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RIO Gold Fly Line featuring MaxCast and MaxFloat technologies.

RIO, one of the foremost names in fly lines, announced today two new fly line technologies that RIO is immediately introducing into three of its existing product lines. Termed MaxFloat and MaxCast, these two new technologies are the sort of developments that sound like potential game changers, provided they live up to RIO's billing. Given RIO's reputation, there's no reason to think they won't live up to the benchmarks that RIO is setting, but a bit of skepticism is natural when a product boasts the kind of performance enhancements that MaxFloat and MaxCast are touting.

RIO Gold Fly Line with MaxCast and MaxFloat
RIO Gold Fly Line featuring MaxCast and MaxFloat technologies.

MaxFloat is a new tip technology allows RIO lines to float more than twice as high as existing lines without the MaxFloat technology. That's no small improvement. If that wasn't impressive enough, MaxFloat does this without any increase in the diameter of the line, a crucial aspect of castability. RIO tells us these significantly higher floating lines will allow for "reduced drag, longer drifts and quieter pickups". Sounds good.

Sage Introduces new CIRCA Fly Rods

Sage won a lot of awards and lot of fans with its ONE series of fly rods, successor to their long running and wildly popular Z-Axis line of rods. Countless owners have remarked on the accuracy and power of the remarkably light ONE series. Not among those countless owners excited by the punch and power of the ONE series, however, were lovers of rods that speak more in terms of their finesse and feel than their power. Today, Sage has announced an all-new series of graphite rods designed to offer significantly slower action, load down into the butt and handle and a increased feel.

Sage CIRCA Fly Rod

Whatever praise Sage received for their ONE series, the ability of those rods to toss a size 26 dry fly with elegance and grace wasn't part of it. That said, Sage hasn't been alone in their trend toward more powerful, faster action, stiffer tipped rods. The premier lines of fly rod manufacturers such as G. Loomis, Scott, Orvis and Hardy (just to name a few) have also followed a similar trend. As a result, most dry fly aficionados and other slow-action rod lovers have turned to other materials such as bamboo and fiberglass when acquiring new rods or have simply stuck with older models of graphite rods.

With the CIRCA series, Sage aims to capture the action and tempo provided by bamboo and glass, but with the advantages that come with modern materials, bringing a new option to the world of the slow action fly rod. According to Sage, these advantages come mostly in the accuracy department. Fiberglass and bamboo ofter a soft touch and tempo, but lack torsional stability. In other words, as the rod loads and bends backwards and forwards, it also bends side-to-side. This side-to-side movement reduces accuracy. According to Jerry Siem, designer of the CIRCA series, using Sage's Konnetic technology (the same technology used in Sage's ONE series) Sage was able to develop a rod with the action and feel of glass and bamboo, but with incredible torsional stability and thus significantly higher accuracy.

Costa's New Double Haul Sunglasses

Earlier this year, Costa unveiled a new addition to their lineup with their 'Double Haul' sunglasses. As any serious fly fisherman knows, Costa has long been one of the go-to names in fishing for technical eyewear. As a bit of a sunglasses junkie and also considering that I share a name with the manufacturer, I was hopeful that I’d fall in love with pair of Double Haul 580G sunglasses that arrived a few months ago. I wasn't disappointed.

Costa's New Double Haul Sunglasses
Costa's Double Haul offer top-notch polarization, impressive coverage, venting and more.

Upon initial inspection, I was impressed by the look of the Double Hauls, immediately impressed at the coverage offered by the frames and lenses and was stoked to get them out on the water. Given that I'm used to wearing a cord with my glasses I was a bit skeptical about the ability of the Double Hauls to stay in place without one, but having read our own review of the Costa Fantail from our Best Fishing Sunglasses of 2011 Feature, decided to give this pair a shot sans leash. As it turns out, they didn't budge throughout numerous full days on the water and never even so much slide down the bridge of your nose. They feature a Hydrolyte material on the nosepiece and frame that gets tackier when wet and keeps the glasses from sliding down. Like many Costas, the Double Hauls also feature an integrated hinge system which also allows the glasses to stay put on top of your head or hat for those times when you want them off.

The new Sage ONE two-handed series. 11'6" 4wt switch, 13'6" 7wt spey and 12'6" 7wt spey shown.

Sage announced yesterday the addition of a collection of two-handed fly rods to its multi-award winning ONE series of rods. The new two-handed ONE collection will be comprised of 14 different spey and switch models, ranging from 4 to 10 weight and priced from $850 to $1025. According to Sage, the rods are "ideal for numerous steelhead and salmon fishing scenarios" -- but with two-handed ONE-series options ranging down to size 4 -- the new spey and switch ONE-series options should please two-handed trout anglers as well.

Sage ONE Two-Handed Spey and Switch Series Fly Rods
The new Sage ONE two-handed series. 11'6" 4wt switch, 13'6" 7wt spey and 12'6" 7wt spey shown.

Sage introduced the ONE series last year, to much fanfare. Sage's ONE fly rods use Konnetic™ technology, which according to Sage, makes them noticeably more accurate and lighter weight with a decidedly thinner profile when compared to traditional rods. The ONE series rods was garnered with much acclaim during the past year, having been voted EFTTEX Best Fly Rod, IFTD Best Freshwater and Saltwater Fly Rod, and being named to Field & Stream’s Best of the Best.

The following table provides the specifics on size, weight and pricing for the 14 new two-handed ONE-series fly rods.

Well known fly rod designer Sam Drukman.

Scott Fly Rod company, one of the most respected names in the industry, is attempting to raise funds to help pay for the medical expenses of rod designer Sam Drukman, who was recently diagnosed with acute leukemia. Drukman, a former rod designer for Scott Fly Rods and R. L. Winston fly rods, was recently diagnosed with leukemia while lacking health insurance benefits. Current treatments for leukemia are very expensive, leaving Drukman and his family facing an uphill financial battle.

As a result, Scott Fly Rod -- who describes Drukman as someone that has "contributed greatly to rod design and to many positive experiences for anglers around the world" -- is hoping to raise a significant amount of money to help fund Drukman's battle against the disease. To do so, Scott is selling raffle tickets. The winner of the raffle will have his or her choice of any Scott graphite or glass rod. Tickets are $20 each and there is no limit to the number of tickets each individual can purchase.

Drukman is the designer of the incredibly popular R.L Winston BIIx line of fly rods.

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