Fly Rods, lines and Leaders

I know the first thing some of you will say is I thought you were JUST REELS. Well, that is my intent, but occasionally you run across products that don't get wide distribution that deserve more attention. I've also had several customers ask me to rig up everything for them when buying a reel. By everything, I mean line, backing, and even the rod. So, I've attained access for rods for those of you who want one and can't find these models at your local flyshop. First of all, being a Temple Fork dealer means I can get you any Temple Fork rod made. I won't, however, be keeping these in inventory. If you can't find one at your local shop and you know which model you want, call or e-mail me, and I'll order it for you. I can even have it dropshipped right to your address to speed things up. The rods from the following two rod companies are not widely distributed and are superb pieces of equipment:

I came across these at the Fly Fishing Retailer Show in 2006. They are beautiful rods and the ones I cast at the show I really liked. I've now fished two of the 9' 7-piece rods extensively and cannot believe how well they fish. The 8 weight version may be as good an 8 weight rod as I've used on bonefish. The 10 weight that I fished in the Bahamas I also used in Alaska for northern pike. They also make 4-piece saltwater rods (WOW), 4-piece freshwater rods, switch rods, spey rods, several spectacular Surf/Beach rods, etc. At $250.00 for a beautiful 7 piece rod with IM-8 graphite you'll at least want to get one as a backup. But, let me tell you that I left my GLX rods at home the last three times I went to the Bahamas and didn't miss them at all. Unlike some other 6+ piece rods, these won't just "do" in a pinch, but are good enough to be your primary rods. It is my belief that these will probably be available in a large number of fly shops very soon. If so, I may cease to be a dealer just like I usually do with reels. However, until that happens, I'd love to be the one to introduce you to Beulah rods. I've also spent some time with the new 4-piece saltwater rods (called their Bluewater Series) and once again they are spectacular fishing implements. They are fast and stiff, but they throw a line a long ways accurately if you do your part. Available in 7/8, 8/9, 10/11/ and 12/15 models, they are as good as anything out there and cost about half of what some of the premium rods are bringing.

For 2009 I'm going to be stocking most of the rods in Beulah's lineup. If they sell on a regular basis (remember that most customers look to me for reels) I'll stock their entire line. I've used at least one rod from each of the series and have yet to find a rod I didn't much care for which is why I'm doing this. It'll take a bit of time to get all the photos up and rods in stock, but the table below will show you how extensive their rod line is.

Some general comments on each series:

The Travel rods are pretty thoroughly covered above. It is, essentially, the model that drew me into trying additional Beulah rods.

The Bluewater rods, which are Beulah's saltwater series are fast, stiff, and incredible casting instruments, yet they still present a fly close in quite nicely. The are beautiful with a rich looking anodized reelseat and very large stripping guides. Each rod comes with a spare tip. When using floating lines, use the second number in the model designation to determine the line weight (ie. the 7/8 rod will handle an 8 weight floating line best for most casters.) These have become my go-to saltwater rods.

The Guide rods are Beulah's freshwater rods, though in the appropriate line weights there is no reason that they couldn't be used in saltwater. The 3 and 4 weight have medium action blanks, while the 5 weight would be best described as a medium/fast action. From six weight on up the action can only be described as fast. Included here are some superb smallmouth and largemouth rods, rods for muskies and northerns, and stripers. I use mine as a single-handed rod for Atlantic salmon. And they are now four-piece rods with an extra tip at incredible prices.

The Switch rods are the coming thing in flyfishing. Designed to be able to be used both as a single-handed and a double-handed rod, there isn't much that one couldn't do with one of these in the appropriate line weight. Dry flies, nymphing, chuck&duck, all types of indicator fishing, even overhead casting on a beach or in the surf.

The Beach/Surf rods are new as of summer 2008. They are not designed for speycasting, although with a few lines these rods would speycast OK, but instead are designed for DHOH fishing. Double-handed rods that are designed to be overhead cast to fish like stripers, blues, roosters, even Great Lakes trout and salmon at times. Fast action and quite light. With only one backcast, even an average caster can throw a #2 Half&Half one hundred feet easily without double-hauling.

The Spey rods I would describe as a cross between shorthead spey and Scandinavian head type rod. The are reasonably fast, though not as fast as some Scandinavian rods, and throw the Elixir lines that Beulah features very nicely. I've found they also cast lines like the Airflo Delta Spey and the Rio Windcutter quite well.

The Platinum Spey rods have a different action than the Spey series and a whole new design. They are so new that I haven't even seen one yet as of 1/09. I've been told that they are a more traditional speyrod, designed to throw mid-bellies, long bellies, and Skagit lines. They bend deep into the blank but have lightning fast tips.

ALL Beulah rods come with a rod sock and Cordura covered hard rod tube.

All speyfishers are aware of how difficult it can be to match a line to a rod. Beulah solves that problem to some degree by offering their own lines for each of their double-handed rods. I searched for awhile to find a line I liked on my 13'6" 8/9 Spey. When I had Beulah send me one of their Elixir lines designed specifically for that rod---problem solved. I'll have these lines in stock for you.

Call or e-mail for more information on any Beulah product!

* indicates a model I plan to keep in stock.
+ indicates a model that comes with a SPARE TIP.
# indicates that a Beulah line is available designed specifically for this model.

Holes in this table will be filled as soon as the information can be confirmed.

There are a lot of bluewater rods available these days. However, many of them place way too much emphasis on the casting qualities of the rods and not nearly enough on the fighting ability, which for the most part means the lifting capacity. Cam is a long time bluewater flyfisher who is perhaps best known for his tube flies that are used extensively for billfish. However, he markets two rods which may be the best available in a production rod for large pelagic species. His 4-piece rods are 8' long and are available in 14 weight and 16/17 weight. For everything short of huge fish the 14 weight Sigler rods would seem to be adequate. The 16/17 models are designed more for the guys who don't pay attention to IGFA regulations and usually use class tippets well over 10kg. I've been told that you can easily break 10kg tippets with the 16/17 weight rods when trying to lift a fish that has sounded on you. They are both priced at $369.00. You can easily spend almost twice that much and not get a better rod. Call or e-mail me for more information on these rods.

When I started this business it was never my intent to offer fly lines. It started when I became impressed with the spey lines that then unheard of Rio Products was producing. At that time they were just about the only gear that Rio had in their "catalog." I fished them and really understood what an improvement they were over much of what was on the market at that time. I first mentioned Rio lines in my 1995 paper catalog, and I was one of only a handful of dealers that were listing them. At this point, about the only lines I cannot get for my customers are Cortland 444 and 555 and the Royal Wulff lines. The lines I feature and usually fish with are from four companies. I use Rio lines all the time and not just for speyfishing any more. They have some of the finest and most unique tapers in the industry. I also fish a lot of Airflo lines. Their newest lines have the finest finish in the industry. It is positively luxurious. I use their saltwater lines, Delta spey lines, and a few of their trout lines. Their products have improved immensely the last few years. Most of my saltwater flats fishing is done with a line that may not be familiar to many of you. Flow Tek, out of Colorado, makes several series of lines under the Monic label. They are famous for their floating clear lines. The line I like so much is the opaque version of the tropical floating line. Its stiffness allows casting into the wind better than any line I've tried, including lines that are marketed as being wind busters. The stiffness of the Monic allows for some incredible casting in stiff winds. I try to keep this particular line in stock from WF7F-WF12F at all times. I've also become a Guideline dealer which means I can offer you the superb Guideline Power Taper shooting heads as well as the DDC interchangeable tip heads. The double-handed version of these lines are very popular with speyfishers. I can also get for you the Scientific Anglers Ultra series and Teeny lines (lots of unique lines here-especially the Billy Pate Billfish, Bruce Chard Permit, and the Pat Ehlers Pike and Muskie.) I stock very few fly lines so one has to allow me the time to get them in. Order early. By the way, I really do encourage you to patronize your local fly shop for fly lines. They're far more likely to have them in stock and they want, and need, your business. I enjoy selling what most shops don't carry, like the Monic lines and Guideline .

I know the computer is more of a visual, rather than text, environment. However, in my opinion featuring photos of fly line boxes doesn't really have much merit. I also don't want to fill up the screen with pages of text that no one will read. So, call, fax, or e-mail me if you want more information on any of these lines.

Gary Selig has been a regular customer of mine for many years. I've always known that he markets his own leaders. I used to feel as though I could tie a leader as good as any on the market, and better than most. Finally, Gary did what any astute businessman should do. He began sending me a few of his leaders for free. It started with my first trip to the Restigouche for salmon and continued on for bonefish, permit, and false albacore. I began to take notice that his leaders just cast better than anything I had ever used. Gary finally nailed me down early in 2003 to begin featuring at least a few of his leaders on this site. These are called the Ultra and Ultra+ Selig models because they feature the absolute best materials that are available. The thickest two or three sections are of fluorocarbon, usually Sufix or Frog Hair FC, because of their stiffness. That stiffness is one reason his leaders turn over and cast so well. That is followed by several sections of premium co-polymer mono with a FC tippet. Every knot is superglued with the one glue Gary has found that will not be affected by water and which will not affect the properties of the fluorocarbon or mono used. His knots simply won't break. The tippets are usually SeaGuar Grand Max. Suffice it for me to say these are the absolute finest leaders one can buy. The newest addition is the Windy Day Bonefish. This leader is 9' long and has a long butt of heavy co-polymer with a short FC tippet section and casts extremely well in heavy wind. What I keep in stock are called:

Ultra Bonefish
Windy Day Bonefish
Ultra Permit
Ultra Light Tarpon
Ultra Salar/Steelhead
Ultra High Water Salar/Steelhead
Ultra Spey
Ultra Heavy Spey

The Salar/Steelhead is ten feet long, the Bonefish and Permit models are ten and a half or eleven feet, and the Spey models are fifteen feet. Tippet strength varies, but is what one would probably tie on if you were making your own leaders (ie. 12lb for the Bonefish models.) I try to keep these in stock at all times. Prices are $6.00 each for the Salar/Steelhead and Bonefish/Permit models and $9.00 each for the Spey lengths. Gary will make any custom leader for you from spring creek trout up to anything short of big game. Let me know what you need and understand that there's a minimum order of a dozen of each model when special-ordered. I still usually tie my own big game leaders, but the best I've found on the market are by Rio. They come three in a pack and the shock tippets are kept straight in a long hard plastic tube that is included. They are $22.00 (for three) for mono shocks and $28.00 for FC shocks. All have Rio Hard Mono 22lb (10kg) class tippets and the shocks can be ordered in 60, 80, 100 and 125lb (there's no FC in 125lb.) I can get other Rio leaders for you, but I have to have you order a dozen at a time since that's how I have to order them, and the shelf life is too short to do otherwise. Please patronize your local fly shop for smaller numbers of leaders. Call, fax, or e-mail me for more information.

For years I used to hunt around for a product called Lubriplate as it always came highly recommended for cork drags. Finally, on Dan Blanton's internet forum I had several people tell me that a product called Cal's #2 Speed Reel Grease was as good, if not better. Temple Fork/Springbrook/Mangrove are now distributors of Cal's so I currently have some in stock. It works well on both cork and carbon fiber drag discs and a little goes a long way. $7.50 for a 1oz container.

For years I carried the Harding Cordura reelcases that had the stiffener inside the material. They were the best, by far, for rugged use. Alas, they were discontinued a couple of years ago and I have not found anything suitable to replace them. Finally, I checked out what was available while at the Fly Fishing Retailer Show in Denver. Neoprene seems to be the ticket unless you want to spend the money for a nice hard leather case. A whole bunch of companies feature the neoprene cases, so I looked at things like the quality of stitching. The truth is I think a lot of them are all made by the same company so I chose the Mangrove case as it is distributed by Temple Fork/Springbrook. They are green and are available in four sizes, called S, M, L, and XL. At $12.50 each I thought they were the best quality for the money of the ones at the show. I keep quite a few of these in stock.

I now also have in stock the Mangrove Hip Shooter shooting basket. It is designed to be used both in a boat and while wading and makes more sense than any other basket I've seen. Stan Pleskunas and Dave Sellers have worked on this design for several years and the demand was far larger than what could be produced, so the design was sold to Mangrove. The basket is $49.95 and the removable bottom specifically designed for boat fishing is another $9.95, although in all truth the wading model will work fine for both uses. However, if the boat bottom, without drain holes, is bonded with a silicone sealant into the basket, then a small amount of water can be placed into it which will help line management. There are two types of "stalks" that fit into the bottom, and although the basket can be used with either one, I find works best if both are used together which means there are 17 in all. The sides of the basket are a little over 10" tall. It features a clamp that goes onto your belt which can be removed in an instant for safety reasons. The inventory is in now so call or e-mail if you're interested. I'd also be happy to give you a far more detailed account of why this basket is so much different, and in my opinion superior for most uses. I've used mine quite a bit for striper fishing on Cape Cod, for bonefish in the Bahamas, and for flats fishing for carp in Lake Michigan. I really do like it and hardly ever really know that it's there because it's out of the way.