St Croix Legend Xtreme spinning rods

[Major Mark]

so about a week ago I had one of my St Croix Tourney Legend spinning rods snap between the 2nd & 3rd line guide. I followed their warranty instructions which included buying a discount FedX mailing label thru St Croix site for $15, included a $20 check to cover return packaging and shipping, & was waiting for a call to say it wasn't broken due to defect & warranty wasn't able to cover it. Got a call today saying they received it & didn't need to inspect it, Legends are limited lifetime warranty & it doesn't matter how it broke, they just replace with new. Impressive!
So then Dan in their repair department & I started talking about the Legend Xtreme rods & the new features on it. I told him I've yet to see one in person ($370, not too many retailers carry them!). I asked it has recoil line guides or rigid ones like a Tourney. He says no, but they can't be because they use the new micro eyelets. He then asks if I'd like to upgrade to one?? He tells me my Tourney in about 7-8 yrs old, but he still can apply current pricing to it & apply that towards an Xtreme. $370-$240=$130, no tax! Pretty sure I paid less than $200 for the rod.
I was impressed & said sure!!

Now my real reason for posting, has anyone used a spinning rod with the new micro eyelets for spinning rods? He said it casts smoother & farther, but has one drawback... if you break off a line, they can be a nuisance to reline in a boat due to the large amount of eyelets, all small & tight to the rod. He said Xtreme vs my Tourney, the Xtreme has 4 more eyelets on it. Anyone have hands on experience with an Xtreme spinning rod or other spinning rod utilizing micro eyelets?

Thanks,

 

[Dan J.]

That's a swinging deal on the rod! Not a big fan of the micro eyes, so not much help there. Just wanted to echo the great service you got. Good to hear!

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

I like the micro's but have only used them on baitcasting rods. I just got back on as pro-staff with CastAway and I have been told there is a now line of rods coming out. Hopefully it will include a micro spinning so I can give it a try.

 

[Major Mark]

Ended up ordering a 7'0" MHF Legend Extreme spinning rod as the replacement. Cost me only $140 in upgrade fee. Taking it up north this weekend & will hang a reel to try it. But OMG, I now see why the factory rep said if a line breaks out on the water, it may be best to reline it back home on the picnic table...Boy are those eyelets tiny and lots of them..LOL. The only thing a little disappointing is the lack of a lure keeper on the Extremes (Elites also apparently) for when I switch out rods to try different lures. I rarely switch lures, but usually switch to a alternate rod already rigged with a different lure.

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

You can buy hook keepers that are rubber. CastAway uses them and they are nice. A lot of the rods I have that have the keepers, they are rusted or rusted completely off.

 

[Major Mark]

I've tried the rubber type from BPS & found they break very easily & don't last. I've also tried the holster style. Those seem to interfere with where I like to keep two fingers during cast/retrieve. Thinking I'm going to try an experiment with a couple off micro zip ties to see if I can come up with something functional, comfortable, and non-invasive to my hand.

Appreciate your input though Tox....

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

I don't know where CastAway gets theirs but I have yet to break one and some are pretty old. I tried the velcro ones from BPS and did not like them.

 

[Dan J.]

I've tried the rubber type from BPS & found they break very easily & don't last. I've also tried the holster style. Those seem to interfere with where I like to keep two fingers during cast/retrieve. Thinking I'm going to try an experiment with a couple off micro zip ties to see if I can come up with something functional, comfortable, and non-invasive to my hand.

Appreciate your input though Tox....

I've used the tiny zip ties with a #3 split ring on the BPS rods without issue. I attached them in between the separated double wraps right above the reel seats with the tie lock turned inside and on top of the split in the split ring before trimming flush. It doesn't hang or make a snag spot like that and works as well as a factory job. IMO. Good luck!