
Kurt Kruger demonstrates one of the many alternate uses of a landing net as he and Sage Community Coordinator Alex Blouin look for their next target.

Foam? Check. Rubber Legs? Check. High grassy banks with a light breeze? Check. All systems go; you’re clear for take-off.

A heaping handful of buttery brown goodness.

“And then I said: ‘Rectum? Damn near killed him!’”

Artist Casey Underwood is all smiles as he navigates an entomological obstacle course on the way to the river.
Multi-Application
Streamer / Dry Fly / Nymphing
Fast action allows us to build rods that perform a multitude of tasks extremely well. Dating back to the original RP in 1982, chief rod designer Don Green wanted to allow casters to be able to delicately present casts off the tip while simultaneously having access to the reserve of power in the lower sections of the rod. This simple "fast action" design helped open up a rods ability to fish a variety of angling applications. The X rod’s fast action taper built with our KonneticHD Technology delivers greater blank recovery and a crisper tip stop - creating tighter, more efficient loops throughout all ranges of casting styles. This taper allows you to dig deeper into the rod and access the lower sections, shifting power closer to the angler. Decreased lateral and medial movement and vibrations in the blank result in a more accurate and efficient presentation, resulting in a performance driven, forgiving fast action blank - refining the synergy between angler, rod, line, and fly.
DRY FLY SPECIFIC
Soft Presentations / Light Tippet
With a delicate touch and medium action, the Trout LL family has been designed with the trout angler and dry flies in mind. Through blank taper optimization and specialized length offerings, the TROUT LL is perfected for wade fishing, closer casts, small flies, and light tippets. A relatively supple tip maximizes light tippet protection and gives way to a smooth easy-loading mid-section that increases feel and feedback throughout the casting stroke. When the rises start popping up, kick your summer off right with the TROUT LL. With delicacy, finesse, and a whole ton of feel, the TROUT LL is the perfect dry fly rod for presenting hoppers tightly against the bank or scaling down to micro bugs and feeding those picky eaters. When the hatch is on, the TROUT LL is an angler’s best friend.
EURO NYMPHING
Tight Line Nymphing Specific
While summer fishing is defined by dry flies and the hatch, oftentimes the bugs are simply not up on the water. When this is the case and I want make the most of my day out, I grab the ESN. This unique style of European Nymphing allows for unmatched strike detection and precision presentations when fishing subsurface. My perfect setup pairs the 3106-4 ESN with the ESN Reel and the RIO Euro Nymph Line along with a hand tied leader and a pair of barbless flies. These finely tuned rods fish best with an ultra-thin diameter fly line to reduce sag in the line when tight line nymphing at distance. When the fish eats, you feel the take down the blank and right into the cork as you don't have slack line like in an indicator rig. Instead, you are tight to your flies, just like a swung fly take or streamer eat. From picking apart pockets in small streams to the big mixing currents of the Colorado River, using an ESN, I can be effective on the water regardless of what is happening on the surface.
TROUT SPEY
Swinging Flies For Trout
Initially popular as a way for serious steelhead anglers to practice in the "off season", trout spey has become widely recognized as a fun and productive way of pursuing trout in a variety of fisheries. Having brought to market some of the first true trout spey rods with 2 and 3wt ONE rods in 2016, now we’ve improved upon this application with a full range of TROUT SPEY HD rod options. The TROUT SPEY HD action improves upon the application with a more stable tip (a balance between stability and tippet protection) and a power adjustment to better handle Trout Spey specific lines currently on the market and the trend toward heavier lines. The added models in the series will give anglers more options to select appropriate sizes for their fishery (fly size, fish size, and environment), with a smaller 10'3" 3wt model designed to work well with the shorter spey heads that are extremely popular today.