AllOutdoor Review – St. Croix Trout Series Spinning Rod 7ft Light
Eugene L. 01.04.24
Surprisingly even though I am in Georgia where the water temperatures of our lakes and rivers regularly reach the upper 80s in the summer heat, we have a good amount of trout water access. Due to a healthy trout stocking effort by the Georgia DNR, Appalachian mountain streams, and cold reservoir-fed rivers, you can catch trout pretty much year-round in North Georgia. So for the past year, I have been using a 2022 St. Croix Trout Series Spinning Rod to target after target mostly trout with both lures and bait. Fishing a variety of trout streams that were a variety of different sizes and conditions. Mostly though the target was stocked rainbow trout placed by the DNR.
St. Croix Coverage on AllOutdoor
- NEW St. Croix Fly Rods Revealed in EVOS & EVOS Salt
- [ICAST 2023] Introducing SEVIIN Baitcaster Reels from St. Croix Fishing
- [ICAST 2023] Best NEW FW Fishing Rod – St. Croix Mojo Bass Trigon
- NEW St. Croix Rift Salt & Rift Jig Fishing Rods – Thinner & Lighter
Specifications – St. Croix Trout Series Spinning Rod 7ft Light
The specific model of the St. Croix Trout Series Spinning Rods that I am reviewing is the TFS70LXF2, a light power extra fast action 7ft rod. It is a 2-piece rod rated for line that is 4 lbs to 8 lbs and a lure weight rating of 1/16oz up to 1/4oz. While designed as a trout rod, don’t let this rod fool you. It is capable of a lot even while being such a thin and light fishing rod. The SCII carbon fiber construction with SCVI reinforcements gives a lot of strength to the blanks of the Trout Series Spinning rods.
- Model: TFS70LXF2
- 7’0″
- Light Power
- X-Fast Action
- 4-8lb Line Wt
- 1/16-1/4oz Lure Wt
- 2 piece.
- MSRP – $170
St. Croix Trout Series Spinning Rod 7ft Light Key Features
- Constructed with newly engineered SCII carbon fiber, and SCVI reinforcements, that is both stronger in flexural strength and lighter than its previous formulation.
- Sea Guide® Atlas Performance guides with stainless steel rings and frames; PVD coated tip-top.
- Built with Fortified Resin System (FRS) technology.
- Sea Guide® NPS reel seat with integrated rear nut.
- Split grip handle configurations with premium EVA handle materials.
- Two coats of Flex-Coat slow cure finish.
- 5-year warranty backed by St. Croix Superstar Service.
- Built to provide superior performance for trout specific anglers globally.
- Designed in Park Falls and handcrafted in Fresnillo, Mexico.
On the Water – St. Croix Trout Series Spinning Rod 7ft Light
The first place I went and the place I fished the most with the rod was the Chattahoochee River. The river runs almost the whole length of the state starting up in the Blue Ridge Mountains and continuing south till it reaches the Flint River and then flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. While the headwaters of the river has plenty of trout I don’t fish them too often. Instead, I fish the stretch just south of Lake Lanier. The water output from the dam here keeps the water around 50F year round, so the perfect place for trout. This stretch is also heavily stocked with rainbow trout for most of the year. There is also a breeding population of brown trout in the river. The brown trout are thriving, with the largest examples of them feeding on the stocked rainbow trout. The river is very wide for most of its length. Right to the south of Buford Dam, we generally wade out into the center of the river and then cast towards either bank of the river.
On the Chattahoochee the 7ft light Trout Series Spinning Rod was pretty much the perfect rod, when matched with light 6lb braid it casted lures a mile. The sensitivity of the extra-fast action was great as well, it telegraphed everything up very well. I say pretty much the perfect rod here though because of one thing, I noticed the rod tended to sling dough bait when you were trying to distance cast. The action is a bit too fast for dough bait, which is a common bait for these stocked trout. That same action did excel with throwing small plugs for trout. The action was perfect for working tiny jerkbaits across deeper channels in the river. It let me entice a good bit of these pretty brown trout out of the river.
Final Thoughts – St. Croix Trout Series Spinning Rod 7ft Light
Overall I really enjoy this little rod, it is incredibly light and sensitive, but at the same time very capable of handling large fish. While sold as a trout rod, it is capable of a lot more. I took it out to the lake a few times to use as a finesse live bait rod. I caught dozens of bass on small live shad using it, as well as a few large catfish. Beyond its fishability, the rod is made of very solid components that work well in this current setup. I do have a particular to me complaint about one component though, the rod butt. I feel it could be a little bigger, how I cast usually involves me grabbing the rod butt, so the little rod butt on the rod doesn’t fill my hand very well.
There was one other thing about the 7 ft Trout Series rod I need to note. Besides fishing the wide Chattahoochee, I took the rod to a few other trout streams. I fished up in Gatlinburg, over in Cave Springs, and up in Helen. These other spots were smaller creeks instead of a river so the 7 ft rod was a bit much. So if this is the sort of water you fish, maybe go with a smaller option from the Trout Series in the extra light power range. But if you fish bigger rivers like I do, or lakes this is the rod to get. When matched up with a 2500-size reel and light braid it is hard to beat. Even if you don’t have trout in your area, if you are looking for a very lightweight finesse rod, this might just be it for you as well, sight casting at bigger catfish and bass with this rod is a blast.
