Loomis EastFork rods
Micah Adams lines up the latest
arrivals from the Loomis stable.
Every rod company introduces a new range from time to time, and this sees the end of an existing range—sometimes sorely missed. Never more has this been true than when G.Loomis axed their old IMX range; these were truly beautiful rods to cast, with an action that was crisp and powerful, yet delightfully smooth.
One of the latest additions to the Loomis line up is the East Fork range of fly rods, which has replaced the Metolius range in the mid price point. In all, there are ten models in the new range from a 7' 3-weight to a 9' 7-weight, including two 10' models as well. They’re all 4-piece rods, apart from the seven-footers which are 3-piece, and all offer a fast taper as you’d expect from Loomis.
The rod I initially tested was a sweet little 8'6" 3-weight, which I intended to use on the Monaro creeks, but while waiting for a #3 line to arrive, I began casting the rod with a #5 instead.
From the product information available I thought these rods would cast like the old favourite IMX’s, but actually, they perform much better! Throwing tight loops is a cinch, as is penetrating the wind and turning over flies. And the rod just feels so smooth through the cast. Unlike the GLX fly rods, loops thrown with the East Fork seem a little slower and certainly feel effortless, which is going to be ideal for any dry-fly enthusiast, or for delicate presentation of wets. When I wanted a miniscule loop, however, or tried increasing my line speed dramatically, the rod did that too, with ease.
Distance casting should have been a nightmare for a 3-weight rod loaded with a #5 line but, to my surprise, and with few false casts, I was able to shoot out a full length line with what seemed like too little effort!
On the water with the recommended 3-weight line, the East Fork won me over. With its super smooth yet crisp action, I actually now prefer this rod to my GLX for sneaky trout work.
In my opinion, the new East Fork rods will compete head-on with all of the top-shelf models. However, they retail from around $600 to just over $650, which leads me to lament the fact that these rods weren’t around for the ‘great six-weight shoot out’ published in FL #49.
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