality about $6 cheaper also, i have had a few of them now and have never ben disapointed in either the rod or reel on the combo, sombody from st.croix took an extened coffee break or somthing cuz it looked to me like they just kicked them off the line as fast as they could

[Farley]

I have a Premier Ice rod and it's my favorite for jigging walleyes, dont know why all you other guys had problems breaking tips. I agree the reels are pretty much junk. But the rods are good IMO. Maybee you guys can but I cant justify spending $60 on a ice fishing rod alone.

[hanson]

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Maybee you guys can but I cant justify spending $60 on a ice fishing rod alone.

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I know what you mean, but spending $30 TWICE isn't very fun either.

[iland99]

I got to use my Premier twice before it broke. I've had a few Guide Series combos for going on 4 years now, and the only time one broke was when I backed over it with my truck. Brought it in to Gander and they replaced it free of charge, no questions asked. I'm sure Thorne rods are the best out there, but I'm with Farley. No way can I drop $60 on an ice fishing rod. For the price/replacement policy, Gander Guide Series rods are hard to beat. I'd still rather spend $20 once than $60 once.

[so haaad]

I take another route. I only buy ice rod blanks and then custom build my own. The biggest issues with cheaper rods is that the guides are usually very low quality and the guide wrapping/flexcoat does not hold up. Thus, the guides spin like Hanson said. I built a Thorne Bros Sweetheart Walleye with high quality, over-sized guides with custom colored thread for about $40-45 bucks.

[DinkADunk]

What do you use for blanks?

[so haaad]

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What do you use for blanks?

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Thorne Bros sells their blanks for $25. You can get the St. Croix blanks for $12.

One thing I forgot to mention in my last post...Many ice rod blanks are too small in diameter at the tip and the rod tip can't be secured properly. As a result, they come off. (Does this sound like the recent St. Croix ice rods problem???) Thorne Bros have figured it out. If you look at the tip of a Thorne Bros rod, you will see that they use a standard guide as the rod tip. This feature secures the "tip" with a solid thread wrap in addition to the epoxy. In other words, they don't fall off.

[Northlander]

I have several Premiers and never had a problem with them at all. I question all these broken tips. I use Power Pro on mine and it is hard on rods, if you dont set the drag correctly, and never broke one. I think for the price they are hard to beat.

[snoozebutton]

St.Croix rods are being made in China now. They still advertise as being made in the US but they're not. A guy where I work just came over from there and they wanted him to spend a year in China helping set up the new factory before they laid him off. He told them to take a leap.

[so haaad]

I'm currently making two more St. Croix ice rods and a St. Croix fly rod. I think they are a decent company with decent products, regardless of where they are made.

[Moose]

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I take another route. I only buy ice rod blanks and then custom build my own. The biggest issues with cheaper rods is that the guides are usually very low quality and the guide wrapping/flexcoat does not hold up. Thus, the guides spin like Hanson said. I built a Thorne Bros Sweetheart Walleye with high quality, over-sized guides with custom colored thread for about $40-45 bucks.

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I would like some more info on building your own rod could you e-mail me with some instruction on how it is done Thank you. [email protected]