Description

MORE FIGHT, MORE TOUCH

Most salt rods are built for pure power and ultimate strengththat is table stakes for the venue and the discipline. With our new R8 graphite, adding 25% more strength-per-weight was the easy parta simple function of material advancementbut one that also increased the fight in the rod even down to our six-weight. We increased the pure pulling power without the need to add more material, fillers or reinforcement. The outcome is simple, providing the ability for faster landing times and reducing fish stress and catch-and-release pressure on ever so delicate ecosystems.

More strength and fight were an obvious upgrade, yet few salt rods, especially in the heavier weights, achieve the importance of feel for fine touch shots and precise presentations. Shaping a taper that brought this increased touch into the equation took more time. Yet after a long residence in the birthplace of saltwater fly fishing, and working directly with the experienced guides there, our rod designers found the right profile and fiber alignment that delivered strength, fine touch presentation, and a more intuitive sweet spot to a class of rods that have long had a reputation as unwieldy, unforgiving and difficult. With the SALT R8, gone are the days of sacrificing the feel and touch in your saltwater rod.

BONEFISH RODS

In the light that still remains of the day, one tail glints in the evening glow, one unmistakable body quaking across the flat with methodical rhythm. The valves of your heart are working double time as the bonefish tips down. The bonefish feeds like it knows it is being watched, relishing in the spotlight – turning its tail in delight with every bite. You want, more than anything, to just watch – but your line is stripped out, ready to go. So are you. Fluttering a cast within a tail kick from the wakes, the bonefish changes direction toward your fly.

PERMIT RODS

Permit will catch you slipping at every opportunity. Brimming with bipolar surprises, a permit is the final boss in flats fishing critique – when youre ready to feel true pain, you start permit fishing. The knees get weak, the mouth becomes dry, the rod and fly become heavier than expected, and the cast gets sloppier than you thought was possible. There is often one opportunity, if youre lucky, and taking it means running in from the bullpen in the ninth inning, game on the line. If everything in permit fishing is left to chance, then today, youd like to consider yourself lucky.

TARPON RODS

Running into the obsidian glow of a morning waiting to happen, your curiosity sparks. The formidable image of tarpon in formation reminds you that the only thing within your control is breathing. Inhale for six seconds, exhale for six. You can still breathe, right? Cruising under the delight of a sunny day, you know that your cast is an amalgamation of many disciplines: immaculate angles, a hungry tarpon, your perfect fly, a ripping tide, and a fishs compromised judgment must all stand still for a moment. This is your moment, so cast like you know you can. And dont forget to breathe.

REDFISH RODS

Its been almost 24 hours since you left these fish still tailing blissfully, unaware of your presence. You hope to interrupt the feast with a delicate cast to the starboard side of a turquoise blue tail flicking in the muck. You left in a rush this morning, knowing that the intersection of time and tide would only leave the porch light on for you for so long. The motor is up, your line stripped out and stretched. This time, youve given yourself hours to hurry up and wait, and you can hardly wait to see those copper fish cruising.

STRIPER RODS

Your casting arm is sore, and the space between your shoulder blades is black and blue from the business end of a clouser minnow. As there is an almost magnetic attraction to you and striped bass fishing, there is also a love affair that stripers have with nasty weather and wicked winds. Stripers are a fish that will do almost anything a fish can do. They cruise on shallow water flats like bonefish, lay in the soupy surf, plot in the boulder fields offshore, feed subtly in marshes and estuaries. They are the friend that shows up when youve needed them most.