Temple Fork Outfitters Drift Fly Rod
The "Drift" may be the ultimate trout rod (especially for winter fishing). No doubt it will get the most use as a modern (Euro) nymph rod, but will also serve as a lightweight dry fly rod for the mid-day hatches, and the perfect conversion to a Trout Spey rod for meat eating browns and bull trout.
The Drift Rod is designed to be light in overall weight, fast damping
and well balanced as TFO used a mixture of their highest modulus carbon
fiber along with a down-locking reel seat and removable weighted
fighting butt. You can further fine tune balance with 3/8th inch ID
washers – depending on the weight of your reel. The tip is
ultra-sensitive allowing one to distinguish between a subtle take and a
bottom tick with a soft tipped action that protects the very light
tippets often needed to sustain a drift and remain invisible to a
selective trout.
The versatility of this rod will amaze you as it can be fished as a
traditional 9’ 4 piece 3 weight, add a 1’ section to make it a 10’ rod, a
27 inch section to make it an 11’ 3 inch rod, or add both conversion
sections for a length of 12’ 3 inches. So from traditional 3 weight
lines to the tight line nymphing techniques including French, Czech and
Polish styles, you’ll make the “leader only” tuck casts with accuracy
and ease – at any rod length. Finally, TFO included a 3 inch lower cork
grip that replaces the weighted fighting butt – perfect for the new
micro spey lines and techniques… just pick the optimal length for the
environment and application.
Jason Randall,
design coordinator, challenged TFO to create stripping guides that would
allow an angler to add one or more sections without un-stringing line, leader
and flies. A big challenge but TFO did it… and have patented a guide
that
Lefty Kreh, called one of the greatest innovations he has seen in the last 50
years. Rod length can be changed on stream in a matter of seconds and a
reel with a couple of spare spools carrying a WF3, nymphing setup and
micro spey and you are well armed for any challenge you might face.
Innovation: Patented stripping guides that allow an angler to change rod length without un-stringing the rod. It is easy, just pull a little slack and pull the lin through the slot in the side of the guide, or bring the line through the open side to reassemble. These guides worked perfectly during our fishing tests.
Innovation: From dry fly, to nymph, to Spey by changing handle parts and rod blank parts, very easy for maximum performance. All parts come in a snap top aluminum carrying case.
