Fly Rod ???

[livin4ice]

I was looking a new fly rods today and came across a St Croix Imperial.  Just wondering what everyone thought of the St Croix's.  I liked the feel of it and it looks to be a quality rod. The one I liked most was a 9' 6 weight.  I would be using an Orvis Rocky Mountain 6/7 reel.  Just wondering what everyone thought before I buy.  (by the way it is on sale for $90.00, lists at about $150.00)

[Trevor]

Can't go wrong with that price man.  I have an Imperial in a 5wt.  They are not high modulus so they are a little on the heavy side.  Not bad though.   They are very strong rods.  I have muscled 6 pound bows out of deep weed beds with mine.  My rods sometimes take serious abuse as I  often fish very rugged terrian.  My imperial has broken my fall on the rocks on more than one occasion, and it's still going stong.  It's a great choice for the price conscious angler, and you can't beat the piece of mind of an unconditional lifetime warranty.

Trevor

[rgfixit]

A quality rod at a decent price.
RG

[Cider]

It's hard to beat the value you get out of a St. Croix.  My first rod was a St. Croix 5 wt.  I still use it once in a while.

[flynuts2004]

What a DEAL, let me know if you don't want it 

[Cider]

This is my second season using the Orvis Rocky Mountain reel.  I have a 5/6 disc drag.  I like it, but not as much as my Orvis Battenkill.  The neatest thing about it is the cartridge system that it uses.  They are much cheaper than buying spare spools.  I am not sure if Orvis still makes them though.  I see they have the large arbor reels on their site but not the traditional.

I just went to my local Orvis dealer today and bought the last spare cartridge they had in stock for $19.

You might want to pick up a couple in case they did discontinue it.  The trend is to move towards large arbor reels because you lower line memory and can retrieve your line faster when a fish is on.

You can achieve the same effect with a conventional reel if you just load it with more backing line first.  This will help fill the spool and get the same result as a large arbor.  Within reason.

[livin4ice]

Cider,
I also like the Rocky Mountain alot.  I believe they stopped making it last year.  I am strongly considering going to a large arbor reel.  Along with the reasons you mentioned I also like the fact that it is simply larger.  You see, I am 6'5" and often feel like I am holding a small toy when fishing.  I also tend to use larger spinning equipment because when I do I don't feel like my hands are on top of each other when fighting a fish. 

Flynuts and I are headed to a large fishing equipment auction on Friday so maybe I will find one.  I am also going to look for some rod blanks.  Wish me luck.

[Cider]

I can see given your size that it would be easier for you to palm a fly reel of larger diameter to get more control over a fish that is stripping out line.  I am curious myself about the large arbor reels.  I haven't used any yet but might try one out in the near future.