Taking Interest in Interests Takes Top Honors
OutdoorHub 07.31.12
Radical. Far-reaching. Drastic. Extreme. All are expressions used all too often when defining the products that take the prestigious top honors at ICAST. But sometimes it’s the simplest ideas that create the biggest buzz at the largest sportfishing trade show in the world.
For St. Croix—makers of “The best rods on Earth” for more than six decades—it was realizing what was really missing from the inshore fishing market was a rod engineered and crafted with nothing but the serious angler’s interests at heart. Strategy: build a better inshore rod than any other out there. Although uncomplicated, the theory was really one of revolution. To put it plainly, it was to give the inshore saltwater angler the rod they actually wanted; one they can be truly proud to own… Not a price-point stick that’s not-so-fresh off the assembly line; not a pole robotically spun in seconds, boxed, crated and shipped overseas.
Instead, St. Croix created the Legend Inshore – a handcrafted work of art built in the USA, and, with only the highest quality components and most modern blank manufacturing technology on earth.
Yes, it was as simple as that.
And where did taking interest in the interests of anglers get them? The Legend Inshore was voted the number one rod on all the salty seas worldwide and awarded “Best Saltwater Rod” during the three-day show held July 11 through 13, 2012, in Orlando, Florida.
“We thought outside the saltwater market by producing an inshore rod the angler could catch more fish with; not one manufactured only to meet a company’s supply and demand,” says Dave Schluter, VP – Product Management for the Park Falls, Wisconsin based company. “All we did is introduce a rod like no one else. And now we’ve set a new standard in the saltwater market.” (“All we did” is used quite loosely in a rod where “everything goes in.”)
Each and every component on all nine Legend Inshore rod models resist saltwater corrosion; are fitted with Kigan Master Hand Zero Tangle guides with zirconia rings and titanium frames; integrate Fuji® SK2 split reel seats and corrosion-proof Delrin wind check, reel seat trim pieces and premium cork handle. In conjunction, the high-modulus, high-strain SCIV graphite blanks mesh in the St. Croix exclusive Fortified Resin System (FRS) and are 33% stronger due to state-of-the-art curing ovens, which prevent microbuckling by keeping carbon fibers in proper alignment.
All told, the Legend Inshore was voted Best Saltwater Rod for one reason: Inshore saltwater anglers now have the rod they’ve always desired. And it’s about time.
