A couple years ago my wife got me a St.Croix rod with the spring bobber, $50. Well the tip broke about 3 inches from the end. Too close to the next eye to just put the spring bobber back on. I called St. Croix about warranty but they said it would cost me $20 plus shipping to fix. So much for what I thought was a lifetime warranty. So now I'm just looking to put the spring bobber on another rod.