Good workmanship, but not great. Reasonably durable. Somewhat parabolic action, which I like. Its biggest positive attribute is its versatility. 9.5 feet is a great length. Not my favorite rod, but I do have two. I like the red color more than black, and I like the high gloss red finish on my older one as opposed to the flat black on the current model. St. Croix workmanship is reassuring.

i have the 10 ft very light

Light, strong and well built. Paired with Van Staal VR50 and you can cast all day. Great action and distance.

Have both rods and are paired with penn slammer 3 6500..been using them in the surf in North Carolina..they cast great…plenty of distance and sensitive to the lite biters…using mostly bait and mullet rigs for blues…my only complaint is with the cork handle…sand spike and beach cart were damaging the lower portion so picked up heat shrink tube and sleeved it…cheap easy cure…the rods are great and have no other issues…

I enjoy this rod, it has great feel. You can almost see what is happening under the water. It is a very light rod and I have no fatigue after a full day of casting.

The Avid Surf rod is lighter in weight and have a better guide configuration than the bulky Triumph line.

Using the 8' for light artificials.Paired with a vr50 its hard to find a lighter combo for the beach or back bays. Im pleased with the performance of the avid so far, I will comment that the butt section is slightly longer than most other surf rods of comparable size. I will be purchasing a heavier rod in the future because I like this one so much.

Top of the line materials and warranty. A very light and strong rod. Casts a mile can't wait to put in some work striper season.

Incredible value and rod. Super light in weight. It is NOT tip heavy which is impossible to find in a surf rod. The butt was too long for me so I cut down 4" making it a 7'8. Casts 3/8-1.5oz perfect. It feels stiff but when fishing it loads great. Have it paired with a stradic 5000.

The rod looks and feels great..paired it with a penn slammer 6500...getting ready to hit the beach in North Carolina in September...the rod came direct from the factory and was well protected in the shipping container..

Nice looking and balanced rod but in my opinion the handle on the 9' model is way too long. It's a full 2" longer from butt cap to reel seat than the 9' Mojo and it just makes the rod feel like all handle.

Just a step above the mojo this feels even better in the hand. Got it paired with a 5k stradic and it feels great

I like the improved real seat

I have the 10ft 1-4oz and I love it. The color is amazing too

I ordered this rod a few months ago during the beginning of the fall run. I loved the action and feel that the avid series surf rod gave me with the Van Staal VS 150. Everything was going great until one day while I was making a cast and the rod snapped just above the handle...What made it worse was that I was in the middle of a good bite as well with no backup rod (I learned my lesson). I was on a school of 10 to 20 pound fish the day before but that should not be a reason for something like this to happen. At the time, I was using a 1 ounce bucktail so I also cancelled out the option that the lure was too heavy for the rod. About a year ago, the same thing happened to my buddy who was using the St. Croix Premier rod. My buddy and I do have a lot of torque when casting so that is the only viable option I can think of. St. Croix has been the brand that I have been using for the past 4 years and I have never had an issue until now.

This occurred yesterday and I was able to get a hold of St. Croix about the situation today. They seem understanding about the situation in regards to trying to fix it AKA give me a new rod. St. Croix usually has great customer service so I am expecting them to resolve this situation. Just beware when you purchase St. Croix because this is the second time in two years I have seen/had a rod snap just above the handle.