St. Croix Blass Bass Spinning RIS73MXF Review

Specs: 7'3" Extra Fast 6-20lb. line 3/16-1/2oz. lure rating

Aesthetics: The rod has a very nice black EVA newer style (longer foregrip) handle (which I much prefer), excellent locking nut, clean looking build with gray/silver painted black, clean wraps, guides all straight, etc.

Power: This rod was chosen to fish goby style swimbaits/3-4" boot tail baits with 1/4-1/2oz. Ned heads, and heavier drop shot (if needed as a power shot rod) for large Smallmouth in the Great Lakes region and lakes mostly in New York. It fits the bill perfectly. It is more than capable of casting up to 3/4oz. without an issue. Sticking 5+lb. Smallmouth at longer distance casts swimming a bait over flats and rocky points and keeping them on was no hassle with the rod. It is paired with a Daiwa 4000C-XH reel using Daiwa J-Braid Grand 15lb. line with an 8 or 10lb. fluorocarbon leader.

Sensitivity: This rod was surprisingly sensitive to me. Essentially, after speaking to someone at St. Croix over the phone, there is a negligible difference in sensitivity from the Victory line but a bit more notice in weight. This is true as my fishing partner has both rods in the same length/rating and I had the opportunity to test both. The SCIII in the Black Bass does a great job. The SCIII+ in the Victory is excellent as well but I actually feel that rod is a bit softer and less powerful for the same applications. There is NOTHING wrong with that rod and it is EXCELLENT, but for the techniques I was using the Black Bass for, the $50 difference in price was why I chose it. I was able to test both the Black Bass and Victory 7'3" MXF in the yard as well. Same reel size, same braid diameter, same length leader, and casting weight. Having my fishing partner hold the line at the same length at the end and lightly striking, you can see the Black Bass is actually a faster, more powerful tip. The Victory is noticeably lighter in weight. It really does come down to weight, cork vs. EVA, and location of manufacturing for some. I got my rod for under $100 from Bass Pro/Cabela's with gift cards I had.

Conclusion: This is an excellent rod and very similar in sensitivity to my Megabass Levante rods. It is an excellent more budget friendly rod than the Victory which is also a truly excellent line of rods. Highly recommended and I think they will sell the heck out of this series. Thanks for reading and best wishes on the water!

It's nice to see some positive St. Croix experiences posted. On other platforms like reddit and facebook St. Croix is still getting clobbered daily. People are now running into their Trigon cork falling apart on the handles of their Trigon rods.  Whatever adhesive they have been using they still don't seem to have it right. 

SC is really having some issues with a bunch of their lines.  I used to be a hardcore SC fan, but in the past 10 years they have tried to do too much or have changed some the best rods they made for the worse. 

Their lifetime warranty is gone so buying an Elite or Extreme really lost a key benefit.  They have improved as far as balance, but at what cost?  Some of their newer SC3+ blanks don't have the sensitivity a 25 year old Premier has because of what they have done to the actions. 

For decades the Avid Inshore was one of the best rods in its class.  You would happily pay 300+ for a good blank and the Fuji Ti Sic guide trains which were essentially impervious to SW.  SC decided that they would increase the price to nearly 400$ and replace the Ti guides with CC SS.  IDC what kind of coating they have, they will corrode over time. 

I could get 2 Mojo Inshore for the same price, if it wasn't for the fact they ruined the name by skimping on QC and testing the production models. That led to 10s of thousands of defective blanks that break on a deep load.  For months they charged loyal customers fees to replace these rods 2 and 3x @40$ a pop, until finally admitting it was a defect in the blank material. 

The whole trigon thing was a marketing gimmick that again gave a loved line of rods a poor reputation.  The first I saw one in my buddy's shop I winced at the clunky plastic, look and price tag.  My buddy said, they will be on clearance within a few months if he couldn't get rid of the promo shipment. 

Hopefully SC comes their senses and loses the trigon grip on the Physyx line, if they dont sell very well. 

The Black Bass line looks pretty solid.  They're using proven components and popular models are available at the PP of the last great Mojo generation. 

Maybe SC needs to concentrate on their established lines a little more.  It seems like they're trying to do too much, too fast and the cracks are really starting to show.

Apologies for the rant.