St. Croix Legend

[planofslayer]

I'm wanting to buy a couple St. Croix Legend ice rod. What would you guys suggest for the rod stiffness for panfish and Walleye? Also do you guys like the spring bobbers that come with them? While I'm asking how about a reel, without breaking the bank, to go with it?

[otis]

pannies you want to go light/ultra light. eyes i would go medium. stick with the spring they are well worth it. the rods are great and i bet you will have more after you try them out. i would not spend a whole lot on reels. that it something you will probably something you will be replacing every couple of years anyways

[DinkADunk]

I find that they break very easily when you put them into your bag. Unrig them first, take off the spring, and they may last more than a day. The L/UL is fine for panfish. I find that none of them have the backbone for anything larger (walleye, a larger crapie, pike, eelpout, etc). I was very disapointed trying to hook up a walleye, the rod would bend well into the handle - not my cup of tea. I do like the springs and just modified a Thorne Brothers rod to accomidate (best of all worlds).

[ice-man/vexilar-king]

The only differance between the med and med/light is the spring. Buy what ever the place has and get extra springs. You want the back bone that they offer in case you get a monster on. They don't offer it anymor but you may find even a light spring for it. 2#-4# Florocarbon line. You want a reel with a smooth drag. Stradic, Tica, Stinson, ect. Stay away from reels that the drag serges on Abu 100u, or 300u i would stay away form. Before you buy the reel have the sales person put a little line on it apply normal drag and pull. You will know what i'm talking about in seconds. The light line will load up and snap if you get abad drag. don't go cheap hear. $30 +. My 2cents

[so haaad]

I have a St. Croix Legend medium ice rod and have built two other ice rods using St. Croix blanks. In my opinion, if you are going to spend $50 on a ice rod then definitely consider buying a Thorne Bros rod. Again in my opinion, the Thorne rods are the highest quality ice rods out there, hands down. As far as the spring bobbers on the St. Croix rods, they are about the same as any other spring bobber. But if you've never used them at all, they are great for light panfish and crappie jigs. As for a reel, the Tica Cetus reels are very high quality and you'll find that they have a lot of supporters on this forum (including me). I believe the cheapest version will run you around $30 and is very high quality.

[fishinlocal]

I LOVE the St. Croix Legend rods. I have put gander mountain guide series reels on them (the 10 ball-bearing ones, designed by pflueger for gander). I have two ultra light ones for panfish and the medium heavy for everything else. The backbone to the rods it amazing and the ultra lights are perfect for detecting the smallest of bites. I am not worried about them much as I did pull up a fat 16 1/2" LMB on one of the ultra lights with 2# test. What a fight but the rod took it like a champ. I especially love them because of the reel seat, a lot of ice rods do not have the reel seat.

[slipperybob]

Depends on what you target and how big of a target that will be.

On occassions, URL crappies +15" and +19" walleyes can be a battle when they hit hard and run hard. I run a Stradic on them and get play control on my fish. Compare to crappies under 11" and walleyes under 16". Which I've never caught an eater size walleye on URL so I can't say. Even using smaller lines under 3# you'll want the best reel you're willing to pay for.

There's a strong Tica followers on FM and some are Abu's. I'm a Shimano guy, but that's my upgrade from Shakespeare as I didn't make the upgrade into Pfleuger. While it doesn't matter so much for my fishing buddies, I get the advantage of guiding my fish up through my holes vs my buddies somewhat frantic fish fight. There comes a difference from having to spin the reel against a load and just finger tip touching the reel handle. Shimano's are pricey but those reels do get summertime use too.

This year I'm going to use Sustains...now that may sound like overkill and breaks the bank, but... the one time the big one didn't get away is going to be the other story I'll tell.

Look at Pfluegers, Quantums, Abu's, Tica's even BPS ultra lites all good ones starting about $40.

[Scotty]

1 word..... TICA CETUS SB500 you wont regret buying that reel, especially if you fish out in the cold. Very nice for the $ you can buy them for $35.00 at Gander right now! Good luck

[mshs1]

I agree with tica cetus for a small reel also use a spirex by shimano--#35 is good price paid more for mine.

[planofslayer]

Thanks for all the replies. Seems to be a battle between the Thorne Bros. rods and the St. Croix. I guess I haven't checked out the Thorne Bros. stuff. I know I have always used the cheap rods and reels for years and have always had problems with them, especially when I had some nice fish on. I am going to bite the bullet and spend some bucks on some decent equipment.

[MOBY RICHARD*]

I bought one of these a couple years ago but it doesn't seem to have anything to use to attach a reel??? Any help??? Binders perhaps???

[bassislife]

I would go w/thorne bros. They are high quality and you don't have to worry about crooked eyes like on the st. croix's. Pair a thorne bros rod up w/a shimano sedona 500 and you got one hard to beat combo!

[lunker651]

I think you are going to waste your money on the st. croix ice rods. They are junk, I've had 2 med, and a light/med and they all broke thier tips. I did get a replacement but do you want it to happen when you are on a fishing trip, no I don't think so. I sold all mine when I got the replacement and bought the thorne bros ice rods and couldn't be happier.

[Smoore]

was it the spring bobber tip that broke?

[hanson]

 Originally Posted By: Smoore

was it the spring bobber tip that broke?

More than likely not. These rods are absolutely notorious for snapping the rod blank 1/2"-1" behind the tip guide.

I've personally had 1 of my 3 do it.

[Matt Breuer]

I have 3 St. Croix Legend rods. 1 of the old style and 2 of the new style. I love them to death. I have UL, L, and ML actions and like 'em all. I have them equipped with St. Croix PS750 and PS250 reels.

I have owned Thorne Rods, and they're good too.

Moby, electrical tape.

[sodajerk]

I've had good luck with my Legend UL so far, but have only caught maybe 20 fish with it, and I carry it in a Thorne rod bag inside a slip-on sleeve that came with the bag.

I did notice that the rod blank near the tip is really, really small and delicate. Do they break more often during storage/transport or when fighting a fish?

[planofslayer]

Do you guys use the Thorne bros. graphite or the glass? Thorne bros. sure are proud of their rods. If I knew the rods would last for several years I wouldn't mind paying that price. For that kind of money they ought to last a lifetime lol.

[hanson]

 Originally Posted By: planofslayer

Do you guys use the Thorne bros. graphite or the glass? Thorne bros. sure are proud of their rods. If I knew the rods would last for several years I wouldn't mind paying that price. For that kind of money they ought to last a lifetime lol.

I use all graphite Thorne Bros rods, specifically Panfish & Perch Sweethearts, and a couple Walleye Sweethearts for the heavier lures.

They are worth every penny and they do last a lifetime, I've got 2 Thorne rods that I've had for over 10 years.

[ozzie]

Well I can say I have owned 3 legends....1 broke 1 inch from the end while in transport.....I only buy the M/L and then buy differnet springs for heavier jigs even though I never use them....The rod has plenty of back bone to handle bigger fish as I have caught up to 27.5 inch walleyes no problem with the right reel (Ticas for my rods)..

[blueroof]

 Originally Posted By: planofslayer

graphite or the glass?

I mainly use Thorne Bros. graphite rods for active jigging. They are awesome. Hands down the best action available for an ice rod.

I've also been using their glass deadstick and power noodle rods for bobberless fishing. I've fallen in love with the power noodle for setting out with minnows for crappie, heading up during lunch today to pick up another one so I can run two when I target the finicky Croix crappie.

LB

[planofslayer]

Have any of you guys using thorne bros. tried the rods with the screw down handle? Or do you just use the tape on style? Do you use electrical tape to put the reel on the rod?

[sodajerk]

My 2 Thorne rods are both the type with tape-on handles. I use cold shrink tape to hold the reels on. It's a heavier material than electrical tape and has no adhesive to gum up the handles. It only sticks to itself and holds like iron.

My Panfish Sweetheart Plus is a great rod, and I just bought their 16" Sweet Pea rod for sight fishing, for keeping an eye on finicky fish at a certain fishing hole I frequent.

I bought the glass model of the Sweet Pea, because it has a little more backbone than graphite and is more durable.

[planofslayer]

What is cold shrink tape? I've heard of heat shrink that you use a heatgun to shrink it down. Is it the same thing that you are talking about? Never mind I looked it up, pretty cool stuff I'll have to try it out.

[lunker651]

My Walleye sweetheart has the reel seat. My next thorne bros rod is going to be the perch sweetheart with the reel seat. I use hocky tape to set all my reels to the pole and has been working great.