Chances are you've caught a McCloud River rainbow, even though you've likely never fished the McCloud. The McCloud River, in Northern California, was one of the greatest salmon and steelhead rivers in the United States before a series of dams wiped out anadromous fish populations beginning in the 1940s. Part of the Sacramento River watershed, the McCloud is primarily fed by springs at its headwaters southeast of Mount Shasta.

The McCloud is also home to one of the first rainbow trout hatcheries. Beginning after the establishment of a McCloud River rainbow trout hatchery in 1877, McCloud rainbows were exported all over the world: to the eastern United States, New Zealand, Europe and South America.

Over the past few years, Redington has grown from being considered a economy brand with "get what you pay for" products to being widely recognized as producer of high quality rods, reels, waders and more that typically offer a premium at their attractive prices. Now, it appears Redington is focusing squarely on innovation, announcing three new rod families, each of which is a break from not only Redington's norm, but from industry norms as well.

In it's new Vapen family, Redington is introducing two entirely new technologies. The rods feature X-Wrap technology, which Redington explains is a "new construction method [that[ involves wrapping one layer of super-high density carbon ribbon inside the blank and another counter-wrapped on the exterior surface. X-Wrap construction provides surprising power with little effort. The technology is so distinct you will actually see the difference in the blank."

The Redington Vapen Red's new PowerGrip.

If X-Wrap doesn't catch the eye of browsing anglers, there's little doubt Redington's new PowerGrip technology will. Working with Winn Grips, a company renowned for making grips for golf clubs, Redington has developed an entirely new, non-cork grip for the Vapen Red rods. This new grip is described as an "advanced polymer grip that won’t slip when wet, feels soft in the hand and reduces fatigue. It also cleans easily, doesn’t chip and helps amplify casting power." And, if you're wondering about the name, Redington explains that Vapen means "weapon", adding that "you don't cast the Vapen, you fire it."