Ice-Fishing Product Preview: St. Croix Legend Gold Ice

There’s Gold Over Them There Holes

St. Croix Rod’s new Legend Gold Ice is as valuable and dignified as the precious metal itself

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Modern rod-building has reached the milestone of miniaturizing primo long-rod performance in an ice fishing stick. (But suffice to say not everyone’s doing it, as evidenced by some of the lifeless poles still in the stores.) St. Croix Rod – crafters of the ‘Best Rods on Earth’ – on the other hand, has been a leader in the progressive hardwater movement and continues broadening the horizons of premium ice fishing rods.

A few ice fishing seasons ago, anglers celebrated the birth of St. Croix’s Legend Ice . This breakthrough series of rarified rods yielded incredible performance alongside distinctive features. The most notable of those attributes was its adjustable spring bobber. Crowds went wild. Panfish prayed.

For ice fishing 2013-14, trumping even the original, St. Croix introduces the new Legend Gold Ice series, which, as expected, tout the patented, 24k gold-plated super-finesse strike indicator system.

Beyond the advanced ‘spring bobber,’ the new super ice tools feature a customized neoprene-skin handle, which gives it a comfortable unfrozen feel that transmits even the slightest bites through its Fuji® SK2™ reel seat.

The rod blank itself is a work of wonder, too. A precision-taper solid carbon blank arcs with efficiency during battle, after its soft and sensitive tip sets the hook securely. Special Pac Bay Minima guides keep line flowing and spooling smartly with their pinpoint spacing and superb construction.

When all is said and done, though, it’s the Legend Gold’s 24k gold-plated super-finesse strike indicator system that makes it matchless. Invented by champion ice angler, Greg “The Prowler” Wilczynski, this tournament-tested system visibly shows the most subtle bump or strike well before it can be felt, allowing you to consistently catch fish that would have gone undetected with other types of rods or slapdash spring bobbers.

“The coil spring,” explained Greg Wilczynski, “is much more sensitive than solid wires or metal tabs, even titanium tabs. It’s also adjustable, and you have the option of swapping it out for a coil with a different tension so you can use a wider variety of lures with a single rod.”

The Legend Gold series includes five 24” rods rated from ultra-light to medium-heavy.

Designed and handcrafted in Park Falls, Wisconsin, Legend Gold series rods come with a 1-year warranty backed by St. Croix Superstar Service. Legend Gold ice rods retail for $90.

Tight lines,