Loomis StreamDance GLX rods
By George Anderson
Most fly fishing anglers that have kept abreast of the evolution of Loomis GLX rods saw the lighter line weight black GLX rods vanish this past year. G. Loomis introduced a new series of trout rods at the Denver Fly Tackle Dealer show in Sept. of 2003, called the StreamDance GLX rods, in line sizes from two through six. Now that we’ve had a full year to fish these rods, do a lot of casting with them out on the lawn, and get reactions from customers that we’ve sold them to, we can say unequivocally that these rods have been a huge hit.
Loomis has always had some of the finest casting fly rods in existence in their GLX series, especially if you were looking for a fly rod from line sizes six on up through twelve. Their nine foot #8’s thru #12’s owned the market in terms of lightweight performance fly rods. There is simply nothing out there that is so light in your hand yet has the explosive power of the GLX rods.
The knock on Loomis was their light line trout rods. They were too stiff and didn’t look as nice as $600 fly rods from manufacturers like Sage and Winston. With this in mind, Gary Loomis and head rod designer Steve Rajeff decided to revamp the line and come up a totally new line of Loomis rods. Steve picked the name StreamDance, and they would be introduced at the Denver Fly Tackle Dealer show in the fall of 2003.
What most people don’t know is that I was directly involved in the final designs of the StreamDance GLX rods, especially the Presentation series. Steve Rajeff and I have been friends for years, since doing Yellowstone Angler fly fishing schools together years ago, participating in sport shows together, and more recently doing a lot of fishing together both in fresh and salt water.
Steve wanted my input for these new StreamDance rods, and trusted my judgment on rod design, especially for the lighter spring creek rods that would be part of the new series.
We decided that two distinct series of new GLX rods were needed. One series, that would be called the StreamDance GLX High Line Speed rods, would be closer to the original GLX rods that Steve designed. They would be as powerful and as light as the original GLX’s, and all would be 4-piece rods. The other rods would be called the StreamDance GLX Presentation series. These would be softer rods that would load perfectly at short to medium distances with any given line size. Again, most would be 4 piecers with the exception of the shortest rods, eight feet and under. Those would be three piece rods.
Several years ago I helped Sage and Don Green when they re-designed of some of their LL (Light Line) rods, when they jumped from Graphite II to Graphite III. We came up with some especially nice rods like their classic 8 foot 9 inch #3 LL, as well as the 9 foot #4 LL.
I wanted to see some Loomis rods that matched or surpassed the performance of those LL rods, and I’m happy to say that the new StreamDance Presentation series does in every way. And more importantly, the StreamDance rods do it with 4 piece rods that are a whole lot easier to travel with than the old two and three piece Sage LL ‘s.
In the winter and spring of 2003 I traveled out to Woodland Washington, where Steve and I cast all the StreamDance models and settled on the final designs. Then later in the summer, Steve traveled here to Livingston where we cast the final prototypes and did a photo shoot on Armstrong’s and DePuy’s Spring Creeks. If you look closely at the photos in the new StreamDance rod Catalog, you’ll see me out there on Armstrong’s Spring Creek, fishing the pool where the big spring comes off the hill. At least they have a good shot of my back if you can’t see my face! Ha, ha.
Steve and I were both really happy with the way the new StreamDance GLX rods turned out. And finally, Loomis has a series of lightweight trout rods that look as good as they cast!
These rods all have lots of power in the butt and mid section yet have softer, more flexible tips that allow them to cast very delicately, yet accurately. Even the light line rods Presentation GLX rods have plenty of butt power to play big fish or drill a long cast into the wind.
The new StreamDance rods make a dramatic departure from the old black graphite, unfinished GLX rods. The new rods are coated with a lovely olive green epoxy, with a satin finish that reduces glare and rod flash that can spook wily trout. The cork handles are sized to the individual rods, with the Presentation series using smaller Payne style handles that feel perfect on these lighter line rods. To reduce rod weight even further and compliment the extremely fine tips on the StreamDance GLX rods, new Nickel/Titanium single-foot “Recoil” guides are used. These guides are like Flexon frame glasses – they will bend but spring back to their original shape with no damage. Perfect for fly rods that are always getting stepped on in the boat! We also ditched the old Fuji ceramic stripping guides that are prone to puke out their ceramic rings at the slightest whack on the side of the boat. Flexible nickel/titanium coil stripping guides that cannot break do the job for the new rods.
Leaving no stone unturned, Steve decided to utilize dramatically different reel seats. – Olive anodized aluminum with a distinctively different wood burl in each skeleton seat.
So, now you’re convinced that you need to try one of these new StreamDance GLX’s, but which one?? Here are my personal picks for the most sensational trout rods you’ll find today – anywhere!
StreamDance GLX Presentation Series:
FR1043-4 SD GLX- 8’8” #3 Line, 4 Pc. Medium fast action. $610.00
If you like to fish a #3 line rod a lot like I do, look no farther. This rod will do it all. This rod has the ability to make accurate, delicate casts with small flies, even in hard breeze. Loads perfectly with a standard WF-3-F line and has a soft enough tip to protect 6X and 7X tippets, even if you slam the fish too hard on the strike. Plenty of butt power to chuck nymphs and even smaller wooly buggers.
FR1024-4 SD GLX - 8’6” #4 Line, 4 Pc. Medium fast action. $610.00
Of all the StreamDance rods, this is my favorite. It’s just the sweetest 4 line rod I’ve ever used. Like all the Presentation series rods, this loads solidly with a WF-4-F line. The soft tip lets you cast very accurately in close, casting off the tip of the rod, yet if you need to reach out and throw 60 or even 70 feet, you can do it with ease. Perfect for fishing light tippets like 6X and 7X, even if you are a bit heavy handed. In a recent issue of Sporting Classics, where they tested a half dozen of the best 4 weight rods around, this rod came out on top. The author called it the finest dry fly rod he had ever cast!
StreamDance GLX High Line Speed Series:
FR1025-4 SD GLX - 8’6” #5 Line, 4 Pc. Fast Action. $620.00
Quite possibly the finest all around fly rod in the world! A very light and effortless dry fly rod that has the capability of firing accurate casts into the harshest winds. This rod has a fast action with a soft tip that makes it a wonderful nymph fishing rod. It’s lightning fast when you set the hook, yet the soft tip will keep you from breaking off big fish while using 4X-6X tippets.
StreamDance Max Line Speed
FR1085-4 SD GLX- 9’ #5/6 Line, 4 Pc. Fast Action. $625.00
At first I wasn’t that keen on this rod, which was Steve Rajeff’s favorite of the whole bunch. Now, I’m sold. This rod had so much power and pop, we just called it simply: The MAX. Later it became the Max Line Speed. In the catalog we termed the power Extra-Stiff, and that’s an understatement. This rod is a rocket for those quick shots out of a drift boat, or for launching big wind resistant hopper patterns with a 6-weight line. For nearly everyone other than World Champion distance caster Steve Rajeff, you’ll want to put a #6 line on this rod. Light in weight yet unbelievable power. I took this rod to Alaska last fall and used it one day on the Brooks River, having a blast landing one rainbow after another in the 25-27 inch class – solid eight and nine pound fish! This rod took all the punishment I could dish out and then some!
|
