A client of mine broke his favorite fly rod I had built for him on St. Croix 5FS9010-4 blank. I called St.Croix and they told me they no longer provide any warranty and sent me to Rodgeeks. The Rodgeeks said they only have SC2 and SC4 fly blanks. Now that is the problem... I am sure I am not the only one in this interesting situation. Has anyone of you guys been able to get a replacement tip section from any source for those SC5 blanks? Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

I got to see a early release 2022 St. Croix catalog and it appears the 'Imperial fly rod' which doesn't utilize SC V material is the only model they now offer which surprised me. I'm a huge St. Croix fan but despite that fact when you claim to make " The best rods on earth" but have failed to produce a top of the line fly rod that's competitive with other manufactures best fly rods that says a lot . At least to me it does .

Your best bet it to check the sponsors and look for existing inventory because it appears St. Croix has decided to go in a different direction.

Fishing tackle in the U.S.A. features some spectacular mark-ups, which is a good thing because our environment is producing a steady decrease in productive sport fishing locations. If it doesn't say "Made in the U.S.A." it is most certainly an import, even if the price does not reflect this fact.

Anyone with a blank would want to sell you the whole blank, otherwise you are going to have to find someone who broke another section and is in your same boat. Like G Loomis, Lamiglas, and others if they no longer make the rod, they will offer you the most similar model as a replacement. I may know someone with that blank, but they appear to be at Sage prices when you could get them.

Yeah, those blanks are/were expensive. I was thinking if I just find another 9' 4 piece blank in a similar aqua blue color with a tip section that a close fit it would probably make this rod functional again. It won't be the same, but something is better than nothing. It should work, right?

Meanwhile, I can work with St. Croix/Rodgeeks to get a replacement blank they currently offer.

Finding a similar saltwater fly blank, similar color that fits would be like winning the lottery. Good luck.

If you can find a proper tip section that fits and has the correct action, but doesn't match the color, there is another solution. Don Shafar at Backbone Custom Rods is a miracle-worker with colors. He can paint a blank to match just about anything you can come up with...

That's good to know! Thanks Richard!

Your only potential would be to find a used rod. Otherwise you will have to buy or wrap a new rod that is similar. RodGeeks C4 rods are basically the same as the St. Croix Imperial. It seems to me that St. Croix found it impossible to compete with other rod companies for the fly rod segment, particularly in the mid-price category. I would suspect their American production costs were part of the problem.

" It seems to me that St. Croix found it impossible to compete with other rod companies for the fly rod segment, particularly in the mid-price category. I would suspect their American production costs were part of the problem"

Actually St.Croix was very competitive in years past with their mid priced fly rods. What they failed at was being able to come up with a top of the line fly rod that compared favorably with other manufacturers top of the line fly rods . The Legend Elites and Extremes always got middle of the road performance ratings when fly rod shootout's were conducted . You would think that with the resources and decades of experience they would be able to consistently produce a truly awesome performing top of the line fly rod that would rate top 3 year in year out but that has not been the case.

Jason Brunner is an excellent designer and engineer but he's no Steve Rajeff , Jerry Siem or Gary Loomis unfortunately .

The St. Croix fly rods were easily the equal of any of the so called "premium" makers' rods. Most of these magazine shoot offs are won by the most powerful rod in any given line weight category. St. Croix typically didn't under-rate their rods to the same extent as the other makers do so they didn't win the distance contest, which unfortunately, tends to be the overriding qualification for the best rod.

............

That's a very fair argument , didn't even think of it that way.

If they were very competitive -- and making money at it -- they would not have pulled the plug.