St Croix

[JohnPowers]

Anybody fishing the st Croix legend elite. I'm looking to get a new 5 wt without selling the farm. It scored vey well on the Yellowstone Anglers 5 wt shootout.....whatever that is. I'd like to hear from someone closer to home.

 

[ab4usa]

I have one and it's a great rod. Unfortunately is plays second fiddle to my Orvis Battenkill Bamboo.

 

[krayfish]

I'm 'team st croix' so to speak. What would like to know? I've owned elites in 5 weight for 6-7 years. I've updated to a more recent version of the same rod because I fell for the marketing propaganda. I also have one in a 4 weight.

The rod is light, nicely balanced, casts good in close and at distance. I think it excels at distance. It's been my main rod for several years.... I pick it over my Sage z-axis.

Is it as light as a Helios 2? Pretty close but it's also almost 50% cheaper. Does it cast as good as a NRX? Pretty close and again, almost half the price. The elite won't have reel seat, cork or finish of an $800 rod. The cork is good, reel seat is fine but the performance sealed the deal. It will perform with just about any $750-800 rod for a fraction of the price.

I talked DaveS into getting one and I'm 99% sure it's his main 5 wt. I also talked BigBass into getting one. He like the performance but returned it because he didn't approve of the expoxy finish. Maybe one of them will chime in.

You are welcome to demo mine.

 

[scotto]

I 2nd Kray.

 

[Big-Bass]

It was a great casting rod. I had some epoxy issues (sloppy looking work) on the reel seat and the guide though. It was an amazing casting rod with both Rio Gold and SA GPX. I did not want to go through the warranty process to get the epoxy issue fixed, rather I was able to return to the shop within the 30 day window.

If I could hand pick one myself out of a few, I would not hesitate to get another one. I think the current version is not as "pretty" looking as the older brown version from a few years ago. My experience is with the 2013 model.