Regarding: "Thats the way it susposed to be is the right answer"
REALLY????? That is the biggest pile of BS I ever heard.

If another owner shows that his rod seats all the way, as do 98% of the others (I have a 2-piece triumph surf rod that seats all the way also.
It's obvious that this rod escaped the watchful eye of the quality control inspector.
For the money spent on St Croix rods, they should have had the guy send the rod back for an exchange.
I was wondering if the guy could trim a bit off the male end so it seated all the way.
But again, if I spent close to $200 for a high quality rod, I sure as $hit wouldn't want to have to trim it to make it right.
Its not just St Croix.