St. Croix Rod
Park Falls, Wisconsin
Best Rods on Earth
St. Croix Rod’s tagline – Best Rods on Earth – is a bold statement.
After witnessing the engineering, skill, and care that goes into producing each rod, and doing some research (fishing) of our own, we’ve determined that it might also be a true statement.
I’m convinced St. Croix’s Integrated Poly Curve (IPC) tooling technology, which eliminates all transitional points in the rod blank to provide increased strength and sensitivity, allowed me to detect a light bite and land a beautiful, meaty 14-inch brook trout on Minnesota’s Kadunce River. A local guide told us “they’re typically the size of a Snickers bar.” Two other anglers we came across described them the exact same way.
Of course they’re exaggerating, as fisherman have been known to do, albeit in the opposite direction. I’m told the common size of a brookie in that neck of the woods is 6 to 10 inches. The inch markers on the webbing of my Hoskins net help keep me honest.
Sure, there are other good rods, but St. Croix is producing some of the best, perhaps the very best.
The Voyage Begins
St. Croix was the first stop on our tour, a seven-day road trip spent with five outdoor industry companies in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
We arrived in Park Falls the night before and made camp at Smith Lake County Park. As we were finishing with the tent, we noticed a glow across the lake and assumed a town was in the distance.
As the glow grew brighter, we realized we were witnessing the rising of the full moon. It lit up our eyes as it lit up the lake.
Sunrises get all the shine, but this moonrise was just as spectacular as any sunrise I’ve seen.
It was an unexpected way to start our trek and must have been a good omen.
The next morning, as we were capturing fog rolling and rising above the water, a bald eagle perched above our heads, just long enough for us to take in its takeoff.
Factory Tour
St. Croix believes in its rods so much that it opens its doors to the public. It wants you to see why it believes it makes the “Best Rods on Earth.”
It’s a comprehensive, 90-minute tour you won’t regret. Our guide, Ken, was a good-ole boy who entertained and educated.
The tour started with a story about a fisherman who stayed out in a thunderstorm. Let’s just say a graphite rod looks like the hair of the girl from The Ring when it’s struck by lightning. We don’t have a photo of it. You’ll have to take the tour (or watch The Ring).
Hidden Gems
When you think about fly rods, St. Croix usually isn’t the first name that comes to mind.
Perhaps the St. Croix brand is so synonymous with spin fishing, with catching big muskies and bass, that fly fisherman who are content with the serenity of the stream, with catching a few brookies and browns, gravitate toward brands marketing that experience.
After fishing several St. Croix fly rods over the last year, we’ll gladly cast a St. Croix any day of the week.
The St. Croix Legend Elite is aptly named. It shined on a cool, drizzly day in the Driftless. Feeling trout takes instantly allowed us to make the most of our opportunities. We netted seven beauties in two hours without a single miss.
We’ve had these rods out on several North Shore Lake Superior tributaries, a handful of Driftless streams in Minnesota and Iowa, and Michigan’s Au Sable River and have determined that they’ll be coming with us on every fishing trip.
ABOUT PORTAGES
Canoe There’s Dave and Ryan went on tour, not as a band but as storytellers who love the great outdoors. They portaged, if you will, for seven days through Wisconsin and Minnesota and spent time with awesome people. They camped every night, smelled bad, had fun. They returned with a mountain of footage and teamed up with Logan (sound/video editor) to tell these amazing stories.