Bass X ($120-$150)
Bass X are budget-friendly rods explicitly designed for bass anglers. They have plenty of spinning and casting models to fit the most popular techniques. Wiggins likes many of them, including the 7-foot, 1-inch medium-heavy casting rod.
"It's great for a Whopper Plopper or a buzzbait," he said. "It feels great and is very light and comfortable to use."
Mojo Bass ($145-$165)
The Mojo Bass series has been a popular one for St. Croix. They're a quality rod that won't break the bank. Wiggins uses several of them and helped design one of the spinning rods.
"I use the Mojo rods for much of my topwater fishing," he said. "The 7-foot medium-heavy is great for smaller topwaters. It's great for small walking baits and poppers."
On the spinning side of things, the 7-foot, 3-inch medium-heavy "Power Shake" was a rod that he had a lot of input on. "We wanted a rod that can handle bigger shaky heads with bigger worms," he said. "It had to be spinning so you could shake the bait effectively. I also made sure the rod was longer and stout enough to handle the bulkier baits."
Victory ($190- $260)
Victory is a relatively new series built on high-modulus SCIII+ blanks. They are excellent mid-range rods and Wiggins uses many of them in his fishing.
"I like the 7-foot, 2-inch medium-heavy for bigger topwaters," he said. "It's big enough to handle larger walking baits and pencil poppers."
Another one he uses is the 7-foot, 6-inch heavy for flipping and pitching. "It's a well-balanced rod and feels great," he said. "I also like the handle length; it's not too long."
Legend Glass ($260-$280)
Legend Glass is made with quality components and premium S-glass. The fiberglass rods used for crankbait from many brands are heavy, but the Legend Glass is much lighter in weight and they are some of Wiggins' favorite rods.
"The 6-foot, 8-inch medium-heavy is my go-to for squarebills and pretty much any crankbait that dives less than 10 feet deep," he said. "I like the shorter length for making target-specific casts. You can be much more accurate with that rod."
For ChatterBaits, Wiggins likes the 7-foot, 2-inch heavy. "That's my ChatterBait rod when fishing around grass and it's also good for a lipless in the same places," he said. "I like the fiberglass around grass because when you rip it free, that's when they usually bite it. The glass is more forgiving and lets the fish get the bait better."
Legend Tournament Bass ($280-$345)
Moving up the price levels, Wiggins pointed to two different Legend Tournament rods that he enjoys using.
"The 6-foot, 8-inch medium is an excellent jerkbait rod," he said. "I also really like the 7-foot, 2-inch medium-heavy 'Carbon Cranker' for flat-sided and balsa crankbaits. It casts those light baits very well because it has a soft tip and the carbon blank is very sensitive, so you can feel everything your bait is doing."
Legend Xtreme ($650-$670)
The Legend Xtreme is the flagship and Wiggins uses them mainly for baits where sensitivity is paramount.
"The main difference between the higher-end rods is how much more sensitive they are," he said. "I use the 7-foot and 7-foot, 6-inch medium spinning rods for my drop-shot and Ned Rigs. The 7-foot, 4-inch medium-heavy casting rod is great for jigs and Texas-Rigs you fish on the bottom."
Even a top professional angler like Jesse Wiggins mixes and matches with different rods and price levels to fit his fishing style best. He's experimented with rods throughout the St.Croix product level and chooses the right one for how he likes to fish.
Leading rod brands like St. Croix have learned that giving anglers options is best. That includes many different models and rods built for any budget. As a professional angler, Major League Fishing pro and St. Croix rods pro staff member, Jesse Wiggins has access to any rod they make.
One would assume that he only uses the highest priced options, but his rod lineup includes rods from just about every rod series made by St. Croix. Wiggins does it for several reasons, including knowing the products inside and out.
"Not everyone is going to buy a rod that costs $400 or more, and I know that," he said. "I have a hodgepodge on my front deck and use rods in every lineup so that I can recommend a rod for any price. Because they're good quality rods, I have fished them all while competing on the Bass Pro Tour."
Here are a few of Wiggins' favorite rod models from the different rod lines and what he uses them for.
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