New St. Croix custom ice rods

al-wichman wrote:

It’s similar in price and name but not reality. St. Croix makes really nice high end production rods. They do not have anywhere on their website where you can choose your handle, your colors, your taper, your length, your guides, or any number of other factors that go into a truly custom rod.

I can call TUCR, Thorne Bros, DH, JT’s, Infinty, Pierce, Kraemer, or any other custom shop and tell him I want a 40 and 1/2 inch light action rod with 5 inches of hi vis yellow on a extremely fast tip and they’ll CUSTOM make it for me and it still probably be less then $140

Sure about that? I know of one company for sure in this list that will not do what you’re asking.

As a custom rod builder myself, it’s sad to see companies devaluing the word “custom” for marketing purposes. And flat-out disrespectful.

$0.02

nhamm wrote:

I’m curious to the rod makers out there what percentage of the rods they put out are asked to sand the taper here, shorten it a bit there, etc. Actual user customization on fishing preferences.

Most people don’t know what their looking for other than the personalization aspect. Most will know what kind of action, power, and length they would like. But that’s where all the questions come in. I will try to get an idea of what you are looking for and what you are thinking of using this rod for. Then I select a blank and sand it to fit. I have built a rod for someone who liked their rod but wanted more “sparkle”. So I bought the blank and there was no shaping. Some people just want something that looks different. Me, I started making rods because I wanted to fine tune the rod action for what I liked for this lure worked that way.

So what about the TUCR’s sold at Cabelas? Are they “custom?” It’s right there in the name, after all.

It’s just branding folks. Like these fishing lures. Nobody in their right mind thinks those Rapalas are being custom painted to their specs right?

Anyone who walks into a store and pays $140 for a rod primarily because they see “custom” in the model name, is a sucker. If you love the rod and don’t mind the price and don’t want to wait for one of the small shops to build you a similar rod, then by all means enjoy the rod. But don’t let yourself think it’s somehow better because of that word.

Joel VandeKrol wrote:

As a custom rod builder myself, it’s sad to see companies devaluing the word “custom” for marketing purposes. And flat-out disrespectful.

Disrespectful? Why take it personally? It’s a business move, you counter/react with your own business move. This just means you have to do more to communicate what sets your product apart. Not trying to be rude, that’s just reality. If the language you once used to market your products is now being used by more well-known competitors to market lesser products, it’s time to find new language.

Just bc it’s a business move doesn’t mean it’s right P2F. False advertising really, and that rubs me the wrong way as well.

nhamm wrote:

Just bc it’s a business move doesn’t mean it’s right P2F. False advertising really, and that rubs me the wrong way as well.

Bingo. There is absolutely nothing “custom” about these rods.

Using the same “language” to sell a lesser product doesn’t mean I need to change my language. It means THEY need to develop ethical business practices instead of using a buzz-word to generate sales when that word isn’t even relevant to the product.

I’m sure the market will dictate sales on this one once anglers realize they are paying $50 for a rod and $100 for a St. Croix decal. I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one this bothers.

I’m starting to worry about the custom van market.

Bespoke rods could be popular. The language was coopted by lord business long before the first custom builder prebuilt a rod in anticipation of a sale.

Ryan Wilson wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>nhamm wrote:</div>
Just bc it’s a business move doesn’t mean it’s right P2F. False advertising really, and that rubs me the wrong way as well.

Bingo. There is absolutely nothing “custom” about these rods.

Using the same “language” to sell a lesser product doesn’t mean I need to change my language. It means THEY need to develop ethical business practices instead of using a buzz-word to generate sales when that word isn’t even relevant to the product.

I’m sure the market will dictate sales on this one once anglers realize they are paying $50 for a rod and $100 for a St. Croix decal. I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one this bothers.

And I wasn’t implying it was “right” or “wrong,” just making an observation.

And to be fair if you’re gonna call out st croix on this you have to call out tucr as well. When they made the foray into selling “custom” rods at big box retailers, did you expect their competitors to just leave that corner of the market untouched?

5 year warranty on tuned up. Thorn brothers warrant is 30 days. Good thing I order mine in the summer

I can walk in to cabelas and buy a tucr. If I go to thorne brothers I can buy 1 of the 30 rods on the shelf. Does that make them custom? Or is it a shop that will do custom work.
Half of “custom rods” arnt custom any ways.

Hate to say it but the st croix rod looks pretty nice. But I won’t know because 150 on a ice rod is dumb.

Some are customized to you liking but a lot of them would more or less fit under the” hand made locally ” title I would think

pool2fool wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ryan Wilson wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>nhamm wrote:</div>
Just bc it’s a business move doesn’t mean it’s right P2F. False advertising really, and that rubs me the wrong way as well.

Bingo. There is absolutely nothing “custom” about these rods.

Using the same “language” to sell a lesser product doesn’t mean I need to change my language. It means THEY need to develop ethical business practices instead of using a buzz-word to generate sales when that word isn’t even relevant to the product.

I’m sure the market will dictate sales on this one once anglers realize they are paying $50 for a rod and $100 for a St. Croix decal. I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one this bothers.

And I wasn’t implying it was “right” or “wrong,” just making an observation.

And to be fair if you’re gonna call out st croix on this you have to call out tucr as well. When they made the foray into selling “custom” rods at big box retailers, did you expect their competitors to just leave that corner of the market untouched?

[/quote

TUCR IS custom and that’s how they started. Just because Cabelas has stock from them in their stores doesn’t change that. They aren’t going to change their logo or name just for that. No, those rods aren’t truly custom because you aren’t having them built with your preferences. But that’s YOUR choice. At least with TUCR you have the option of building a true custom rod.

I was at Scheels St. Cloud the other day buying an auger and checking these rods out. I have to say, I don’t see what the big deal is, especially with the panfish rods. They had surprisingly rigid, stiff tips without a lot of play. If I didn’t know the price already, I would have guessed $60. They do have nice craftsmanship though. I don’t expect these to sell well at all, even if they were $100.

I got a chance to check these out at JSG. First hollow core graphite blank in the ice rod market, which I think makes them custom. With a blend of glass in the panfish line up they felt real nice. I think they are equally up to par with TUCR/TB/JT etc. in craftsmanship. I think price is not a factor at all when a lot of us buy custom/expensive boats/trucks/gear and only use them for weekend recreation

They break quite easily. Buyer beware!

Jeff Telander wrote:

They break quite easily. Buyer beware!

How do you know this. Been out ice fishing with them already

Have a friend who works in a store that sells them. He said they have broken a bunch already.

Jeff Telander wrote:

They break quite easily. Buyer beware!

To be fare to St. Croix, just because its priced high and is a high end rod, does not mean these type of rods are more durable or unbreakable, its actually th opposite. you can throw an ugly stick in the garbage disposal (commercial) and its still good as new. High end rods and components need to be treated as such, and are not necessarily meant to be thrown around like a $20 combo. Im not saying your friend was doing that, I am just saying in general.

Jeff Telander wrote:

Have a friend who works in a store that sells them. He said they have broken a bunch already.

I’m going to guess every kid and their brother comes and bends the tips over as far as possible and snaps them. See people do it at fleet farm constantly. Then that rod that’s super stressed is the one we all go buy with out knowing

As long as some people will pay the exorbitant prices the manufactures will continue to make them.

Haven’t followed the whole thread but I handled the new St. Croix rods at Scheels this weekend and am not sure what the $130 price tag gets you. Craftsmanship was fine, but not really outstanding. I can make neater wraps and have smoother epoxy on my hand made rods (so could anybody else with patience), but I spend hours on each one rather than minutes.
The actions seemed ok, but nothing I was blown away by.

I thought the stripper guide seemed very small on these and I’d worry that the tip might bounce on the retrieve like some cheap rods do. Maybe they spaced it out far enough from the handle that it won’t be an issue.

The noodle rods didn’t have a colored blank at the tip. Just an extended bright thread wrap. Not a bad idea and I may steal the idea for some of my rods. But it looked a little cheaper and any rods I make and sell on the side aren’t selling for $130 either.

They did seem like nice rods but the price tag does seem steep for what they are.

I won’t get into the debate over custom wording. To me it’s just marketing but we all have our own opinions there.

a significant amount of that $130-150 is markup both by the big box store, and st croix to be able to make some money. Some of the stores are looking at wanting a 30-40% markup from what I have been told. So to your point Curleytail, you arent really handling a $130 rod. Thats not to take away what st croix does or makes, its more to show what big box stores do to pricing of products, and what they have to do to make a buck.

I am surprised the high-end rods are not packaged in a plastic tube,St Croix did this years ago.One could use the tube for transport/storage.And leave one model out for a demo.