St. Croix Legend Ultra - 10 wts

Review Date
September 23, 2003

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Reviewed by: Rumblefish(Unregistered User) ,  30 days a year

Price Paid:  $0.00 at Bob Marriott's Fly F

Body of Water:
Southern California Beaches

Summary:
What "Legends" are made of! What better way to describe the new St. Croix Legend Ultra. As a family company geared toward making exceptional quality fly rods at an honest price, St. Croix sure nailed it with this one. Best of all, the rod is backed by an unconditional lifetime warranty. Though I haven't broken a rod in 30 years of fly fishing, I have had several friends who have and the lifetime warranty of this rod added a certain comfort zone to my purchasing decision.

Strengths:
The St. Croix company claims that the adavanced taper design and high modulus graphite generates higher line speeds and tighter loops and I must say that I couldn't agree more. My first time out with my 9 foot 8wt. made a believer out of me. I was amazed at the ability of this fast action rod to shoot line to extreme distances with precision and accuracy and little effort on my part. The rod also has the backbone to lift line easily out of the mucky salt. The double uplocking anodized titanium finished aluminum reel seat is a thing of beauty, appearing more like rich pewter than simple aluminum. The subtle green hue of the blank rounds out the quality appearance of this rod. I have taken this rod out in the local surf and have found it to be a pure joy to cast. Better still, I believe this rod will also serve well as a large bass or salmon/steelhead rod for those future trips that I so often dream about!

Weaknesses:
The olny weakness I could find would be in the fact that it only comes in a three piece model and I prefer two piece rods. That, however, is a personal preference and does not really take anything away for the attributes of this rod.

Customer Service:
I have not yet had an occasion to call customer service for anything related to this rod.

Similar Products Used:
I have used the St. Croix Imperial and Sage Discovery but have found the responsivness of the Legend Ultra to be superior. If you're looking for a quality salt rod at a moderate price then I could not

Review Date
November 7, 2002

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Reviewed by: billsue(Unregistered User) ,  40 days a year , from chesapeake, va.

Price Paid:  $280.00 at Hook and Hackle

Body of Water:
salt ocean and bay

Favorite City:
virginia beach

Favorite State:
virginia

Summary:
Great high quality rod, for the price it is hard to beat.

Strengths:
loads easily with saltwater taper 10wt line and really gets the line out there. Quality craftsmanship and light weight.

Weaknesses:
the only compliant is the reel nuts tend to stick together making it difficult to loosen without pliers. I have another identical rod in a 7wt and it does not have this problem

Customer Service:
I broke the tip off in a doorway, stupid mistake! I returned it to St. Croix with a $10 check and the end section was replaced no questions asked. It took 2 weeks to get it back. I am very pleased

Similar Products Used:
reddington

Review Date
November 30, 2000

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Reviewed by: Anonymous User(Unregistered User) ,  50+ days a year , from Rehoboth, MA USA

Price Paid:  $300.00 at BearsDen Fly Shoppe

Body of Water:
any saltwater

Summary:
a real casting machine that won't break the bank or tire you out during an all nite beach trip.

Strengths:
fast, light in the hand, good fish fighting strength in the butt better than alot of the more expensive rods for my style of casting.

Weaknesses:
only problem is the nuts to secure the reel are too small to tighten by hand. After 4yrs never had any trouble with the single foot guides- and I get my share of "birdsnests" jamming into them

Customer Service:
never had a problem with them with some of their other products

Similar Products Used:
Reddington, Thomas and Thomas