Allen Fly Fishing announced today the release of a new, wide ranging, two-handed rod series named the Olympic. Named after Washington's Olympic peninsula, the Olympic series of rods offers a vast array of lengths and weights ranging from a 12' 5 weight to a 14' 9 weight. Allen has spent over a year developing this new rod series and claims to still be discovering virtues of the new design even as the rods are readied for delivery.

Allen Fly Fishing's new two-handed rod series, Olympic.

According to Evan Burck of Allen Fly Fishing, the goal in designing the Olympic series was to deliver a rod with top quality construction and components at the best value on the market, a goal which Allen feels they have achieved. Burck cites the Olympic series' medium-fast action and deep flex, noting that "unlike many other rods on the market that flex deep in to the cork for their power reserves, this series manages to do it without feeling too floppy or noodly."

When asked about the challenges Allen faced in developing the Olypmic series, Burck stated " It was a combination of a lot of things, as these types of things usually are. Myself and others adding input, we all had a common vision of what we wanted this rod to be, and accomplishing that isn't as easy as it might seem. Our first few prototypes were flexing in the wrong places, and not loading properly. So it took some experimentation with using different types of graphite wrapped in to the lower sections of the rod to get that flex to bend down deep, and recover like we wanted."

The Olympic series rods range in price from $329 to $349 and are available now via Allen Fly Fishing's web site. Allen is currently offering a discount of $99 when paired with Allen's Alpha II fly reel.