St Croix ice rod dissapointment

I bought the $50 rod earlier this season and was very happy with it. Great spring bobber system. Then around Christmas time I bought another. I get it out on the ice and notice the guides are going in every direction and the tip is splitting apart. When you buy these rods they come in a enclosed plastic container so you cannot inspect. To top it off I gave my wife the receipt and rod and got the two mixed up with the other receipt and rod and the store I bought it at gave her a hard time. I inspected both rods very carefully and found more deffects, gathered them up with both receipts and sent them packing. Now I need two new panfish rods. Suggestions?
I am pretty dissapointed in St Criox quality on these ice rods. I always thought very highly of this company. It appears these $50 rods are out sourced to Asia for manufacturing for pennies on the dollar and sold here for top dollar

try HT….. I cannot complain and they run here in Canada at 20.00 a rod.. so less there I would imagine!

I just ordered a 24″ ultra light premium for my grand daughter and am a little worried now. Earlier this week another person from IDO posted that he received a new ice rod with one of the eyes bent at a 45 degree angle.

For walleye a lot of people have been getting the walleye sweetheart and for pannies quiverstick from Thorne Bros. LINK

Good Luck

Check out Thorne Brothers rods. I was just over there tonight and they are very nice. Not the cheapest rods on the market but very nice.

I take it you are looking for a panfish rod since you mentioned spring bobbers?

Definately check out Thorne Bros. For around $60 you get can get the best ice rods made, period. I dont buy anything else since I got my first Thorne rod. Take a look and you wont be dissapointed.

Betwen dad and I we have 5 st. Croix legend ice rods and we’ve never had a problem with any of them. With those 5 rods the smack has been laid down on more gills & crappies than I could ever count. I bet if you contact st. Croix they will make it right.

Hope the ones you ordered come in good shape.I have four of them and love them for panfishing,thats what I do the most.That said I would never mail order them.The same features that make them fantastic for light bitters make them not fair well in shipping.As far as not being able to inspect in the tube .I opened the tube and inspected every one I own before purchase,and would say a good number had issues.For me over the counter is about a 140 mile drive,but the only way I’ll buy one.Not to put voodoo on them but some of mine are of the first ones made and taken care of have held up well.Did notice this year I added one more to my arsenal and they are running a zip tie thru the lure holder and two holes in the tube that seems to help keeping tip from jamming the end of the tube.The little straw idea was no match for UPS.

Time to go Custom. Check with a local builder.

big pike sorry to hear about st. croix rods. me personally i have three DAVE GENZ ICE BUSTERS and i couldn’t ask for a better rod and reel combo for hardwater. They are extremely sensitive, great back bone , and very tough. I put mine to the test everyday on the ice and they perform…. You can get them at any sports store… good luck hope i was able to give you some insight. oh and they are about half the price of st. croix.

When these rods first became available they had some substance. More and more complaints of this nature are being heard about the Croix’s.

Thorne Bros, as mentioned, has an incredible line of custom rods and if you are leaning in this direction you need lean no further than their website.

Off-the-shelf rods offer a lot. The Frabil line has expanded a bit and offers several rods that can target specific needs. Many of these come with the all-important instant-anti-reverse feature in the reels they come fitted with.

Shop around and you’ll find that the old King-of-the-hill has been unseated.

I agree with most the statements made in the above posts, as rod builder myself I could NEVER see paying $50 plus for a ice rod .

You can have one built or build one hellofa ice rod for that kind of money.Just because a high end company built it doesnt mean its the best on the market.

From what I have learnt ,there only 2 companys that make the solid carbon blanks and several that make the fiberglass blanks and all are over seas.

I just built my self 4 new solid carbon ice rods and they all spec out just like the highend ones for ALOT less.

Like others have said here ,explore other makers and you will find one that meets your needs and give many years of use.

A custom made rod can be made just the way you want it, so check out the makers mentioned above..

Bigpike, even though they come in a tube, I open the tube and give it a look see before I buy it. Haven’t been questioned at a store yet for checking things out.

Jami

Thorne Bros is without question the top of the line ice rod builder in the universe. The guys there are professional, knowledgable and eager to help you with any questions or concerns you have. GIve them a try and you will most certainly be a very very happy camper!!

Ace

Speaking of Thorne Bros and the St. Croix rods. I bought a St Croix ice rod a few years ago and wasn’t awed by the quality but loved the spring bobber system.

This year I bought a couple cheap UL rods somewhere, don’t even remember where….and went up into the rod building shop at Thornes and they hooked me up with some guides, thread, springs, and epoxy for making my own “St. Croix” style spring bobbers. A quick stop at Wells Auto for the grommets and I was on the ice with 3 new “st. croix” style rods.

JP

if you want to get the best there is you should check out thorne brothers they are a litlle more than st. croix but they are worth it

I like my panfish poppers for the cost.

Trumar,

Do you sell any of these rods that you make and are talking about here? If so, how much?

I bought a couple of open water rods from a guy a few years ago out of Rochester who makes custom rods and I was very pleased but I lost his name and address.

let me know

I’m another Thorne Bros. Guy. New Convert as of this year actually. Can’t say enough about them. St. Croix is now the back up rod for this year Next year I’m getting 2-3 more. Best part about this is I promise you I could hook a fish with my eyes closed they are so sensitive. No need to stare at the spring.

By the way. I was fishing with a non believer this past weekend. He was using a St. Croix. sitting 2 feet apart in his Otter I was out fishing him 2-1 maybe even more. Then I let him play with my new toy. , bad idea for me GREAT idea for Thorne Bros. He went home and ordered 2 I believe, Now his Croix is his back ups back up.

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I’m another Thorne Bros. Guy. New Convert as of this year actually. Can’t say enough about them. St. Croix is now the back up rod for this year Next year I’m getting 2-3 more. Best part about this is I promise you I could hook a fish with my eyes closed they are so sensitive. No need to stare at the spring.

By the way. I was fishing with a non believer this past weekend. He was using a St. Croix. sitting 2 feet apart in his Otter I was out fishing him 2-1 maybe even more. Then I let him play with my new toy. , bad idea for me GREAT idea for Thorne Bros. He went home and ordered 2 I believe, Now his Croix is his back ups back up.

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Hey Deluxe,

Which Thorne rod are you fishing right now?

I’ve had and I stress had several of the St.Croix Legend Rods. Great Spring Bobber piece of #^&* rod. Do yourself a favor but a nice $15 to $20 rod and make your own St. Croix Clone Spring Bobber.

all you need is a one legged #8 Rod Guide without a ceramic or other type of insert, 1/8″ ID Rubber Grommet from the local hardware store, a St. Croix Spring, a little Super Glue, and some two part Epoxy. Total cost about $10.00

Super Glue the Rod Guide on the tip of your pole and let it dry. Mix up some Epoxy and put it all over the area were the two eyes connect. Let it dry overnight and put in the Grommet and Spring. You might have to run a Drill Bit through the Grommet by HAND not in a Drill just a little to open it up a little bit.

Here is a pic on one of the ones that I have made. I have 4 rods with them on and it works great.

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Hey Deluxe,

Which Thorne rod are you fishing right now?

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James,

I’m using a power noodle. The name says it all the tip is as soft as a noodle, but I don’t fear having a stray toothy fish coming along. I’m more than sure as long as it’s not a beast it’s got the power to land it. I just have to have the ice in the veins to make that happen.

Winter I’m mainly a pan fish guy, unless I’m setting tip ups, So next year I’m picking up another pan fish rod, open for any suggestions, and I think I’m going to have to place an order for one of these specialty walleye rods you and Matt are using and actually give the Walleye more things to worry about.

I’m affraid to actually step foot in the Thorne Bros. Store after using that rod. I don’t have the kind of money I would need to walk out with everything I wanted.

I agree with you on the St Croix rods. They are a nice strong blank but the slip bobber is the biggest pain in the butt I have found. Even after trimming the spring off the line still gets tangled in the spring. The rods are to stiff to use without the spring bobber so you are stuck with that spring bobber. It is a good concept but a bad design

This year I have been having a lot of luck with the Frabill 27″ Quick Tip Rod for panfish. It eliminates all those issues with that spring from the spring bobber and seems to be the perfect balance of sensativity and strength. The best part is you can get one for $29 most places. Out of the 30 rods I have, this one is the best.

I thought the st.croix’s were the best thing you could buy as of last year, but all this talk about thorne bros is making me want to check them out. Sadly I’m not very near a thorne bros location. I bought a legend two years ago and really like the spring bobber, but would agree the rods themselves are not so good. I had to sort through probably 10 of them to find one that the guides were straight on, I just opened up the tubes at the store and inspected them… Also 7 dollars for a spring seems ridiculous. So is it just the ice rods you guys are disappointed with or are there problems with the open water rods too?? It seems everyone still boasts about there st.croix open water rods, so I feel this is not the case, and I was planning on investing in a mojo bass rod this spring hopefully. Just seems odd to me that everyone loves the open water rods so much, but then the company doesn’t do a good enough job with their expensive ice rods. $50 is crazy expensive for an ice rod in my opinion.

It,s mainly the ice rods they are imported. all the open water rods are still made in the usa and at that 30 minutes south of me is the factory. so if i want a st croix i go get one. i also bought a legend ice rod but i bought a blem or second as they call it for half price. I love it mainly for the weight and the spring. I may buy another one but i will probably just get a premier and add a spring. I have both and believe the priemier has a better action.

Ajs

OK, I been reading this all day and might be stickin’ my neck out here but, I’m good at it

My first St. Croix Legend Ice LIR24UL was purchased in 2008 and my next 2009. Yes they came in a tube, the tube was clear.

And yes, I opened the tube both purchases and inspected the rods before buying. Are these the rods being called the cheap rods or did things change in a year?

I have 2 St. Croix Ice Rods that have preformed flawlessly. Since I have owned these two rods, there have been toads for Bass caught not to mention some 32plus inch pike that gave these rods a battle while jigging for pannies, these fish have been pictured and in my reports.

The spring system takes second to none. With in a quick change I can be dropin’ 1/200oz jigs with a UL spring and the next, a lightning spool using a med. to Hvy spring. The only time my line has been caught in the spring after a lesson the first time either line twist or just not paying attention.

I have no complaints and would not trade these two rods for anything. With that said, I will add a Thorne Brothers rod to my arsenal any day. I’m always open to more equipment

They are not cheap rods but st croix cheaped out on american workers by out sourcing to another country. I believe the issue that is happening is poor quality control on st croix,s behalf. It is what it is stcroix,s bread and butter is open water rods so they are going to do what they please.

I can only speak for myself. With that said I’m in no way calling St.croix cheap. I loved mine for the one and a half seasons it was my go to rod. Infact I went to the ice show this year with intent of buying a nice new Tica to put on it. With the deals going on at the ice show I decided to give a thorne bros. A chance still bought my tica but ended up one reel short because I then forgot to get one for the st. Croix .

So cheap no! Heck if it’s my back up I’m not complaining one bit. I just think Thorne bros is better.

i am loving my dave genz true blue rod and reel combo. i just landed a 15 lb. brown trout with it in milwaukee. battled for 15 minutes, and couldn’t have been more pleased with the rod. trust me, it was a good test. for my panfishing, i got the light action combo. i bought a spare tip from fleet farm, attached it to my rod tip. added a frabill popper spring, cut a ht spring ring and inserted it into the lil spring ball. this set-up is basically like the st. croix, but i think much better due to the clearence from spring to line. and using the ht ring, i dont get that dang ice build up, and my swivals dont have a problem either.

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It,s mainly the ice rods they are imported. all the open water rods are still made in the usa and at that 30 minutes south of me is the factory. so if i want a st croix i go get one.

Ajs

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Are all the st.croix’s open water rods made in WI? I thought I saw something on here about mexico/china?

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It,s mainly the ice rods they are imported. all the open water rods are still made in the usa and at that 30 minutes south of me is the factory. so if i want a st croix i go get one.

Ajs

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Are all the st.croix’s open water rods made in WI? I thought I saw something on here about mexico/china?

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Avids, Legend Tournament and Legend Extremes are made in WI.

The first runs of Mojo Bass rods were made in WI. I believe the plan is to move the production of that line to a new St. Croix manufacturing facility in Mexico. I’m not up-to-date on where they’re at with that transition.

I believe the Triumph series is a “Made in China” product line.