I've owned an ltb worm jig rod for about four months and today while casting the entire second guide from the tip flung out of its socket. I've owned rods from st croix for over a decade and have never experienced any type of problem. Is this worth sending out to st croix? Or is it worth it just bringing it to a local shop for repair? How much would it cost to fix on my own? Has anyone ever experienced this with these rods?

Call St Croix with your problem. They might send you a replacement guide which you can get installed locally. If you want to pay to ship it to them under warranty they have a special rate established with a shipper which you pay for online & print out the shipping label. I think they use fedex & the price is $9.95. Check under the warranty section for details.

That's a $7-$10 repair for a local rod-smith. Unless you have an interest in rod building I'd skip the DIY route. You could likely make it functional, but the repair will be obvious.  

I have the guide intact. I'm gonna take it down the road and have a local shop do it. If it's ten dollar repair, I don't see the point in mailing it out to st croix. Thanks guys for the replies.

Stay local if you can. It's not the worth $$ sending it to St. Croix. 

Same thing happened to my LTB jig/worm rod. Got it fixed and it works fine now.

If it's the single foot guide, I've ripped one out of its place before Taking it out of the locker. A little superglue and put back in the slot worked. Been no issue for a year now

St Croix charges 15 if you use there label. Just sent one in. They will repair it for free but you will be out more than just fixing it local if that's an option.

I already contacted st Croix. It will cost more to ship to them than to have a shop fix it. It will not void the warranty if I choose to have it done independently, It makes me wonder though if the rod was mishandled at the place I bought it. I looked the blank over and it has a good size nick in it a foot or two from the handle. Im probably going to try to use their upgrade program and either get a legend elite or take it to bps for their trade in program and put that towards another rod. kinda sucks.. its a good rod and has help me catch many big bass. Just not sure how it was handled before I purchased it. I should add that I have confidence in their rods after my excellent experience with them in the past but will look over the rod more carefully before I I purchase a new one. That or I think I will start having my rods custom built. The dick sporting goods I bought it from had two rods there with broken tips on there sales floor.

They don't have an upgrade program any more. When I mailed my legend in for a guide replacement I was also trying to upgrade an avid and they said that program ended.

If it has a nick in the blank be careful thats a weak spot

Yup, if the rod is damaged beyond a guide, I would definitely send it to Croix, most especially before I would trade it in at Bass pro...

If it's just the guide go local 8-$10.  I've replaced guides never saw any difference in rod performance between a generic guide and the one that came with the rod.

The rod is certainly damaged. I already talked to st croix and they will upgrade it at a cost.

I am going to make sure that this time I buy it directly from them instead of going through a retailer. It kinda seems like rod was mishandled at the store. I'm sure that happens. I should have looked over the rod more carefully before I spent that type of money. Gonna learn from it and move on.

That's nice they are taking care of you. The CS has been friendly and helpful. My rod was not compromised so maybe that's why.

The rod is certainly damaged. I already talked to st croix and they will upgrade it at a cost.

I am going to make sure that this time I buy it directly from them instead of going through a retailer. It kinda seems like rod was mishandled at the store. I'm sure that happens. I should have looked over the rod more carefully before I spent that type of money. Gonna learn from it and move on.

That's great news!

Best wishes...

They don't have an upgrade program any more. When I mailed my legend in for a guide replacement I was also trying to upgrade an avid and they said that program ended.

They still have an upgrade plan if you send in a broken rod and pay the 50 or 75 dollar replacement fee. I just sent in an broken avid and upgraded to a legend tournament. You just have to pay the difference in price.

so you have to break the rod first.  Havent ever broken a croix rod so far so that leaves me out.

I inquired about the guide and my concern with the handling of the rod at its retailer. I asked them if I could upgrade and was told to have the model numbers ready prior to calling. As simple as that. It's still going to run me 175 more if I choose to do it. I would be out 75 bucks from the price of the legend elite if I had just bought that first.