Has St. Croix Discontinued Their Avid Casting Rod

[Unk]

I got a great deal of good advice recently about choosing a casting reel . Thank you again . In some of the post in that group , there were suggestions about rods ( which is the part of the equation I'm researching now ) . One of the rods suggested by FishTank was the St. Croix Avid . When I go to the St. Croix website , they do not list the Avid casting rod - only the Avid Trek which is a 3 piece travel rod . Also, on TW site , they list an Avid but say it won't be in stock until later in Feb. Have the Avid 1 piece casting rods been discontinued . There were several other rod suggestions for me to research but it seems I may have to mark the Avid off the list ?   Thanks .

[bulldog1935]

10 hours ago, Unk said:

... Also, on TW site , they list an Avid but say it won't be in stock until later in Feb. ...

This.  Everything is made in batches now, and demand will cause it to sell out before it gets restocked.  This, in turn, is complicated by supply limitations in the last several years.  It makes sense that St. Croix will use their bandwidth to hawk what they have to sell now. 

Just like you did the reels, keep watching the thread, and you should get plenty of recommendations. 

Or be patient, watch closely for the Avid restock, and pounce...

[roadwarrior]

The Avid series are great rods, but if you want to look at a new alternative that has

impressed me, Okuma is releasing their Psyco Stick. Specifically  I would recommend

the PSY-C-751MH.

 

 

[gm4511]

The old Avids were long in the tooth and needed some feature improvements.  Can't wait to see the new ones.

[Bass Rutten]

5 hours ago, gm4511 said:

The old Avids were long in the tooth and needed some feature improvements.  Can't wait to see the new ones.

Have you heard new ones are coming? I was under the impression that they were discontinued and the victory line replaced them, which makes sense, why have two lines at the same price point?

[Unk]

6 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

Just like you did the reels, keep watching the thread, and you should get plenty of recommendations. 

Or be patient, watch closely for the Avid restock, and pounce..

Thanks Bulldog . I've just started to do my research on rods . I hope to get more advice for folks here. I just didn't want to consider a series that was being discontinued in case the rare problem came up and I had trouble with replacement with replacement 

6 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

f you want to look at a new alternative that has

impressed me, Okuma is releasing their Psyco Stick. Specifically  I would recommend

the PSY-C-751MH.

Thanks RW . I will check this out today .

5 hours ago, gm4511 said:

The old Avids were long in the tooth and needed some feature improvements.  Can't wait to see the new ones.

Thanks GM . Good to know . I hope there are in fact new ones .

[Unk]

Thought I might forward some info . I emailed St. Croix . They replied  (We here at St. Croix Rod really appreciate you allowing us to partner on your fishing adventures! The Avid freshwater casting rods have been retired and replaced with the Victory series.)

[FishTank]

2 hours ago, Unk said:

Thought I might forward some info . I emailed St. Croix . They replied  (We here at St. Croix Rod really appreciate you allowing us to partner on your fishing adventures! The Avid freshwater casting rods have been retired and replaced with the Victory series.)

 

Well that stinks.  The Avids were great just the way they were.  The Victory on the other hand seems to be a work in progress.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

I'm not surprised they got rid of the Avid FW.  They were great for the price point for years after they came out but the Avids and even the LTBs have been leap frogged by other brands.  I am curious to see what they do with the new LTBs.

If you really want an Avid that bad you could spend more $ for titanium guides and get the Avid Inshore.  IMO the spinning inshores are one of the most beautiful lines made in the U.S.

[Unk]

8 hours ago, FishTank said:

Well that stinks.  The Avids were great just the way they were.  The Victory on the other hand seems to be a work in progress.

Thanks FishTank . I actually got to put hands on a Victory 7'1" MH F yesterday . Really looked like a sweet clean rod and felt good in hand but I have never been able to figure out how a rod will function in the real world by inspecting it in a store . 

8 hours ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

If you really want an Avid that bad you could spend more $ for titanium guides and get the Avid Inshore.  IMO the spinning inshores are one of the most beautiful lines made in the U.S.

Really appreciate the suggestion . I was not set on the Avid - it was one of about 6 that I was researching . I looked at the specs on the saltwater Avid and lure size range seemed totally different than on the freshwater Avid listed at TW .

[Chris186]

The Avids were my favorite, particularly the Avid X. I bought a 7’1 MHF Victory, the Grunt. It’s very light, but I feel like there is no sensitivity for bottom contact baits. It’s an excellent Spinnerbait rod but that’s not what I bought it for. I also don’t like the foam instead of exposed blank under the reel. I’m actually going to sell my St Croix rods and go in a different direction. 

[Vilas15]

17 hours ago, Unk said:

Thought I might forward some info . I emailed St. Croix . They replied  (We here at St. Croix Rod really appreciate you allowing us to partner on your fishing adventures! The Avid freshwater casting rods have been retired and replaced with the Victory series.)

I'll be interest to see if they do the same with the spinning Avids. I wouldnt be surprised if they kept the spinning version since they are very popular with the walleye crowd and probably sold way less of the casting version comparatively.

[Unk]

39 minutes ago, Chris186 said:

I bought a 7’1 MHF Victory, the Grunt. It’s very light, but I feel like there is no sensitivity for bottom contact baits. It’s an excellent Spinnerbait rod but that’s not what I bought it for.

Good to know this . Sensitivity is a primary criteria for me but I am concerned that a rod with great sensitivity would be too brittle for a clumsy person like me . Finding a rod is turning out to be a heck of a lot harder than deciding on a reel .

[GetFishorDieTryin]

5 hours ago, Vilas15 said:

I'll be interest to see if they do the same with the spinning Avids. I wouldnt be surprised if they kept the spinning version since they are very popular with the walleye crowd and probably sold way less of the casting version comparatively.

No, I think the whole Avid FW line is gone.  They had the eyecons for walleye, but I'm not sure if they still make them because they were on clearance in Dec.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

5 hours ago, Unk said:

Good to know this . Sensitivity is a primary criteria for me but I am concerned that a rod with great sensitivity would be too brittle for a clumsy person like me . Finding a rod is turning out to be a heck of a lot harder than deciding on a reel .

My Victory is sensitive but it's a spinning model.  I'm sure the casting rods are sensitive as well, but I do wish they didnt have EVA over the blank.  It probably doesn't make a big difference, as far as dampening goes.

I wouldn't worry about the rod being brittle.  It's not like a 36t blank can survive a car door where a 40t won't.  

 

[Unk]

1 hour ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

I wouldn't worry about the rod being brittle.  It's not like a 36t blank can survive a car door where a 40t won't

Thanks . I appreciate the info about your Victory . Point taken about the car door 

[NorcalBassin]

Bummer to see a legacy rod like the Avid retired... be like Loomis dropping the GLX. 

[TNBankFishing]

It’s hard to say with gear in that $200 - $240 price range. It’s a hyper competitive market, and all the brands are trying to push their best tech down. 
 

The jury is still out on the victory line, from what I’ve used and felt they are solid choices with a few rods making the biggest splash.

 

I think for a lot of us it’s waiting to see where everyone ends up after the price increases this year. If Shimano doesn’t raise the price of the Expride a ton of manufacturers will be left in the dust. I’m a St. Croix and Megabass guy through  and through, but trying to convince myself a Levante is worth $20 less than an Expride is silly. 

[Unk]

4 hours ago, TNBankFishing said:

The jury is still out on the victory line, from what I’ve used and felt they are solid choices with a few rods making the biggest splash.

Thanks for the info . Nice to see someone likes Watts Bar over Chick . 

[TNBankFishing]

2 hours ago, Unk said:

Thanks for the info . Nice to see someone likes Watts Bar over Chick . 

I fish a kayak club in watts bar and love the lake. 

[Unk]

1 hour ago, TNBankFishing said:

I fish a kayak club in watts bar and love the lake.

Sounds great but , with my old hips and knees , I seriously doubt I could get into a kayak . For sure if I did get into one , I'd never get out again  

[Gkitz]

Anyone have the inside scoop on the legend tournament bass replacement?

[gm4511]

On 1/28/2022 at 1:58 PM, Bassjam2000 said:

Have you heard new ones are coming? I was under the impression that they were discontinued and the victory line replaced them, which makes sense, why have two lines at the same price point?

You're right, I was thinking about the St. Croix Legend Tournament Spinning Rods which have been discontinued.  

[Bass Rutten]

1 minute ago, gm4511 said:

You're right, I was thinking about the St. Croix Legend Tournament Spinning Rods which have been discontinued.  

Ah of course, as a big st croix fan I’m looking forward to them and holding off on my next rod purchase waiting for the new lt series myself. Hope they can compete with the exprides performance wise. I was lucky enough to pick up an avid x direct from st croix for about $170 right before they ran out of them, fantastic value.

[fishwizzard]

Sad to hear the Avids are gone, I have the 6'2" M/XF casting rod and love it, the best fluke rod I have found.  It doesn't look like they are retaining that spec, so I guess I need to start tracking down a spare.