Plano Fly Fishing Show and some New Rods

I went to the “Texas Fly Fishing and Brew Festival” in Plano this morning. I enjoyed this year’s show, there were more booths of interest to me than at last year’s show. But the key to getting your money’s worth from this show is to attend the presentations. There are a lot of good speaker this year, including Jason Randell, Pat Dorsey, and Dave Whitlock. TFO has Ed Jaworowski, Wanda Taylor, and others in their booth. You can stop by their booth and talk to them and probably even get a chance to cast with them.

TFO has two new rods this year that I am impressed with. If you go to the show Sunday, I encourage you to stop by and test them.

The Axiom has been redesigned as the Axiom 2. It is significantly lighter than the original Axiom. I don’t know the exact specs, but it feels like it is on par with the BVK rod’s weight. It felt very light when casting. I cast the 5 wt rod today with a 5 wt line and it was a good match. The A2 did not need to be uplined. I liked this rod a lot. If you make it to the show, I encourage you to take time to test cast TFO’s Axiom 2.

TFO also has a new nymphing rod called “The Drift”. This rod is very intriguing. It comes with a couple of extension sections. It can be fished as a 9 ft rod, or you add a 1 ft section for a 10 ft rod, or you can add a 27 inch section for an 11’ 3” rod, or you can put in both sections for a 12’ 3” rod. These sections provide the versatility to have the correct rod length for whatever nymphing technique you want to use. The extra sections have unique guide designs that allow the sections to be added or removed on the water without having to restring your rod. If you have an interest in the various versions of Czech nymphing techniques, the Drift rod is worth taking look at.

That nymphing rod sounds like an interesting product. With all sections added, it would be good to have a two handed butt section so it could be a switch rod.

Meadowlark, they thought about that too. The rod comes with two butt caps that unscrew and can be exchanged. One is a more traditional short design and the other other is longer and can be used as a handle extension. Talking with the TFO team, they were excited about how well the rod worked as a two handed rod when using those micro-shooting head line designs when all the sections are together.

Also, they used a down locking reel seat to help counter balance the longer lengths. It really seems to be a well thought out and versatile design.

I am very tempted to get one of these, but since it is a style of fishing that I just don't do very often, it might not be the best choice for me. However, I do think I'll get a 7 wt Axiom 2 soon. A 6 wt original Axiom with a 7 wt line is the setup that I fish most often on Texoma and I think a 7 wt Axiom 2 with the same 7 wt line will be a perfect replacement for the way I like to fish.

My favorite part of fly fishing shows is getting to play with the new toys.

Thanks RexW. Are they currently available for sale? In 8wt? Fast action? I'll take one if yes.

Yes, both of the rod models are currently available.

I think the 5 wt Axiom 2 that I cast at the showis a newly released size and it may be a challenge to find, but the 8 wt's should be readily available.

One note on the Axiom 2's action, many of the TFO rods tend to have a very fast actions and the Axiom 2 is different. It is not as fast as the BVK rods. It has an action more like the Mangrove series rods, more of a medium-fast to fast action feel. I think this will be a comfortable rod to cast and fish with all day.

Joe from Redds Fly Shop made a nice video about the Drift Fly Rod

Nice video.

That looks fantastic to me! What an ingenious product!