IFTD 2016 Show Recap: Straight Outta Sam’s iPhone
Echo Bad A** Glass
Our first stop was to speak with Mr. Tim Rajeff at the Echo rods and Airflo lines booth. Echo released a new line of "Bad A** Glass" that will be a really fun option for people single hand fishing steelhead or throwing bigger flies to bass and pike.
Need glass? See what's available right here.
They come in 9' 8wt - 9' 12wt and are a bad a** translucent blue color. The second most exciting new product from Echo has to be a 3wt TR trout spey. We will certainly have ready to cast this at next year’s Montana Trout Spey Clave.
From Airflo, the product that stood out to us most is the new Scout Skagit head. This line is following the craze of the super short Skagit heads that OPST paved the way for. This new line has a slightly different rear taper that, Tim Rajeff argues, could offer a smoother cast to the short heads. To follow that up, they have also released Scandi Long. This is a complement to anyone who has been fishing Scandi Short for a while now and are ready for the next evolution.
We have some 2017 lines up if you're in the market for a new rig before fall.
Clutch Rods
Next, we found ourselves standing in the Clutch Rods booth with Lee Janik. Janik, has created a buzz about his React one piece streamer rods. Clutch also has released a new trout spey series called the Rev Series. It features a new handle that feels a lot better in the hand by tapering the top of the grip down to the blank. Although not new, we also really enjoyed casting their Fluent series rod at the show. We plan on looking at these for the fall at the North 40 Fly Shop.
Scientific Anglers Lines
We haven’t been overly impressed with Scientific Angler over the past 5 years. However, last year when they introduced the new Anadro lines, we began to see a glimmer of hope. This year, with a new fly line designer from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Josh Jenkins, we have renewed faith. The new Scientific Angler Amplitude is the slickest line ever made. AST Plus Technology is a slickness agent added to Scientific Angler’s new fly lines. These lines shoot further: they are 40% slicker than fly lines without any additive. They are also durable: 60% more than the competition.
These lines won’t be easy on the wallet, coming in well over $100, but they have once again pushed fly line technology forward. We also really liked their new Knot 2 Kinky predator leaders, and new sizes in the triple density Titan taper.
Ross Reels
When Ross Reels representative, Brooks Montgomery, told us we were going to be excited about their newest reel, I was sort of thinking, "Yeah- we’ll see about that," because honestly, I haven’t been the biggest Ross Reels supporter over the past few years. I think they are great reels made in Colorado, but "cool" and "exciting" haven’t been words I’d been using to describe them. Until now, with the new Colorado LT Reel this is one of the coolest new reels at the show. To follow that up, they took the Animas reel and left the porting out to give it a more traditional spey reel look and better swing weight for double hand rods. I can’t wait to own both of these products.
R.L. Winston Rod Co. Air and Energy
The week before the show, we got the heads up from the Winston team that they’d be launching Winston Air, and that this rod would be the most exciting launch for them in a long time. Remember when Nike launched the Nike Air? Me neither, but I bet it was a huge deal. They have figured out a way to keep the Winston feel in a higher performing and lighter rod than ever before. "The combination of our new SuperSilicaâ„¢ resin system with high modulus Boron means significantly less weight," that’s from their website.
You can order the Air from us right here.
So how did they do it? I don’t think they are going to say too much about that. In fact, I was at their factory in Twin Bridges a month prior to the show. I never even caught wind of this new rod. For a little company in Twin Bridges, Montana they are up to some stuff. We will be carrying the new Winston Air and their new 10’ Super 10 rods in a few of our stores following the show.
Winston also launched a new series of fly lines called "Energy" to enhance the Winston experience and match their rods better than any off the shelf product. The Energy lines are a textured line that boast an Optimized presentation by, "utilizing an entirely new scientific approach and state of the art analytics to enhance the energy transfer." The analytical tools they used to develop these lines was rad check out their blog here.
Sage X
In case you haven’t heard yet. Sage launched the best rod they’ve ever made a few weeks before the show, the Sage X. Sage X swept IFTD in best of show classes (and you can buy yours from us today, right here). Now, nearly $900 for a single hand top of the line Sage, this rod will be a staple in fly shops this fall. The X rod’s all-new fast action taper built with KonneticHD Technology delivers greater blank recovery and a crisper tip stop. We have demos on the way and we will be talking more about this rod in the coming months.
Fishpond Duffels
We were impressed with some of the newest releases from Fishpond this year as well. Three items that really stood out are their new water tight travel duffels available in two sizes. Their new coozy neck lanyards will probably win the hearts of the river raft community as well. With Yeti popularizing the soft sided cooler business this year, the re-launch of their soft sided cooler category should be a strong option for people not willing to pay Yeti’s price, but still want a really cool cooler- cool- cooler.
Korkers Wading Boots
One of the products I’m personally most excited to try is the new Korkers rear entry wading boot called, the Hatchback Rear-Entry Boot. This boot looks very similar to the Devil’s Canyon which is currently my favorite boot that I reviewed HERE last year. So, I think this should be a really tough boot, still has BOA, and if they are easier to get in to, then that’s a plus always. Korkers also filled a gap they really needed to by introducing a new ladies boot. We plan to have demos and some feedback coming soon.
Eagle Claw Glass Rods
Bet you didn’t think you’d see this brand on the list? However, as we were searching for new conventional gear on the other side of the show, we saw that Eagle Claw was re-launching their original Classic series glass fly rods. They will have a 3wt and a 5wt with most all of the original markings and wraps, but with some of the modern improvements in ferrules, grips, finishings, and reel seats. Basically all the things we mentioned, we didn’t like about the older glass rods in our Fiberglass video we did with the Fiberglass Manifesto HERE have been improved. This will be your least expensive option to trying glass rods, and not too bad of an option.
Apex Vises
As I wandering around the back isles of the fly fishing booths, Calvin and I randomly stumbled on this booth. I usually don’t stop at fly vise booths because we already carry Regal and Renzetti, so what else do we need?
We've got vice options up and online here.
Well, maybe we DO need to carry a fully rotary vise, made in the USA that comes with a clamp and base that start at around $100. Oh, and they are Lifetime Guaranteed.
We had a great show in Orlando this year, and found many more awesome things in accessories, flies, and fly tying that we will be talking about as we continue to plan for 2017. This was just a smattering of i-phone photos and surprises...Straight Outta Sam’s iPhone.
