I got both the St. Croix and Heddon 7-footers out this weekend on my favorite local bass and panfish lake. Fishing on this lake has been tough this summer, with extremely low water from the drought we were in here in MN. Some recent rains have brought the water level back up, and some fish were caught from shore, both bluegills and bass, but nothing of any size. Finally decided to take a pic of the prettiest 'gill, but it flopped right when I took the pic. Oh well...
Both the rods cast beautifully out to about 50'. I think I liked the feel of the St. Croix a little better than the Heddon, but the Heddon had a little more backbone. The St. Croix felt like it would have liked a 4wt line as well or better than a 5, but I didn't try one on it.