St Croix Triumph Casting Rod Review

St Croix has been around for a while with a solid reputation to show for it, but it’s never really been able to separate itself from the pack.

Often content to let other companies for the tip of the spear for research and development, St. Croix generally tends to follow technology, design, and style trends rather than set them.

As such, the brand definitely skews more for the general audience and doesn’t necessarily offer the widest range of options and configurations.

That said, you also generally don’t need to worry about St. Croix failing catastrophically in any meaningful way and still provides good value for what you get.

The St Croix Triumph casting rod is either at the low-end of the mid-tier or the high-end of lower-tiered products which present the opportunity for an excellent value.

However, this review seeks to understand whether that value meets a minimum standard and who this baitcasting rod is for.

Contents

Review

Construction (craftsmanship, make quality)

This is definitely one of the places where the St Croix Triumph casting rod really earns its value.

The company doesn’t necessarily phone in the standard excellent construction you would expect from any of St. Croix’s more expensive casting rods.

One of the biggest benefits this provides is the FRS technology used for many St Croix rods.

The FRS or Fortified Resin System helps keep the multitude of carbon fibers in their proper place throughout every stage of the tempering process.

This ensures that the graphite fibers remain smooth and don’t buckle on microscopic scales, introducing an unnecessary fragility– something common among less reputable carbon fiber casting rods.

The FRS is then further reinforced with two layers of slow-cured resin to provide a rod that reduces weight and still maintains its set sensitivity.

On top of that, this provides the St Croix Triumph casting pole and all-around excellent durability that allows it to stand up to regular use for multiple seasons.

Material

As suggested in the “Construction Section,” the St Croix Triumph baitcasting rod uses excellent materials across the board, but especially when it comes to the blank which is ultimately the most important part.

This is one of the few completely carbon fiber blanks that doesn’t suffer mightily after extended use.

Of course, the use of resin at multiple points across the carbon fiber tempering process plays a huge role in the quality of the carbon fiber itself.

Beyond carbon fiber and resin for the blank, the St Croix Triumph also tries to do its part to help the environment with eco-friendly ECS or TCS reel seats and hoods.

Action

Where many of the previous features paint the St Croix Triumph casting fishing pole in a positive light, this brings the excitement a bit more back down to earth.

That said, the only real issue with this rod’s action is that it comes exclusively in the fast category which limits the shore fishing you can do with it.

On the positive side, the solid construction provides for an extremely even and smooth action without any dips or hitches along with the cast.

You will still be limited to smaller waters, but you will at least enjoy a significant accuracy boost with the single lure as this also makes multi-lure casting a bit less effective.

Power

While the St Croix Triumph casting fishing pole’s power isn’t nearly as constrained as its action, it’s still not really all that much to brag about.

You have the choice of either heavy or medium-heavy, though with this combination of power range and action you shouldn’t have any issue with large fish in small waters.

Sensitivity

The sensitivity of the St Croix Triumph is fairly high thanks to the exclusive fast action– one place where it really comes in handy.

However, this fishing pole has to balance durability with flexibility, especially given its starting material.

As such, it’s important to note the carbon fiber of the St Croix Triumph is mid-modulus.

While this impacts the taper and the action a bit, the biggest impact is in the sensitivity where it slightly reduces what is otherwise a solid sensitivity just a touch.

Taper

This is another area where the St Croix Triumph casting rod performs well, and much like the sensitivity, it comes down to the materials and their manufacturing processes.

However, in this instance, the use of mid-modulus graphite pays off as the taper is not only ideal but extremely smooth too.

Rod Guides

The Atlas Performance slim aluminum-oxide guides are a nice touch and will do wonders to help prevent your line from tangling during the cast.

On the other hand, this means you shouldn’t use a braided line as it will likely cut through the guides before too long.

Handle (material, shape, etc)

The St Croix Triumph casting pole isn’t trying to win any awards in this category.

Just get in, do a good job, and get out.

It accomplishes this task by using cork for the handle which is reasonably durable, provides a good grip that can easily be further enhanced, and is inexpensive.

Type of Rod

As a baitcasting rod, the reel of the St Croix Triumph sits on top of the rod which reduces the risk of guide inserts popping out and will even help prevent the line from slicing through them.

However, this means you’re limited to the overly simple spincast reel for beginners or the technically demanding baitcasting reel for advanced fishermen.

Reel and Real Seat Compatibility

This is one of the areas where the St Croix Triumph baitcasting fishing pole surprisingly offers some choices you wouldn’t otherwise expect.

Specifically, you can choose between palm support or speed with different seats favoring one of those two extremes.

That said, whatever reel you choose will need to sit on top of the rod, though the sandblasted finish does look nice under the bright sun.

Weight

The St Croix Triumph is definitely one of the lighter rods on the market and that is likely almost certainly due to the exclusive use of carbon fiber for the rod’s blank as that is easily the lightest material commonly used.

When you add the cork handles and the aluminum-oxide guides, there’s nothing on the rod to weigh you down.

Length

As you might expect, the generalist approach led the St Croix Triumph casting pole to offer the standard three lengths that most fishing rods come in: 6’, 6’6”, and 7’.

There’s not really much to say here except that as you go up the lengths, you can add a little more casting distance that you lose from the fast action.

Warranty

St Croix provides a solid warranty though it’s certainly not the best warranty on the market.

That said, the standard St. Croix 5-year warranty on the blank against defects and manufacturer’s problems is better than you’re liable to get with most other products at the same price point.

Customer Service

While it might not be one of the most important factors for choosing a fishing pole to use, it’s still important to make sure that the company has your back if something goes wrong.

When it comes to St Croix Rods, the company provides one of the more impressive customer service experiences you’re likely to encounter.

While that may or may not be necessary, you can rest assured that if you ever have to talk to St Croix’s customer service, you’ll be treated with dignity and respect.

Uses (Who is this good for)

The St Croix Triumph sits in an oddly good position in the market, though it might be a bit difficult for some people to see it.

Given its low price, this baitcasting fishing rod is clearly a good option for someone on a budget who’s looking for a rod that they can use again and again without having to worry.

However, because the rod was made to such exacting specifications, there’s not really any room for user error.

As such, this can make the St Croix Triumph a poor option for inexperienced fishermen who might otherwise accidentally push the rod beyond its intended capabilities.

Unfortunately, this cuts into a big part of the budget-friendly market in the first place, though if you use the rod for smaller fish in clear water, it’s kind of hard to go wrong.

Conclusion

As we can see, the St Croix Triumph is an excellent value for someone looking for a casting rod that can handle some regular use over the long haul.

That said, it’s still important to remember that this rod’s specifications are more exact than most of the competition, and exceeding them even a little bit can be disastrous.

Still, if your main need for a new fishing pole is for smaller waters, this is an excellent option that can still get a reasonable casting distance with the longer models.

It also doesn’t hurt that the St Croix Triumph is almost exclusively strong options that lean on the heavier side of power for catching large, powerful fish.

When considering the overall finish quality and combining it with the numerous touches and details that not only make using the St Croix Triumph effortless but improve its performance, it’s hard not to recommend this model to anyone– so long as they understand that it’s for a more casual fishing trip.