Rift Salt and Rift Jig are thin, lightweight, and powerful boat rods, dialed-in for specific inshore and offshore applications. Joe Balog is just one member of St. Croix’s Analytical Pro Team – a group of anal-retentive and outspoken anglers who provide detailed feedback to St. Croix engineers on every aspect of rod performance before any new rod is made available to the angling public.
Encompassing 16 distinct boat models (Rift Salt) and 12 jigging models (Rift Jig), St. Croix Rift Series rods were designed and offered as a direct response to nearshore saltwater anglers demanding thinner and lighter rods with uncompromising strength and durability.
Rift Salt rods consist of 16 thin and powerful conventional and spinning models that form a comprehensive, stand-up toolkit for nearshore anglers casting for strong-willed fish on 15-to-120-pound line. Ranging from 6’6” to 7’10” in length with medium-light through heavy power and fast or moderate-fast parabolic actions, the expansive Rift Salt lineup covers the gamut from pitching swimming crabs to permit, cobia or tarpon to presenting large poppers and metal-lip swimmers to tuna, AJs or cow stripers. Materials, ergonomics and St. Croix technologies combine in Rift Salt to minimize fatigue and maximize fun.
Specifically engineered to help mitigate the physical stresses associated with vertical techniques, strong and slim Rift Jig rods are conceived as an extension of the angler’s body. Consisting of 12 conventional and spinning models from 5’6” to 6’6” in length with moderate, parabolic actions and medium through extra-extra heavy powers, Rift Jig rods are tip-tuned and beefed-up in the butt, each optimized for battling fish in specific weight classes. Designed to bend where they should and never where they shouldn’t, the result is a jig rod that works harder than the angler, delivering fun fishability without compromise to maximum lifting power and durability.
Each Gunmetal Grey Rift model starts with a premium SCIII carbon fiber blank matched with St. Croix’s Fortified Resin System (FRS) for unparalleled flexural strength and uncompromising durability. St. Croix’s Advanced Reinforcing Technology (ART) further increases strength without adding weight. The results are incredibly powerful and durable rods that are made thinner and lighter in the hand.
A better strong and lightweight lever, Rift is completed with ergonomics and componentry that further enhance the angling experience. Proven, angler-preferred lightweight K-style guide platforms are corrosion resistant, durable and trouble free. Where Rift interfaces with the angler, premium and slim EVA handles are engineered and contoured for comfort, while remaining stalwart against the hazards of offshore boat duty. Ergonomic reel seats with double locking nuts provide worry-free and rock-solid security, while non-marring rubber gimbles hold Rift rods securely in stand-up belts and rod holders.
