krayfish2
Well-known member
Back in the spring, my St Croix Legend Ultra SW snapped when my nephew was nymphing and got snagged. I took the rod and gave it a pop upstream. Instead of the 4x or 5x tippet breaking, the rod snapped . Broken inside the ferrule. I was sad because it was a great medium action streamer rod.
St Croix replaced it under warranty with their new imperial USA model. I wanted a fighting butt and the only model they had in a 6wt was a 10', 4pc, 6wt. Upon unboxing, I noticed how light the rod was or at least the swing weight was without a real attached. The cork was a very nice quality without too much filler. Burgundy blank with well finished wraps. If you have ever cast a legend ultra, this rod is definitely different. It casts closer to the legend elite. The rod seemed to have a firm butt section, a slightly softer mid section and a soft tip. This is another rod that will work in the hand of a novice or experienced caster. It may not have the backbone to hurl 120' casts but when do you ever fish at that distance? I think you'll find this rod to be a good bit slower in comparison to the last version of the imperial and more pleasurable to cast.
I had limited time to work with the rod but the girlfriend did run it through the wringer. Floated with her on labor day weekend and she hadn't cast a fly rod in 35 yrs. She was able to roll cast 15' -30' with relative ease. She also knocked the stink off the rod by landing her biggest ever trout (17.5" rainbow).
The new model is close to $300 where the older model was right around $200. The price has increased but so has the quality and fishability of the rod. If you're in the market for a medium fast rod in this price range, I'd recommend casting one.
St Croix replaced it under warranty with their new imperial USA model. I wanted a fighting butt and the only model they had in a 6wt was a 10', 4pc, 6wt. Upon unboxing, I noticed how light the rod was or at least the swing weight was without a real attached. The cork was a very nice quality without too much filler. Burgundy blank with well finished wraps. If you have ever cast a legend ultra, this rod is definitely different. It casts closer to the legend elite. The rod seemed to have a firm butt section, a slightly softer mid section and a soft tip. This is another rod that will work in the hand of a novice or experienced caster. It may not have the backbone to hurl 120' casts but when do you ever fish at that distance? I think you'll find this rod to be a good bit slower in comparison to the last version of the imperial and more pleasurable to cast.
I had limited time to work with the rod but the girlfriend did run it through the wringer. Floated with her on labor day weekend and she hadn't cast a fly rod in 35 yrs. She was able to roll cast 15' -30' with relative ease. She also knocked the stink off the rod by landing her biggest ever trout (17.5" rainbow).
The new model is close to $300 where the older model was right around $200. The price has increased but so has the quality and fishability of the rod. If you're in the market for a medium fast rod in this price range, I'd recommend casting one.
