St. Croix Mojo Bass vs. Premier

[DJFISH]

Hi everyone,

I am looking to purchase a St. Croix Mojo Bass rod, potentially a couple of them. 

I notice that the Premier is $10 to $30 more expensive yet uses a lower quality blank (SCII vs SCIII). Mojo also boasts the new "IPC" technology. Based on description, the other components are the same except the Premier is full cork vs. the split-grip handle on the Mojo. Mojo is manufactured in Mexico vs. the Premier is made in the USA, so that could be one factor, but it doesn't seem to add up.

Does anyone have experience with these two rods? Any idea why the better blank would be less expensive?

I saw a post recently comparing Avid X vs. Mojo, which use the same blank. In that case, I understand the upgraded reel seat, micro guides, place of manufacture, and warranty justify the price discrepancy. I do own an Avid X drop shot rod and love it. But the price of the Premier is odd to me. Thanks!

DJ

[Molay1292]

Hecho en Mexico... if that makes a difference to you.

 

[davecon]

Don't have a Mojo but love my Premier. Have several rods (St. Croix and others) that cost over twice as much and the Premier is hands down my favorite. Just casts marvelously. I use a lot of small light lures for pretty big fish, snook, reds, juvi tarpon,and some pretty big bass and it handles them well. I have a 7" med light spinning rod.

[fvogel67]

You can buy a split grip Premier from Cabelas,I have a 6'6"M spinning that I think is pretty sweet.I also have two gen 2 Mojos.A 6'10"ML and a 6'8"MXF.Both are really nice rods.

[CrystalClearLakes]

I'm a total noob just bought my first baitcaster and bought the mojo bass 7'1" mh/f rod a month ago. It's a really nice rod however I've only used spinning gear before so can't compare to other casting rods. I used jigs and caught a decent fish on a frog in some slop. Casts spinnerbaits and buzz baits with ease. 

Only thing I was weary about was the purple. But I actually like the purple now. Going to be getting another mojo bass rod in the near future. Probably the frog rod. 

[EvanT123]

Looking at the companies website I see 37 different premier spinning rods and 5 mojo bass spinning rods. The premier range seems to cover more varieties of fishing  

[Poolshark]

I noticed the price gap as well and was thinking the country of origin largely effects the price. I also think that st croix is using the mojo as a gateway rod of sorts for the technique specific crowd. So they've upgraded the blank and kept the price down. That is just a theory, but who knows. 

my comparison on how they both fish.... I own the mojo /premier in 7 ft mhf models and the premier is slightly stouter than the mojo. Similar power between the two but the tip action is slightly different. 

I think the mojo is a better bang for the buck and they both carry the same warranty. So my nod would be to the mojo 

[Chrisran99]

I'm slowly migrating all my rods to St Croix's. So far I've fished a Mojo top water first gen, a Premier 7' MHF and a Avid 6'6" MLF. I returned the mojo shortly after purchase, it just seemed tip heavy but I've herd that they have fixed it with the next generation  SClll blanks. The Premier to me is a great value, I find the full cork grip comfortable and would pay the extra $10 just for that over the Mojo.

[*Hootie]

I have both the Premier and Mojo's. Both great rods, but I'll take the Mojo's over the Premier any day. Oh, that would be 2nd generation Mojos.

Hootie

[Bankbeater]

I have a two premiers.  One is about 6 years old and the other I bought this year.  Great rods.  I haven't tried the new mojos yet.

[Loomis13]

I work at a large st.croix dealer in Iowa, and to me the two rods shouldn't even be compared to each other. The new mojos are the best bang for your buck by st.croix right now in my opinion. I know people say that about the avid but the new mojos are using the same graphite and 70$ cheaper, feature a split grip (which is good if you like split grips). All this is being said while I have two avids sitting in my dorm room and I am looking at the mojos or ponying up to the legend tournament. The new mojos are a sweet rod for ~130$. The premier and avids (not avid x's) are seemingly skipped over with the introduction of the new mojos and avid x's.

[Robert Riley]

12 hours ago, Poolshark said:

I noticed the price gap as well and was thinking the country of origin largely effects the price. I also think that st croix is using the mojo as a gateway rod of sorts for the technique specific crowd. So they've upgraded the blank and kept the price down. That is just a theory, but who knows. 

That would make sense, I like this explanation. 

[DJFISH]

Interesting. Thanks. So I take it that no one has picked up a Premier and noticed any obvious performance-related reason it would be priced at a premium. 

Cost of goods may allow the lower price on the Mojo and Made in the USA is definitely valuable to many. They must sell enough to justify it. Or perhaps they are going through a transition in their product line. When both were built on SCII, this pricing strategy made sense to me. Maybe Premier gets SCIII soon. 

[Jeff H]

I've paused and wondered about that pricing many times when looking.  I don't like Purple or I may have a Mojo or several, but I don't.  I'll stick with the Premier from now on.  Great performance, excellent durability and just a little bit over-priced but still worth it.  Pretty sure these are the toughest rods I own.  Did I mention they are very durable?

I wish St. Croix could find it to their advantage to move the Premier series up to Alconite guides.  Use better guides, better spacing and better sizing and I'd never look at another brand rod ever again.  It would be all I need.

[dave]

21 hours ago, Loomis13 said:

I work at a large st.croix dealer in Iowa, and to me the two rods shouldn't even be compared to each other. The new mojos are the best bang for your buck by st.croix right now in my opinion. I know people say that about the avid but the new mojos are using the same graphite and 70$ cheaper, feature a split grip (which is good if you like split grips). All this is being said while I have two avids sitting in my dorm room and I am looking at the mojos or ponying up to the legend tournament. The new mojos are a sweet rod for ~130$. The premier and avids (not avid x's) are seemingly skipped over with the introduction of the new mojos and avid x's.

I've heard from some rod insiders that two rods using the same blank (SCIII),  AREN'T the same rod at the end of the build.   Saying that the Mojo is a less expensive Avid is NOT a correct comparison.

[WIGuide]

If you look at St. Croix's lineup of rods, they split their series down the middle as far as what's hot in the industry and the tried and true classic desin. The Triumph and Triumph X, the Mojo and the Premier, Avid and Avid X, and the Legend Elite and Legend Xtreme are all examples of this. You have to remember they are selling to a picky crowd. Just look at the comments above and you'll find some won't buy a rod without a full cork handle, while others won't buy one that isn't a split grip, some won't buy a rod because of the color, and the list goes on. They put their new technology into these new lines to keep those rods current and on the leading edge, while keeping the rods that put them there in the first place. At the same time they try to update their series as time goes by. They can't reintroduce every series every year, so they pick and choose. At the same time they need to be aware of what's going on in the industry, and the industry had become considerably more competitive at that price point in the bass world. They improved the Mojo line and kept it at the same price point making it one of the best values on the market.

Now the Premier hasn't been redesigned for a while, but it is not targeted specifically to the bass market. They aren't technique specific, and they offer many more models. If I were to guess, they're selling just fine despite the price mainly do to their mulitspecies crossover market. I would be guessing at some point in the next few years, you'll see the Premier reintroduced after a redesign, unless their numbers stay strong enough to keep it the way it is. 

There are a lot going on there, and I'm sure there's other reasons as well. What it boils down to though, is they have made the Mojo Bass one of the best bang for your buck rods on the market. 

[Loomis13]

5 hours ago, dave said:

I've heard from some rod insiders that two rods using the same blank (SCIII),  AREN'T the same rod at the end of the build.   Saying that the Mojo is a less expensive Avid is NOT a correct comparison.

Correct they are not same rod but the same graphite. They have their differences but for the 70$ difference IMO there isn't a large enough difference to justify spending more. Unless of course warranty is a concern of yours. The avid has a lifetime warranty and the mojos have a 15 year warranty. (These could be inaccurate I am just going off the top of my head)

[Jeff H]

 

2 hours ago, WIGuide said:

 

Now the Premier hasn't been redesigned for a while

 

It hasn't needed it, probably still doesn't but I'd still love to see them get Alconites or Ti framed Zirconium just as a little push.  No price increase either, or very minimal.  Maybe they should also consider going back to the old matte finish too.  Seems like they used to be matte, then satin and now gloss black.  I'm fine with either but if they can be produced with better guides in the matte finish for same price that would be a good "redesign"!  They should also add 7'6" models in M, MH and H to the Premier crankbait series.