About 8 years ago I was hooked by St. Croix and purchased one of their Imperial fly rods. The rod was nice but the real value was the unlimited no questions asked life long warrentee. You brake it no matter how and they replace it. you never need to buy another fly rod again was the catch.

It took me 6 years of heavy use to finally brake that rod. I respect that but when I took it in for an exchange I was told that line was discontinued and they were not honouring it with anything but the replacement model. I talked to a rep and he confirmed it. I went back to the retailor and made a scene about it. They gave me a replacement. I've spent thousands there over the years.

2 years later my dog brakes the replacement, this spring actually. No worries right? I have the new model. Wrong. They will not honour that anymore neither. No scene at the shop could help me but they sent it off and said we'll see what happens. Now is the time for the trout fishing in the BC interrior so I said the hell with using one of my heavier fly rods for now and went out and bought one of those new Sage FLI's. Sage has never wiggled from their same warrentee and its a better rod for equal money. St. Croix will never see another penny of mine and I probably have more money invested in rods than I do rifles. I own alot of rifles.

Try calling the Pres. of St Croix Paul Schulter at 1-800-826-7042 sometime cutting out the middle man works best. As far as I am concerned their quality and service is hard to beat.

Good luck
Pa Griz

The new SAGE FLI is priced the same as the Imperial but its a better rod and SAGE is far easier to deal with come warrentee time. I know both these issues first hand. I've called them.

What really pissed me off 2 years ago was my fishing buddy had the entry level blue St. Croix in for warrentee at the same time as I tried to warrentee the Imperial and was being told to beat it, his was returned in less than 3 weeks. $300 vrs. $100. I thought I was getting a top notch warrentee on a mid level rod. Not. He was getting a top notch warrentee on an entry level rod.

SAGE St.Croix

Finally got a call and my new St Croix rod is waiting for me only a 7 1/2 hour drive away in Richmond B.C even though I wanted it sent to my home. I'm going to sell this rod since I don't need it anymore now that i bought a SAGE. I'll warn who ever buys it that they will have to be stubborn if they ever have to have it replaced. St. Croix tries to discourage you and hope you go away.

When I lived in Idaho and fished much more than I do now, I did the pay a bit more for the Reddington flyrods for a slightly less impressive rod all things being equal. I liked the action of the rod, but could have had a slightly nicer rod with out the lifetime warranty. Well, it has been replaced now 4 times in the last 16 or so years. Never a question of how or why, and always fast to get me back out fishing. Now Orvis has purchased them, I hope they will continue to provide such great service. Too bad about your rod, it looks like they may be going the way of the old Berkely series one rods. Its life not yours. Break it once, get replacement or fix, then its life is over as is the warranty. Good heads up on their customer service.

Guys, I don't build fly rods, but have been building all the other styles for about 30 years now. I suspect what has happened is that blank prices have skyrocketed, and the companies are operating on the ragged edge of profit trying to compete with the imports. Any time a rod is replaced, the profit margin takes another hit.

Take a look at what all is coming across from China, thanks to WJC...

I waited almost three months for a stand up blank out of CA, because the Chinese are buying up all the graphite matting used to make the blanks. They have the funding, and the raw material companies don't care who they get paid from.

If a rod company offers a lifetime replacement warranty to the original purchaser, the warranty should be honored, no questions asked. Sadly, I think this is just one more of those areas where this country is heading downhill. If you don't want to stand your ground and risk making someone mad, you are probably going to be left holding two pieces.

I feel sorry for the next generation.

Graphite blanks are cheaper than ever. Sage claims as long as the price of graphite stays as low as it is, they will continue to offer their no questions asked warranty. Thier eyes/guides cost more than the blanks.

quote:

Thier eyes/guides cost more than the blanks.

That may explain why they can agfford to replace the rod. I can show you catalogs with fly rod blanks costing upwards of $300. If they told me what you posted above, I would shy away from their rods.

JMHO...

I wouldnt shy away from SAGE. They cost more but no monkey buisness on warrantees. My FLI casts better than my Imperial.

I picked up the replacement rod on the weekend. I'm selling it. I'll reinvest the money for a reel upgrade for my SAGE.

I have a couple of Scott rods that I will be taking with me on a hunt where we will be camped on a wold class steelhead and salmon river. They carry the same warrantee but I've yet to break or wear one down.

Warranties are a pretty sketchy thing. I've heard lots of good things about St. Croix, but then I've also heard Orvis has the best warranty.

I own a St. Croix muskie rod, and I don't think I'll ever break it, but we'll see...
I own a J. Austin Forbes flyrod and I've broken it about 4 times. It's an 8 weight and I cast big flies for muskies and pike (I need to get a 12) anyways, they never ask questions and I have a replacement within a week every time... I paid about $160 for the rod.

Sage, Winston and Scott are great. If I could bring myself to spend $500 I know they will always honor warranties to the original owner.

Guys, I hate to be the bearer of sad news, but all those so called "premium fly rods" are just bait to catch you. I have been a flyfisherman for nearly 50 years and have had my share of "premium" fly rods. After much trial and error, my go to rods are all made by Cabelas. I have a fondness for the FT, but also like the new less expensive LST. I would challenge anyone to show me that a Sage, Loomis, Winston or T&T is any better; either in castability or finish.

Besides I have NEVER had a problem returning anything back to Cabelas for replacement.

Boiler,

You got screwed on the deal. I bought an Imperial 9ft 6 wt back in 1999 or 2000, I cracked it last year and finally got around to sending it back just a couple of weeks ago. I sent the check for $20 for return shipping. About 6 working days later, I had a new rod show up on my doorstep, no questions or anything. Just "Sorry about the breakage heres a new rod" It still an Imperial, I don't fish it anymore since I normally fish Sage XP's but the St. Croiz is a rod I keep in the boat for a person that likes a slow rod, or its a windy day and a 6 wt line will help someone out. I have only broken a St. Croix and a TFO, and warranty on both has been spectacular.

P.S. Maybe they don't like you cause your Canadian.....

quote:

Originally posted by Dusky:
Guys, I hate to be the bearer of sad news, but all those so called "premium fly rods" are just bait to catch you. I have been a flyfisherman for nearly 50 years and have had my share of "premium" fly rods. After much trial and error, my go to rods are all made by Cabelas. I have a fondness for the FT, but also like the new less expensive LST. I would challenge anyone to show me that a Sage, Loomis, Winston or T&T is any better; either in castability or finish.

Besides I have NEVER had a problem returning anything back to Cabelas for replacement.

I'm with you Dusky! Several years ago I bought an expensive Loomis blank and a Cabela's Fish Eagle. After making both rods which were to be pretty close to the same thing. (Fish Eagle for the wife and Loomis for me....heh, heh)

I sold the Loomis and kept the Fish Eagle which was at least $100.00 cheaper! I just liked the feel and action of the Fish Eagle better. To
me the Loomis has too thin a wall?