Northwest Reel Life April 2024 Volume 3 Issue 7 - Flipbook - Page 9
Turning my head I saw
Dave and his NWRods
booth. Walking over to say
hi, we of course caught
up on our favorite topic,
fishing, and fishing rods.
“I heard you moved to
Montana, Mike, how’s that
been going for you?”
“Great”, I replied, “Although
I’m now doing more fly
fishing and no longer fish
salmon or steelhead in
rivers.”
“You know I’ve completed
my move to Blanchard,
Idaho. I’ve set up my shop
and started focusing on fly
rods”, Dave said.
My curiosity was raised.
“Really? I’m looking for a
nice 4-5 wt fly rod for small
to medium-sized rivers. As
you may know, Montana
has a few trophy trout
streams. What do you
have?”
Dave pulled out one of
his nine-foot, two-piece,
4-5 wt rods that he has
been producing. Handing
it over to me, I could see
the familiar craftsmanship
that impressed me so
many years ago with his
float rod. A carbon handle
provided the solid base for
attaching my fly reel, and
the rod came with guides,
each flawlessly wrapped
and of a stealthy dark green
color. The graphite rod
action itself felt “just right”
with a nice flex but still
enough backbone to make
solid casts. Its two-piece
construction is made to
provide extra strength and
durability.
A word on fishing rods, in
particular fly rods. They can
range from starter sets that
will cost you $75 bucks up
to a thousand dollars and
beyond. The rods that Dave
makes fall in the range of
above-budget rods but well
below rods that will make
you cry when they break.
In this case, his fly rods
start in the $350 range.
For me, that would be my
upper limit on what I would
pay for a rod. That said, I
do appreciate quality and
workmanship, so it after a
brief internal debate I said
“yes” to the rod. As a bonus,
Dave threw in a t-shirt.
Dave told me that with his
move to Idaho he plans
to focus more on fly rods,
and he has started a new
website where you can see
his current lineup:
www. nwfly.com. I suspect
in the years to come I’m
going to see a few of his
fly rods making the rounds
on the Missouri, Blackfoot,
Madison, and other trophy
trout streams in Montana.
As I was about to leave,
Dave showed me his
kokanee rods which he is
blowing out at $99 a rod.
Eye-catching black with
bright green threads on
the eyes, these rods are
fiberglass and a real steal
at this price. Of course, I
promptly blew my budget
and bought four.
Dave ships rods throughout
the Pacific Northwest. His
original website, nwrods.
com, has a full lineup of
salmon, steelhead, and
kokanee rods. Check them
out if you’re in the market
for a quality rod that won’t
break the bank.
Just don’t break your
budget as you feed your
addiction.
If you’d like to see a video of
me catching a steelhead on
the float rod I mentioned
earlier, here is the YouTube
link: https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=AESq3Yg_6fs
