Hey yall,

Getting the itch to acquire another casting rod again and just started doing my research. Most of my rods are Dobyns and I've enjoyed them, but I am wanting to try something different. Started looking at the St Croix Victory and St Croix Avid. Looking at getting a rod for bottom contact baits (mainly Texas rigs and the occasional jig). Lure weight is gonna be between 3/16oz to probably about 3/4 oz.

I don't have much experience with St Croix and looking for opinions or recommendations.

Thank you.

I know a lot of people love the Victory rods...I don't like the foam on the reel seat, and prefer "classic" lengths and actions so I choose the Avid line.

Which end of the weight spectrum will you be throwing the most. What rod I throw a light wire bullet weight worm vs a 3/4oz jig are completely different.

I'll need to exercise some strict self-discipline on this reply, as it could get out of hand fast.

First off, I am a St. Croix Rods fanboy and proud of it.

Have been for a very long time in both the freshwater and saltwater arenas.

And while I do like and fish a few other brands,

when it comes to compressing my arsenal a little,

It's easy for me to do it with St. Croix sticks.

IMO, from the Avid line up (which is where most all of my experience comes from)

The fit & finish is very clean and reliable and seems to match the price point well.

I think the LTB and Victory rods are all very sweet.

I've fished them both quite a bit with plenty of success and very few complaints.

I still fish with one LTB, a Power Glass Cranker, which I won in a Bass Resource drawing a while back.

However, I am not, nor have I ever really loved, split-grip handles.

I tolerated them because the blanks were what I needed, but given a choice, I am a full cork guy all the way.

A couple or three years ago, I guess I checked out one of the new Avid spinning rods locally.

Not something I usually do, as the quality blank selection locally is mostly geared toward walleye and salmon.

But this 7 ft ML felt so good in my hand; I was close to pulling the trigger right then and there. Add in the mental bait-monkey pressure; next thing I know, I'm at the reel counter picking out a new 3000 Vanford to go on my new Avid. Fished it a few times, throwing a small 110 + 1 Jr. jerkbait (my first fish on it was a 5.88 fat brown bass), and I was done. Over the course of the next few months I sold off all but one of the LTB and Victory spinning & casting rods and replaced them with the new Avids.

If you're looking for a comparison—IMO, The LTB's are a very well built but overall a little too beefy for what

routinely happens in my Pro-V Bass. The Victory rod is light & strong, but across the entire line, the actions are even a little bit faster than the LTB rods. Which is awesome if & when a basshead needs / wants that. I rarely do.

Some would call my decision a downgrade—I call it rehoming good tools for a version

that suits my style of fishing. Super happy with the move. So I have at least 2 each (some 3) of the 7' MF spinnings, 6'8" MXF spinners, and 7' ML spinners. For casting I go with 7' MHF and 7' MF rods.

They ALL possess one important characteristic that I adore, truly.

These blanks have more of what modern-day bassheads now seem to term a somewhat moderate action.

What that means to this OG is that they actually LOAD.

On the cast, on the hookset, during the fight, and perhaps most importantly, while I'm sliding a plus-sized brown bass into the Frabill. Now I'm not ready to say these are even close to a glass wand or even matching the action on a composite rod. Might explain why St. Croix presents the Avid line as "Multispecies," which I have no doubt that they would excel at.

But I will readily admit that what I get from the new Avid is a light, powerful, balanced & sensitive blank.

That possesses many of the desirable qualities of sticks considered soft—with very little of anything else.

So it's a basic, useful, properly priced, sweet-looking rod with a solid warranty.

(A warranty is not really something I shop for, but if it matters to you, it is there).

Told you I was a fan boy.

Good luck.

😎

A-Jay

3 hours ago, TNBankFishing said:

Which end of the weight spectrum will you be throwing the most. What rod I throw a light wire bullet weight worm vs a 3/4oz jig are completely different.

Probably closer to below a half ounce.

2 hours ago, A-Jay said:

I'll need to exercise some strict self-discipline on this reply, as it could get out of hand fast.

First off, I am a St. Croix Rods fanboy and proud of it.

Have been for a very long time in both the freshwater and saltwater arenas.

And while I do like and fish a few other brands,

when it comes to compressing my arsenal a little,

It's easy for me to do it with St. Croix sticks.

IMO, from the Avid line up (which is where most all of my experience comes from)

The fit & finish is very clean and reliable and seems to match the price point well.

I think the LTB and Victory rods are all very sweet.

I've fished them both quite a bit with plenty of success and very few complaints.

I still fish with one LTB, a Power Glass Cranker, which I won in a Bass Resource drawing a while back.

However, I am not, nor have I ever really loved, split-grip handles.

I tolerated them because the blanks were what I needed, but given a choice, I am a full cork guy all the way.

A couple or three years ago, I guess I checked out one of the new Avid spinning rods locally.

Not something I usually do, as the quality blank selection locally is mostly geared toward walleye and salmon.

But this 7 ft ML felt so good in my hand; I was close to pulling the trigger right then and there. Add in the mental bait-monkey pressure; next thing I know, I'm at the reel counter picking out a new 3000 Vanford to go on my new Avid. Fished it a few times, throwing a small 110 + 1 Jr. jerkbait (my first fish on it was a 5.88 fat brown bass), and I was done. Over the course of the next few months I sold off all but one of the LTB and Victory spinning & casting rods and replaced them with the new Avids.

If you're looking for a comparison—IMO, The LTB's are a very well built but overall a little too beefy for what

routinely happens in my Pro-V Bass. The Victory rod is light & strong, but across the entire line, the actions are even a little bit faster than the LTB rods. Which is awesome if & when a basshead needs / wants that. I rarely do.

Some would call my decision a downgrade—I call it rehoming good tools for a version

that suits my style of fishing. Super happy with the move. So I have at least 2 each (some 3) of the 7' MF spinnings, 6'8" MXF spinners, and 7' ML spinners. For casting I go with 7' MHF and 7' MF rods.

They ALL possess one important characteristic that I adore, truly.

These blanks have more of what modern-day bassheads now seem to term a somewhat moderate action.

What that means to this OG is that they actually LOAD.

On the cast, on the hookset, during the fight, and perhaps most importantly, while I'm sliding a plus-sized brown bass into the Frabill. Now I'm not ready to say these are even close to a glass wand or even matching the action on a composite rod. Might explain why St. Croix presents the Avid line as "Multispecies," which I have no doubt that they would excel at.

But I will readily admit that what I get from the new Avid is a light, powerful, balanced & sensitive blank.

That possesses many of the desirable qualities of sticks considered soft—with very little of anything else.

So it's a basic, useful, properly priced, sweet-looking rod with a solid warranty.

(A warranty is not really something I shop for, but if it matters to you, it is there).

Told you I was a fan boy.

Good luck.

😎

A-Jay

I was hoping I would see you reply! I’ve seen older posts of you talking about St croix rods.

I will probably take a stronger look at the Avid series now. Now I’ll have to decide between MH/F and M/F.

Thank you!

The victory rods are phenomenal! I have a 7'10" SB ranger that I love throwing lures on. Avid I had a cranking rod and really like it to. You can't go wrong with either.

In the victory line I used and really enjoyed the 7’3HXF. While rated up to 7/8ths its sweet spot was 3/8-1/2. Great tip that loaded those weights well and plenty of power to drive home heavy gauge single hooks.

@A-Jay s points about the line are also spot on. They are light and crisp but lead towards faster than the “standard” actions used across other SC lines.

28 minutes ago, Backroad Angler said:

Probably closer to below a half ounce.

I was hoping I would see you reply! I’ve seen older posts of you talking about St croix rods.

I will probably take a stronger look at the Avid series now. Now I’ll have to decide between MH/F and M/F.

Thank you!

You're Welcome ~ and instead of hoping - just @A-Jay tag me

If you're using single hook anything and FC - I'd go MHF.

If you using Braid for the same deals - the MF can do the job most times

but I'd still go MHF and just back off on the drag a little.

I use the MF for small crankbaits (size#4 trebles) with 12 FC if that helps.

Good Luck

A-Jay

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

You're Welcome ~ and instead of hoping - just @A-Jay tag me

If you're using single hook anything and FC - I'd go MHF.

If you using Braid for the same deals - the MF can do the job most times

but I'd still go MHF and just back off on the drag a little.

I use the MF for small crankbaits (size#4 trebles) with 12 FC if that helps.

Good Luck

A-Jay

Got it, I’ll probably go for the MH/F then

Thank you!

@A-Jay what are you throwing on the 6’8” spinning rods? I prefer shorter rods but have been unable to move away from the basic 7 footer.

9 hours ago, Jweller said:

@A-Jay what are you throwing on the 6’8” spinning rods? I prefer shorter rods but have been unable to move away from the basic 7 footer.

I hear that, and for a while I was right there with you.

I cannot debate that, all things being equal, a longer stick can offer better casting distance.

Conversely, a short wand can improve casting accuracy percentages.

So I had that in my mostly wacky little brain when thinking about picking up a couple of 6'8" MF Avid rods.

Just looking at the advertised performance stats for both rods (and we all know that these are simply a guide and not the gospel), they are close, if not the same. Two biggest and super obvious differences are the lengths and the actions: XF on the 6'8" and F on the 7'.

To answer your question, I can and do fish the same baits and presentations on both rods.

The caveat being when it's time for a must-have long casts, especially into the wind, the longer stick gets the nod, and there is never even a second thought.

But the casting distance with 10 lb braid on both sticks, the loss of distance with the 6'8", is almost negligible, especially in calmer or wind-at-my-back conditions.

Where the difference in length comes into play is "working" baits.

Jerkbaits, poppers, and walking baits, specifically the Megabass Vision 110, all the "Jr's", Megabass Pop Max, and Megabass Giant Dog X (I really like it for this one). Even though my Pro-V Bass offers a slightly higher than average casting platform with the 25" transom, and even the average 7' sticks rarely strike the water or the gunwale of the rig, something about that 6'8" length allows for a fantastic strike-drawing rhythm. Not to mention, over the course of time, hours, days, and a couple of weeks in the spring & fall,

It seems less fatiguing. And everybody knows how meek & fragile I am.

So there ya go, hope that helps.

A-Jay

On 7/21/2026 at 9:17 AM, Jweller said:

I know a lot of people love the Victory rods...I don't like the foam on the reel seat, and prefer "classic" lengths and actions so I choose the Avid line.

Agreed.

Avid all the way

I'm more of an Avid guy but nothing wrong w/the Victory line either!