New St. Croix ice rods are here!

[Steve Foss]

Was in the local outdoors store over lunch hour and they were playing with the new St. Croix graphite ice rods, which had just come in and weren't even on the shelf yet.

They look sweet. They're nearly identical to Berkley Genz series rods in action and look, except the handle is not thick cork but a slimmer graphite. While I like the thickness of Berkley handles, they're short, and tough to put in a rod holder when you're deadsticking. The St. Croixs promise better performance for that.

They'll be retailing for $30, which is a bit under the Berkleys, if I recall. And St. Croix is American made. The guys said the Berkley rods are made in China.

They felt mighty nice. Tried out an ultralight, a light and a medium. They're light with nice balance, and even the medium had a light tip to go with its plenty of backbone.

May have to have my wife put a couple of those on the Christmas list.

[This message has been edited by stfcatfish (edited 10-30-2002).]

[Guest]

How do the guides compare to the Genz Rods? I am more concerned about the size of the guides. What makes the genz rods is the fact that the guides are bigger then most on the market. Scott Steil

[Deitz Dittrich]

I would be willing to bet that both put out a very quality rod... But to be totally honest with you, try making one yourself. Places like Thorne Brothers allow you to pick threw 100's of rod blanks to get the one you want.. then add whatever guieds you want? I have done it myself the last few years and with even just a little practice you have a beautifull rod that you built yourself and is EXACTLY the way you wanted it!

Give it a shot? You can go as simple or wild as you want!

[IcePro]

I have looked at the St. Croix Ice Rods last night and i was not very impressed with the rods.

Hold onto the handle slightly and bend the rod. You will notice that the rod will rotate so your eyelets are no in the natural bend of the rod. All rods have a natural flex to to them, this is where you want the eyelets to be.

Nothing will be the Custom Rods from Thornes. Yes they are more expensive but the quality is there.

[Seabass77]

IcePro,
I believe what you are referring to is the spline. When blanks are made, they are rolled graphite and of course, they have to stop somewhere. This creates an area that has a little more backbone that the rest of the rod.

I asked a st. croix rep about this last year at the sports show and he said that they sight spline all of their rods but simply don’t have the time to go through each and every rod to find the spline and place guides accordingly. He simply stated, “that’s why custom rod builders do what they do”. Some companies are worse than others but I have noticed that you can find this problem in any series of rods.

Joe

[Steve Foss]

ScottS:

The guides are the same size and number as my Genz series.

Yep, any series of rods will rotate like IcePro described. Until you put the spinning reel on. Then no rod in existence will rotate -- there's too much weight pulling downward.

[This message has been edited by stfcatfish (edited 10-30-2002).]

[Surface Tension]

You could go through the pile and find one that has the guides set right to the spline.
Put the butt on the ground and put a slight arc in the rod. Then twist the tip till the rod flips. If its designed for a spinning (openfaced) reel the guides should be on the inside of the bend. Of coarse they would be on the outside of the bend for a level wind.

[Guest]

I have owned two st. croix rods, and both broke on walleyes. These are babyed rods, as are all mine. It is a drawback of the graphite, where all the stress is in the bottom third of the rod. I use all glass or comp rods today. With the quality of line used, sensitivity is not really an issue. I like knowing that my rods will peform and not give out while im out on the lake.

[WallEYES]

STCATFISH
I have some St. croix ice rods of about 5-6 years ago called the nothern lights series? These are good rods, but it's cheaper to use different blanks from China or elsewhere, the quality goes ca-poooot! I truely believe, if yous guys do enough research, a good quality ice rod should cost less than 20 clams, no matter what species you are fishing for and that is the honest to God's truth!

[pulsar_nx]

I just bought one at the winter sports show in minneapolis. I like the handle I think it gives the rod more sensitivity. The guides look to be made of crome or some other type of metal so they wont ware out on fire line and the rod seems to bend in all the right places. Well worth the money. I'm thinking I should have bought another.