Not trying to bash them at all, the warranty service has been very good. But I wanted to share since I had two rods of the same model fail in similar ways on relatively small fish, doesnt inspire confidence that they could handle larger fish. Curious if anyone else has seen this with the Triumph Travel series. Overall it seems like a nice rod but the blanks that I have gotten seem to be struggling. I use other St Croix rods when fishing locally (1 pc) and they have never had issues, great rods. Ive caught plenty of fish big and small on those without issue.
I wanted to share my experience for this travel rod and St Croix just so other people have some reference points since there doesnt seem to be a lot of info around.
Last year I bought the Triumph Travel 6'6" MH spinning rod new direct from St Croix and used it on a once on a inshore trip to Florida. While reeling (after hook set) in a small snook (around 12–15”), the rod snapped in the middle of the blank. When I contacted St Croix about the warranty, they replaced it for free (waived the usual ~$60 replacement fee) and covered shipping, which I appreciated.
On my next trip, the replacement rod also broke, again around the middle, this time on a smaller ladyfish. I "fixed" the rod at the time with some extra sections from the first rod and fished with it for a while like that, caught probably 5 more fish on that. Eventually it snapped again on a sheepshead (~10").
I called them again for the warranty and again they are sending another replacement for free. This time they recommended I move down to a medium power, saying the MH may have been too stiff for my application, time will tell.
My setup was a 2500 Shimano Stradic with 30 lb braid mainline, a 10–30 lb mono leader, usually throwing a 1/4 oz (or smaller) jig or a Carolina rig with shrimp.
Posted by Mikegfx4
3 Comments
Wow did it literally break right at rhe ferrule section between sections 2 and 3? Holy smokes!! Thats complete manufacture failure there. I worked in the rod manufactire business for a decade and thats inexcusable.
I broke the tip on mine on the first outing. I repaired it after cutting about 4” off and adding a new tip.
I have zero faith in it now. It will be my 7year old son’s travel rod now.
I’ve replaced it with Daiwa travel rods and had zero issues with them.
The eagle claw travel rods are amazing. Waaaay cheaper and I’ve caught 28” redfish on their medium-light action one.