Fly Rods

All Graceful Instruments Instruments are Known

Those are pictures of beauty. The fish aren’t half shabby either. I just love fly rods. They are to me as a fine vintage is to a connoisseur, or a particular single malt Scotch to some, or a fine cigar. A good fly rod is a gem of engineering. And the rods have come a long way as engineering has advanced.

A fly rod has always been an intensely engineered product. I see these folks swiching around their cane rods as if paying homage to some long lost art form. Wish they could see how hard those manufacturers tried to get away from that waffling, slow, top heavy, sag under their own weight things they were stuck with due to a lack of materials. Here’s a 1927 Hardy Brothers publication that talks about the level of engineering design and test they put into their products.

Hardy Angler's Guide - 1927 Try as they might they were hostage to what they had to work with, and their idea of a light trout rod was something like this.

These light rods were essentially 6/7 weight rods. I’ve got a couple of old ones that are generally forgotten conversation pieces. They are to todays rods what a 1983 Dodge Dart is to a 911 Carrera. And I love it. I love how every once in a while a rod maker comes out with a delectable line of rods. And so, at this time of the year, I’m always looking to see what’s coming.

Sage seems on the verge of announcing two new rod lines, to replace the Sonic and Igniter series. The Sonic seems to have been a slightly modified version of the Sage One - a series of rods of impeccable performance. The Sonic was just as good though a little limited due to the lack of 10 ft. rods in the lighter weights. But it was a nice rod. here’s a 5 weight and a 7 weight. Rather a pretty sight.

They were a little more yeomanlike compared to the amazingly delightful One Series. Especially this pair - the 4100 and 496.

Sage missed the boat completely with the X, and with the R8 you have to pick and choose the model. A fly rod has to be a well honed tool, a finely honed scalpel you can use with precision. A thing of grace, and speed, and rhythm. Loomis hit it with their NRX+ rods. Here’s one with that Maryland rarity, a stream bred Cutbow.

But I like fly rods. I like to hold them, I like to cast them, I like to see what they can let me do and as each new lot comes out I like to test, and taste and try. I get rid of some of the old, get in some of the new. My Scott Radians are almost all gone, just a few pulling summer duty up in Colorado.

The TCRs and TCXs are gone as are the Z-Axis rods. New friends have taken their places. They were great when they came out, but I outgrew them, or should I say the newer rods outgrew them. The strength of the armory remains.Here’s the Eastern lot, there’s a slightly small bunch up in the mountains.

New ones coming as the old ones go
Everything's moving here, but much too slow now
A little bit quicker and we might have time
To say "How do you do?" before we're left behind

A good fly rod is a most wonderful thing. A rod designer who goes to new places with their rods does us a service. None of that fiberglass nonsense for me. We gave that up because better materials came along. None of that soft, classic, wishy washy stuff for me. Keep this truck moving on along.

So anyhow, looks like Sage is coming out with two new rod lines, the Arrow to replcae the Sonic and the R8 Power to replace the Igniter. I’m looking forward to them. Hopefully they’ll be nice, crisp rods, with just that precise amount of bend required to sweeten the line pickup, the backbone to allow you to deliver line speed, and a good spread of sizes and weights to choose from. What can I say, I love fly rods, and I’m looking for the next lot to go all googly eyed about.

The other thing is that they do look nice next to fish.