Hot New Products

Loomis StreamDance Rods

continued from Hot New Products

... too strong, too fast, and awfully plain looking compared to offerings from Sage and R. L. Winston, who are building the premier smaller line size rods that the majority of trout anglers are using, rods in the #3-5 line sizes.

Both Gary Loomis and his great rod designer and world champion fly caster Steve Rajeff realized this, and in the winter of 2003, the idea of developing a totally new line of light Loomis trout rods was the priority of the year. Ideas for what different rods were needed came from several dealer meetings around the country in the winter of 2003, and Steve got busy designing the new rods, which were designated to become the new StreamDance series.

George and Steve Rajeff inspect new StreamDance rods

I felt strongly that along with the stronger GLX rods that Steve loves, a softer GLX version of StreamDance rods were needed too—rods that would load perfectly with the line size designated when casting distances were in the 20-50' range. Steve agreed and decided to design two different StreamDance models. One would be the stiffer, higher line speed style rod made famous by the previous GLX models and these would be available in line sizes from #3-#6. The final designation for these rods became the StreamDance GLX High Line Speed.

These softer rods, that would be easier to load at shorter distances, would be named the StreamDance GLX Presentation series. These rods would be ideal for spring creeks, tailwater rivers and flatwater anywhere, where presentation and accuracy are the key. These wouldn't be wimpy rods though, they would still have the strong butt and mid sections yet a nice light tip and a lighter overall action in each line size.

Steve and I have done several fly fishing schools and fished together over the years, and we think a lot alike in terms of rod actions. I agreed to help with the new StreamDance rods and gave Steve a lot of ideas over the phone as well as shipping him some of my favorite Sage and Winston rods that we would examine in designing the Presentation series.

In March of 2003, I flew out to Woodland Washington for a couple of days to help Steve fine tune the actions of the new StreamDance series. We both examined each rod in the lineup, changing butt sections, mid sections and tip sections from all the prototypes that Steve had made up, until we came up with what we felt were the best casting combinations. Steve is such a talented rod designer that he hit it just perfectly on a few of the designs, while on other rods changes needed to be made. One prototype would need a stiffer butt or perhaps a softer tip section. With 24 different rods to finalize the designs on, this became quite a project. At the end of the process, we were delighted with the results. We had some of the finest casting rods I've ever laid a hand on.

Not only do the new StreamDance rods cast wonderfully, but they look great, too. Rather than the old flat black graphite, Loomis has used a classy, satin finish olive color for the new rods, eliminating bright reflections we often see coming off high gloss rod finishes. These are the new "Stealth" rods for anglers that are concerned about sun glare from the rod spooking fish.

New reel seats were designed for the new StreamDance series, with an offset oval sculptured barrel and different, distinctively beautiful California buckeye burl wood inserts. The aluminum seats were annodized in a lighter olive color to compliment the darker satin olive of the finished blanks.

Nearly all of the new StreamDance rods are 4 piece models, with the exception of some of the shortest rods, which are 3 piece. Ideal for travel, yet they feel like 1 piece rods!

The new "recoil" guides made by REC from nickel titanium alloy are used on these new rods, and are virtually unbreakable. You can actually twist these snake guides with your finger, even flatten them to the rod and they pop back into place perfectly! They are also very thin and light, enhancing the lightness and casting qualities of these new rods.

Loomis designer Steve Rajeff with O'Hair's brown trout

In August of 2003, Steve Rajeff and Gary Schaefer from Loomis brought some of the finished rods to Livingston, where we tried them out on Armstrong Spring Creek, while Denver Bryan took the photos you'll see in the new Streamdance rod catalog. There are some good shots of me stalking fish above the big spring, and Steve and me on the lower water.

Steve and I had a good chance to talk about the rods once more and here are our recommendations:

Small Streams and Brooks

Fishing small streams and brooks is always a joy, enhanced when using rods that load short, in the 15-35' ranges. Line speed should be slower for delicate and accurate presentations of the very tiniest of dry flies and nymphs.

StreamDance GLX Presentation models:
8' 0" #2 - 3 Piece or

7' 9" #3 - 3 Piece

Medium Spring Creeks and Small Streams
Small streams and medium sized spring creeks often challenge you to extend casts out to 45-50 feet. Slightly longer rod lengths help make casting and line control much easier. Light lines in sizes #3 and #4 are ultimate when the utmost accuracy and presentation is needed, using flies from #14 down to #24, with 5X to 8X tippets.

StreamDance GLX Presentation models:
8' 8" #3 - 4 Piece or

8' 6" #4 - 4 Piece

StreamDance GLX High Line Speed model:

8' 6" #4 - 4 Piece

Large Spring Creeks, Tailwater Rivers,

Slow Water Anywhere

The relative openness of larger water and problems with spooking fish places more emphasis on the ability to make delicate and accurate presentations at longer distances. You also need enough power in the rod to turn over long leaders and combat stiffer winds.

StreamDance GLX Presentation models:
8' 8" #3 - 4 Piece

9' 0" #4 - 4 Piece or

9' 0" #5 - 4 Piece

StreamDance GLX High Line Speed models:
8' 6" #4 - 4 Piece or

9' 0" #4 - 4 Piece

Medium to Large Streams, Fast Water, Wind
This is where you need a good all around rod, one to throw big dries, multiple weighted nymphs, streamers and strike indicators, as well as split shot. Add longer casts from pontoon boats and the ability to handle strong winds and you are looking at strong #5 and 6 line rods.

StreamDance GLX High Line Speed models:
9' 0" #5 - 4 Piece

9' 0" #6 - 4 Piece

9' 6" #5 - 4 Piece or

10' 0" #6 - 4 Piece

Strong Winds, Fishing from a Drift Boat, Pocket Water
When big winds find you on the water, you need a cast that slices through it like a hot knife through butter. Often times, the pace is fast and frantic while trying to pinpoint casts into pockets from a drift boat. If you like to fish weighted nymphs with a big indicator and even split shot, this is the rod for you.

StreamDance GLX - MAX Line Speed

9' 0" #5 - 4 Pc.