St. Croix's New $650 Rods

Deuces wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>al-wichman wrote:</div>
. It seems like companies are starting to price people right out of the sport.

IMO this is the farthest from the truth. Good equipment has been becoming cheaper and cheaper as the years pass. Nice graphite rod you can get for $60 and the reel the same that both will last many years.

It’s the hype and histeria people get caught up in on social media sites that you have to have the best, and greatest and latest or you simply cannot be successful fishing.

Rich people fish too, rich people have every right to spend their money on ridiculously expensive rods and reels, see no problem with a company offering a product line for that.

This.

I’m far from rich but things like this always remind of $20,000 Pearl drum sets and $12,000 signature guitars. People go “who even buys this crap!”…. Well, doctors and lawyers mostly. Just like you said, rich people have hobbies too and they absolutely have the right to spend insane amounts of money on awesomely expensive stuff.

The thing that most people fail to realize is that it’s those high-ticket items that mostly only doctors and lawyers can afford (whether it’s that $20,000 drum set or a $1,000 reel) that keeps the industry going for the rest of regular folk. If they can sell a handful of $2,000 combo’s a year, they just paid for r&d to make their other “regular” items better and more affordable for the rest of us. I’m sure a lot of revenue also come from ocean/commercial fishing sales also.

I don’t think St. Croix is expecting people that make under 100k a year to shell out $700 on a rod. That demographic is saved for people that can afford it and then buy 2 more for their kids or the professional angler that needs 4 of them.

Needless to say, I won’t be buying any $700 st. croix’s anytime soon.

I own 4 Legend Elites. I never in a million years would i pay that kind of money , but i know someone who gets a discount . A friend was bragging up how great the sensitivity was on the Elites , had a hard time believing it , but i caved and bought my first one . They are incredible as far as i’m concerned . I just picked up the Elite Panfish in 7 ft absolutely love it ! Handled pike and walleyes not what it was meant for , but sure was fun !

If they didn’t price themselves out of the market with those $2000. “trolling motors” then they have a ways to go. If any of us are going to benefit from the upper end goods, we have to be good enough to tell the difference (I’m not). Same for all sporting goods from archery to tennis rackets.

If I got any of you in a boat and you fished with one of my Gloomis GLX’s I can promise you would feel the difference. My buddy has a eyecon and it does not hold a candle to the way my rods feel (in vertical jigging lets say) I’m sure the high end SC’s are the same way. Now does that mean he can’t catch fish with it, of course not he still out fishes me sometimes. But you can tell the difference. I am not rich, but can understand it is worth the investment. Shop at the shows, once they are back you can always work a deal if you try.

John Rasmussen wrote:

If I got any of you in a boat and you fished with one of my Gloomis GLX’s I can promise you would feel the difference.

Sure, let’s go january at 20 degrees. You’ll set them micro eyelets down, and grab a limit creek.

Ok so there is that! But in January I will have a short stick in my hand. I have still been thinking hard about those limit creeks, guess I just have to pull the trigger.

To put it all in perspective, every time we buy a new truck or boat, several $600. rods go up in smoke in the form of depreciation and bank interest

I own a wide range of rods, from $60 to $450 apiece. I feel the best price to quality ratio is around $200-250. After that, the returns diminish as the price increases. The difference between a $250 and a $350 rod is barely noticeable on the water, but a $250 rod is a huge step up from a $150 rod.

John Rasmussen wrote:

Ok so there is that! But in January I will have a short stick in my hand. I have still been thinking hard about those limit creeks, guess I just have to pull the trigger.

Don’t think too hard, they’re 10 LB walleye approved.
I don’t like the wimpier “SMoothie” so many here doll over. Medium for me.

Rodwork wrote:

Just getting the Trozite ring in the guides are spendy. I wonder what the Carbon Fiber guides with Trozite cost. That carbon fiber guide is much stiffer than metal so it would be more sensitive of a guide but could also break easer. Daiwa claims these guides to be up to 40% lighter than normal guides. But what is a “normal” guide weight to them? I have yet to see weight specs on the Legend Extreme rods. Daiwa offers these guides on their Tatula Elite AGS Spinning rods for $279.99. I am sure the Xtreme is an impressive rod.

From what I could find out,the 6’8″ MXF weighs about 4.2 oz.
When adjusted for inflation,they are not far off from what you could get a Fenwick HMG or Skyline graphite back in the late 70s.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

I don’t like the wimpier “SMoothie” so many here doll over. Medium for me.

I agree FB&RM. The Smoothie is a nice rod for fish in the mid to upper teens but if I’m consistently getting fish 20+, I’ll switch to a heavier power rod.

Must be tough being a sporting goods Huskster these days; does your conscious
tell you what to say or is it your wallet or your sponsor?

Netguy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:</div>
I don’t like the wimpier “SMoothie” so many here doll over. Medium for me.

I agree FB&RM. The Smoothie is a nice rod for fish in the mid to upper teens but if I’m consistently getting fish 20+, I’ll switch to a heavier power rod.

There’s that, and I think it’s a totally different blank, lighter in weight too.

Also have to remember that is retail price,hardly anybody pays retail for these rod. There is always a deal. Last year’s model retailed somewhere around 500 right? More expensive the item, better deals can be gotten and given.