I apologize for stumbling on some things in this video. I said a couple weights wrong (yes I know 1/2 is bigger than 3/8), and I meant to say "nose hooked Keitech" instead of "nose hooked senko". I try to keep these videos raw and unedited on purpose. I find it challenging to do single take vids. I could edit out the mistakes and reshoot but.. I'm kinda lazy.. and we're just talking about fishing rods here. It's not that important!
I am not sure why some feel the need to give you a hard time. I understood everything your said. Also, I don’t think people realize how hard it is to do these types of videos. Keep up the good work man! I have been intrigued by this new line but am still debating if I will get a Levante or Zodias for this price point. I am a Shimano guy and love my Exprides and Poison Adrenas but have thought about branching out with the Levante or Victory. Levante are hard to get of course, and I have a feeling the Victory will sale out quickly too.
Dude, no need to apologize. You are doing something that other's won't do, so to them I say "xxxx xxx". You do a great job, are passionate about the topics you cover and cover things other won't / don't. Keep up the good work and keep the content coming!!
I believe that you showcased the St. Croix victory rods extremely well. I learned more from you than I did the St. Croix representative in the tackle warehouse video.
@@jhorgos12 Yeah, it's funny, caught that too, but it's easy to forget NRX medium spinning rods have forever been 1/8-3/8 , 6-12#. For medium spinning they are lighter than most medium ratings, so Brian was really correct though the 872 wasn't a good example of his point. The Victory is just a notch higher at 3/16 - 1/2 oz.
St Croix rods are always insanely light even at lower price points. The downsize is they don't balance as well as heavier rods (same deal with most light rods). Also the Mojo Bass and Avid and Avid X lines weren't overly soft, if anything the opposite even. I have no experience with the lineup beyond that, but I always thought of St Croix as being a bit stiffer than advertised as a result.
Great video again! I actually like the softer tips of st croix. I find it helpful when there is more range of motion in the rod tip. It makes it easier to tell whether a fish has engulfed my bait or it was just nibbling. I’ve lost a lot of fish setting the hook too early with extra fast rods. Randy Blauket made a video explaining exactly what I mean
From what I've heard from St Croix when I've talked with them is they under rate their rods on purpose because they know people will over weight them. If they go right to the max then someone will over weight the rod and potentially break it on a cast. I've sold St Croix in the shops I've worked at for over 20 years.
Overall great overview but I do have to ask for a little clarification on the spinning rod lure ratings you were talking about. You knocked the Victory for only being rated to 1/2oz. You said a 7'3" rod should be rated to at least 3/8oz-3/4oz. You mentioned the NRX being rated to 3/8oz. I'm curious if you were off with with your fractions or just spaced that 1/2oz is between you're preferred rating? Again, great break down but that part confused me.
I feel like that went opposite direction with their rod ratings. They feel one power down, hence how lightweight the models are. I was eyeing the 7'3 spinning too, but felt the tip was too whippy and it lack power for an all around "Medium " rod. I think if they released a MH with the same action it should be closer to the 872s in terms of ratings.
Got my hands on them at bass pro today. I agree. Ratings seem a bit scatterbrained. The rod nicknames are dumb too. The 7'4 heavy felt like my 7'1 mh LTB. I won't be buying one.
I picked up a couple of Victory spinning rods. 7'3" MXF and 7'1" MF . Love them both. I paired one of them with a Vanford 2500 and the other with a Diawa Procyon AL 2500. I did my research via RU-vid and forums before I ordered them (couldn't find one in store to check out). Your video was very helpful and like how you don't edit the honest information you provide. I also followed you on IG and appreciate the follow back. I'm a spinning nerd too 🤓🎣
@@Sk3rRR I really like both of them. I use them both for all my finesse applications. But I use the 7'1" Fast more for weightless senkos, finesse carolina rig, ned rig. The St. Croix Fast action tip is a tad more crisp compared to the Extra Fast soft tip that Brian was reviewing. I use the 7'3" Extra Fast for drop shot, finesse swimbaits, neko rig. As Brian was mentioning in the review, the 7'3" XF has a soft tip. It has it's advantages with casting. But both have a good sensitivity and feel. I used all of my finesse applications on both of the rods just to see how I like the feel of whatever I'm throwing and they both do great. Just have my preferences on what I'd like to throw between the 2.
@@MahykR good to hear! I have the 7'3" XF and I'm considering getting the 7'1" to replace my IMX-PRO 852s as I am not a fan of the grip! I think I might have to pick it up to test it out!
@@Sk3rRR I can't compare to the G Loomis rods as I fish on a budget lol. But I'm sure you will like the 7'1" Fast. It feels just like the 7'3" but a tad more stiffer tip.
I have the model Tatula rod Howell used to win the classic in 2014 or so. It is a well built rod with nice components. Every time I use it for light crankbaits I am pleased. I just bought a new 2017 Tatula sv 103 for it.
The line that runs down the threads of the reel seat, that indicates the spine of the blank. When you build casting rods the spine of the blank is on the bottom, and the spine of a spinning rod is on top. That line is also the key to keep the hood of the reel seat from spinning all the way around the rod.
@@PunchFishing In rod building you can do what ever you want, but since this is a mass produced rod, it falls into how things needs to be assembled at the factory. The spine is also the weakest point of the blank in terms of dead lifts. Hopefully this helps gives you an idea of why things are built they are. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-IziIGQ2H5Ks.html
thanks for the review lots of good info i have been waiting for this sounds like this rod line may be a winner the avid line has been my favorite will have to give these a try.
Great review of a much anticipated new rod! That line sounds like it may be a real strong contender (best in class?) in the $200 price point. How would you compare the sensitivity, on a 1 - 10 scale, of the Victory 7' 3" Medium Victory spinning rod you fished to an Expride 7' Medium and the new Zodias 7' Medium? Please keep those timely videos coming!
I'm curious to see how this compares to the Zodias and Expride spinning rods as well. I love my 7'3" ML Zodias but It's been discontinued in the new Zodias line. Debating between the new 7'3" Victory or stick with Shimano and go with the 7' M for throwing tubes and small swimbaits/grubs
I wouldn't compare anything in the Victory line to the Expride.. Expride is WAY better but 70$ more. It's not a fair fight. Zodias is this rods competition. I've not personally owned any Zodias rods so I can't really make a valid comparison to the Victory.
Good review, I recently broke my old st croix legend extreme spinning rod and now thinking about getting a expride or victory and can't decide between the two
Just got a Victory 7'3" MH Marshall Casting based on this review since I wanted to try a St. Croix and support an American made rod. Boy is it tip heavy, This made me overlook all of the good qualities of this rod like the nice cork and build quality. I have tried pairing it with my 2 heaviest reels being Quantum Smoke S3 and the Curado K and this thing still balances around 2 inches from the reel seat. I haven't even taken it out on a water yet and already think I'll be sending it back. My $200 Cashion Icon and Shimano Zodias run circles around the victory in the way they feel and balance. St. Croix really need to figure out how to balance their rods properly if they want to compete in this price segment. There are alot of quality rods in the $200 -$250 price point. Just to name few that I own and used for a number of years Cashion Icon, Shimano Zodias, ALX Zolo, Phoenix M1, Denali N3 (also a bit tip heavy but after handling them both Denali is better balanced than the Victory).
I have 2 of the 7'1" spinning rods with tatula lt reels. I throw mostly wacky rigs, bitsy bugs, and xraps. The fact the I have 2 identical rods should dictate that I dig it
These rods are sweet 🔥 My buddy just got the 7’3” medium spinning rod and you are right it’s super light ! I may grab the 6’10” model as it’s only 3.1 😳 That’s insane for the price ! And at my local shop I get all a heck of a deal on the warranty if anything goes wrong.I’m a st Croix fan for sure but also love my P5 Destroyers too
they have these Victory rods in 7’3 medium and they even made a combo out of them with the Shimano Nasci with 15lb power pro and a buck tail rigged on it for 319
Great review. I only fish spinning rods and also find the Tatula to be great at it's price especially because of the grip. Love that St. Croix went with the same grip on this rod. Decided to try the 7'3" out. Thanks for the discount code!
You made me buy the 7'3 spinning rod. My dad tried it and he just ordered the 7'1 spinning yesturday. I was really surprised abut the rod. I own Legend tournements and this is a great bang-for-the-buck fishing rod. Paired with the Vanford 3000, I found the combo very versatile. Thanks and keep doing what your doing. Your reviews are great!
I badly needed a new crank bait rod and I decided to get a Victory can’t wait to try it out! Since I lost my St Croix discount I greatly appreciate the code you gave 🙂
I’ve always found that the Avid inshore 7ft medium balanced best with a 3000 Fuego-Tatula, 2500 felt a bit tip heavy in the Ci4 and Vanford which I own in 2500 and 4000/5000 When I held the Victory it reminded me a lot of the Avid , where as my Avid X felt more like the Mojo where it’s stiff at least in MH
Got the 7’1” MH and damn it’s freaking sensitive. And and great great action. Light as hell . Buuuuut it is slightly slightly tip heavy as most st.Croix rods come. But other than that I’m probably buying another soon.
Thanks for the review. I've been looking at these and plan to pick one up. Was excited to see your review this morning. Was trying to decide between the casting 7'3" H or MH for a jig rod any tips or input?
@@PunchFishing not sure if my last reply went through. Just got into jig fishing mostly 3/4 and under. Going to spend a lot of time this year on jigs and learning more though.
Love the rod, but it just blew apart fishing in Florida, $200 for 6 months, it's worth it, let's see how good the warranty is. Great review. Works well with Fl reel.
After a year with the 7 3 rod what are your thoughts on it. I want to pull the trigger on one. I need a finesse spinning application rod for my line up. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Hey great video, helpful info. I’m subbed. Im debating ordering the lite-weight spinning model victory now, or waiting for the Avid 69MLXF. Need an All-around finesse spinning rod. What would you recommend? Thx!
I really wish they'd just announce the rest of the damned models. I'm interested in filling some gaps in my arsenal with these, but if I knew they aren't going to make such-and-such models, I could just get something else that is already on the market.
I just want to point out that the 1/2oz lure rating of the Victory is greater than the 3/8oz of the NRX. 3/8 is less than 4/8, and 4/8 would be equal to 1/2. Great video though! You sold me.
Please tell me the guides on the victory are at least more durable than the ones on the mojo bass. I just ordered a 7'1 medhvyfast to replace my mojo bass because I bumped the top guide against the concrete and the insert basically crumbled.
Sometimes you talk a million words a minute,😂 I appreciate your review,but I’m not sure the weight rating on the spinning rod🤷🏻♂️ is it up to a 1/2oz ? Or 3/8oz . I think we get spoiled with guides, but, I look at guides on my OG Loomis rods and I don’t mind St Croix putting a standard Fugi guide on a $200. Spinning rod that compares to the NRX 872S ($580.) pretty cool 😎 Thanks again for the reviews 🎣👍🎣✊
I’ve been waiting on a replacement rod for 6 months, the rod I had broke 15 inches from the tip I took pictures and sent them in and paid 50.00 for shipping and that was 6 months ago, when I call they say it’s on back order and it kinda gets pushed back… any help on getting a rod from them would be helpful !!!!
You should have said you hate the legend tournament bass rods in the beginning so I would have realized we won't agree on anything! Ha! But still, good stuff. Thanks for the run down. I will be passing on these.
@@PunchFishing I don't mind the little bit of tip heaviness for the way those 2018 redesign reel seats fit my hand. Incredibly comfortable. And I use a heavy revo so it balances good for me. Wish I would have known you were purging the collection!
Great question! They are both pretty amazing. I guess you have to ask what actions you're looking for (WAY more offerings in Levante currently) and how important is the warranty to you? Megabass warranty is much much worse. Levantes win in the looks department hands down.
@@PunchFishing I love your reviews. Down to earth and really appreciate your comments. Warranty at that price is probably less important than looks and function. I am trying to upgrade my rods in a few of my main areas. Picked up NRX 893C for flukes with a metanium. It really won’t cast them. Looking for a good rod to fish flukes with a regular or heavy wire hook
@@dougkennedy1111 That's very surprising to me, because the NRX 893 paired with a Metanium or Aldebaran/Core 50 is my dedicated weightless fluke fishing setup lol.
@@dougkennedy1111 I have that nrx 893 & I’d never consider fishing a fluke on it, a little to long & stiff. The 2020 Metaniums are great reels but I use the alde mgl as my dedicated fluke reel & it performs flawlessly
It's like the new Falcon Cara's are really amazing rods however the are technique specific. They have a heavy rated at 3/4oz spinnerbait rod that Christie designed and a heavy frog rod rated at 1.5 oz. To me it's just a name, it more like a MH plus but super super light. I dont pay attention to names anymore of power but more what the numbers rating and taper is.
How would you compare the Victory rods to the Loomis E6X series? I only ask because that is what I have currently (as something right in the same ballpark as far as price is concerned.)
All I can say is my 7'4" Heavy/Fast only weighs 4.2 oz. The new SC111+blank is no joke as far as being light and sensitive. It is lighter than the Legend Tournament but far better guides on the legend. Both of the 7'$" rods BPS had were flawed. I noticed the first one after I payed for it and the traded it out for the other one on the spot. Woke up the next day and went over it and it is far worse than anything I have seen from St Croix including the budget level premiers.I was really put off by it. Lost interest real fast.
Nope, they are totally different. They feel like walleye sticks (to me). I've bent the same power/actions in the legend x and the legend Xtremes in the store and the Xtremes are much softer.
@@PunchFishing wow, good to know! The website says scv and scvi on both so I just thought they were the same. I really wanted one of these victory rods to try but I just jumped into the deep end of kistlers to try out a z-bone so I'll have to wait. Hoping I won't regret it since it's my first kistler. Thanks for all the cool rod reviews always.
If give the choice between the 7'3 Victory spinning and the loomis 7'1 E6X spinning, what would you choose? They're both at the same price point but loomis seems like more of a premium brand. ( I do not own any loomis or st. Croix)
If you were to compare this directly to the regular Tatula, like the one you have, what would you say are the key differences and which would you choose? Specifically, which is best suited for finesse tactics and which do you find more"sensitive"? Is one possibly better as an "all around" spinner? Also, which do you think has the better fit and finish? Thanks.
Man, for like $50 less the Tatula is hard to beat. There's something to be said for supporting Made in the USA products though. You really can't go wrong with either.
@@PunchFishing Thanks so much for the fast reply! Reason I ask is bc I purchased a 7’ M Tat yesterday (mostly for fishing Senkos) and am now wondering if I should take it back and get the Victory! Haha. I have always loved rods with a stiff backbone and fast tip for this. Seems like I’d be splitting hairs though. I agree about supporting USA products, but I’ve got a few too many hobbies and am only in the market for one spinning rod…probably for years to come. One other question if you don’t mind…thinking about pairing with either a Stradivarius FL or Davies Procyon. Any experience with these? If so, have you been more impressed with one or the other (or perhaps another in that price range)? Thanks again!
Sorry got autocorrected there: stradic FL and Daiwa Procyon** And final question (I promise I don’t mean to be annoying). Is there a significant difference between the tatula and victory guide diameters? I intend to throw braid with a fluoro leader. Would you anticipate any problems doing this with either? Thanks and I promise that was the last question.
I heard St.Croix is coming out with technique specific in the Victory Line throughout the year, would it be worth waiting for a ML 7"1" and up, for hair and light jig?
Didn't think much of the Victory line until I watched this vid. Might have to pick one up eventually given how similar they are to the NRXs. I own 2 of each NRX model you compared these to and I use them each time i go out. These could be nice kayak rods as I don't really want to take my NRXs out until I get comfortable on it.
Help me out with something...was using a Fury 735 for frogging over the last several years. I'd like to upgrade to something around the $200 price point that actually balances well and isn't a straight pool cue. I'm scared to venture away from Dobyns due to the massive amount of tip heavy rods on the market. Any suggestions? I know most "heavy" rods are much more stiff than the Fury "mag heavy" 735
@@PunchFishing thank you for the info I have the 7’1 mf victory I thought the tip was a bit stiff for drop shot so you think it’s a good rod for it if not could you suggest a good affordable rod for that style of fishing I’ve never got a chance to try it yet all the lakes are frozen
The 7'1 medium- fast. Spinning rod is rated for 3/16 to 5/8oz what's your thoughts on that option? I was thinking It should have more backbone and might be comparable to Brent Ehrler's Tatula Elite Spinning rod.
I'm guessing it will be even softer than the 7'3 M "extra fast". I haven't handled that rod quite yet but thats my prediction. Keep in mind Croix spinning rods (historically speaking) are typically pretty soft in comparison to their Shimano and Daiwa counterparts.
@@PunchFishing I get what you're saying about the extra fast tip but it also says it can handle a heavier weight so I was thinking the backbone might be stiffer on the 7'1. You had emphasized in the video the point about it not being able to handle as heavy as a weight as the nrx.
okay, so here is the real question, you can only have one, the 7'3" Tatula or the 7'3" Victory, which do you choose with respect to sensitivity, action and fishability (weight, casting performance)??
My vote is Tatula mainly for their no questions asked free warranty. I've sent in two rods and they replaced both no questions for free. St. Croix isn't free.
@@PunchFishing to your point in the video, the 1/2 rating just isn't enough for me to make the plunge, as I have a few other rods in that category already covering those weight ranges. Interestingly, both the Croix and the Tat only go to 1/2 oz, so I think I will keep looking for something up to 5/8 oz maybe 3/4 oz.
Since the Tatula is made in China and the Victory is Wisconsin should make a quick decision for hopefully most fishermen. I believe the Victory is a TRANSFERABLE warranty?
Entirely deepens on your budget! Does anyone really know what any of those technologies do? I sure don't. The big thing with Legend X is you're getting Torzite guides.
@@PunchFishing I’m that way with st croix. Never had a bad one but never had one that just amazed me either. I love the feel of megabass but I have broken so many of them it’s not worth it anymore for me. But a lot of it is where you fish as well. I’m TN river guy.
I have two St.Croix, built in the US...Premier series spinning rods....If I am spending $130-$210 and an additional 7-foot medium power, fast action spinning for Bass fishing what Brand and model should I buy? Was thinking this Victory would be a nice upgrade from my Premier.
@@PunchFishing Thanks!! I picked up a Victory Med-Lite Spinning with Extra Fast tip to use as a Ned Rig rod this week....Going to try it out this weekend.....it's a nice upgrade from Premier.....plus I get to buy USA made with a 15 yr warranty
3/8 (the NRX) is less than 1/2. Several times you said the NRX was rated heavier than the St. Croix (which you said is 1/2). Go ahead and listen to what you said.
Any chance this would make a good Jigging rap rod? I know you occasionally go after the walleye. That 1/2oz limit on the spinning may be limiting. Looking for something to detect slack line bites as I yo-yo back to the boat it 20’+. Any other suggestions?
@@andypaulson3459 man give the 7’ Medium expride or zodias a try. Both are wicked jigging rap rods. Also the 7’ M Daiwa tatula is sweet for those heavy raps.
@@familybudgetfisherman this rods definitely going after the Zodias, however I haven't personally fished a Zoadias (I jumped into Expride) so I really don't feel like I can say with any authority how the victory compares. I think it really comes down to personal preference and what your looking for with a warranty and where the rod was made.
I don't like the handle on the Victory spinning. I have big hands and when I grip it in my hand half my hand ends up on the rod blank and not the handle. My old Mojo bass is much better, handle wise.
