Hello,
First off, I’m a huge St. Croix fan, I now own two Avid X(s), I mainly fish from shore, and I usually fish a Carolina rig so bottom contact sensitivity and power rating are extremely important to me. I recently made the jump to the legend elite 7’ mh, fast action. To my disappointment, I didn’t enjoy fishing with the legend elite and felt my Avid X 7’4” heavy, fast action was on par with sensitivity and more enjoyable to fish with. So I returned to legend elite and bought my second Avid X, a 7’4” mh fast action.
So let me go into further detail about the legend elite. The quality is top notch and it’s a beautiful rod. However, I didn’t like the full cork grip because the grip plus the reel seat felt bulky in my hands. IMO, these were the factors that decreased the sensitivity of the rod. BTW I’m 5’7” tall and my hands are average size. While fishing with the rod, I got “stuck” a lot because of the sensitivity and the tip of the rod. So going over rocks, grass, brush etc felt like a chore. Plus I found it difficult to hookset. So the lack of sensitivity, the taper of the rod, and the hookset experience lead to my disappointment and me returning the rod. I couldn’t hold onto a 400$ rod and not enjoy it more than a 200$ rod.
So you mentioned you weren’t impressed with the glx? Well IMO, I prefer the GLX over the legend elite for the strength, sensitivity, and hookset ability. I currently own a GLX 844c MBR (paid 400$) and love it for the Carolina rig. I was really impressed with fishing the Avid X(s) back to back, then fishing with the GLX and catching more bass with the GLX. Not sure what it was, but the sensitivity and being able to detect every bite on the GLX surprised me. This lead me to think perhaps I have been missing subtle bites on my Avid x(s), or it could have been the bait, or the time of day, but I was fishing the exact same spot with all three rods. So if I was going to buy another 400$ rod, it would be a GLX 844c MBR. The price is expensive, but it has all the qualities to enjoy fishing even more.
Now, I just purchased a used Shimano/GLoomis 844c MBR from a member on this forum for a great price. I haven’t had the chance to fish with it, but it weighs 4.24 oz, the full cork grip is smooth and comfortable, and it’s aestheically pleasing to the my eye. Hopefully this rod outperforms the GLX, but time will soon tell. I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high because it’s hard for me to imagine a better rod than the GLX.
OP, good luck with your decision and I hope my opinions helped. Please let me know if y’all have any questions or if I’m going to hades for being a traitor and switching from St. Croix to Gloomis lol. Have a great day y’all and keep on fishin!