St Croix Imperial 7.5 foot 4wt review (and some rambles about small reels)

[luckydude]

Hi,

new guy here with a little review. I'll probably wade through all my stuff if people are interested, list below, but today I want to talk about my newest rod.

First the equipment list so you know what I have for comparison:

Reels:

- Lamson LP 1 (non-ported)
- Lamson Litespeed hard alox
- Cortland CLX I
- Orvis Battenkill II large arbor

I love the little Lamson, hands down my favorite.

Rods:

- Sage Graphite III 590 4RPL 9', 5wt, 3oz
- St Croix Legend Ultra, 8.5', 4wt
- St Croix Imperial, 7.5', 4wt
- G Loomis Premier, PMR 1026TF, 8.5', 6wt

The new rod is the 7.5' Imperial, and I *love* that rod when matched with the little Lamson reel. So do my kids, they call that setup "the perfect one", as in "Can I use the perfect one this time? Please?"

It is absolutely effortless to cast, I still have a pretty long reach, and it's nice when the stream is overgrown. I've got nothing but good things to say about it. The sage was $600 or so many years ago, this one was $200 2 days ago and it's more fun. Don't get me wrong, in wind, I want that 5wt sage. But in tight quarters or no wind, the little St Croix is amazingly pleasant.

I give a lot of credit to the Lamson, it's a very small reel (and I fish it with 4wt and 5wt lines, with very little backing but who am I kidding, I've never had a fish on that got anywhere near the backing). My theory is that because it is smaller it is closer to the rod and it balances better. Anyone agree/disagree?

All I know is that I tried to love the new Lamson litespeed and I'm probably going to sell it, the only thing I like is that the arbor is bigger so it reels in faster. But for every minute of reeling there are many more minutes of casting and for casting, for me and my kids, the little lamson rocks.

I'll probably pick up a 3wt rod and try that, anyone compared the St Croix Legend Ultra vs the Imperial?

[Joe Mateas]

I have the 8' 4wt 4pc Imperial, as well as the 8'6" 5wt, 9' 6wt and 9' 7wt, all current models and a 17yr old 9' 4/5wt. I love all of them, the 4wt is paired with a Bauer M.5SL, awesome little combo.... For the price I don't see how you can go wrong with the current Imperial, I know the last model was heavier but my 9' 4/5wt Imperial I started with in 1994 was and still is a pleasure to fish.

[luckydude]

I added the 8' 4pc 4wt today, it feels like a winner as well.

I'm a photography nerd (translation: love the equipment, take crappy pictures, once in a while a good one) and in photography we have a term for good lenses that are underpriced: "sleepers".

The imperial's from St Croix feel like that to me. $200 for a rod that I like better than my $600 sage (and that's ~20 year old $600, who knows what that would be today).

Maybe tech has just moved forward and it's cheaper. I dunno, but I'm loving these Imperials. Gonna get a 3wt. They are a joy to cast, loving it.

[luckydude]

OK, so I got a second Lamson LP 1 today and loaded it up with a 4wt line and took the 8' out and compared to the 7.5' Imperial. I and #1 son like the 7.5 better. #2 son likes the 8'. Go figure.

I think the 7.5 casts great, fantastic rod, I'll never sell it. The 8', hmm, good, not as great, kinda like to see what Legend Ultra or Sage does at that length.

I'll be getting a second 7.5 though, it's that good. In my stupid opinion. :)