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08/25/10
fly fishing hawaii:
the g loomis nrx.
had a chance to sling the new g. loomis nrx around on the flat the other day. the rod i fished was the nrx 1089-4 fly. the look of these rods scream “hey i’m different!”. the nrx has very “non g loomis” look about it with it’s bright blue and green wraps over a grey blank. the reel seat is a funky screw the fighting butt over the reel foot type which is designed to cover the threads of the reel seat (i guess for those of you out there who have trouble with exposed reel seat threads). the guides are black rec recoil wire guides (well actually they are aluminum titanium carbonitride physical vapor depositon coated guides... huh?). the cork grip has a darker, almost fake look to it which confused me at first and had me staring at it all day wondering “is this cork... or what the hell is it!” i also personally thought the butt section of the blank has a larger diameter than most of today’s slim profile high end designs. visual sensory overload to be sure and almost enough to send an older fly geezer (we won’t mention any names) running for the safety of their prized original glx’s.
“this is the rod i couldn’t wait to try?” i thought to myself, but i’m a gambling man by nature so i picked the thing up and jumped out onto the flat.
aesthetics aside, the first thing i noticed when i picked up the rod was that, as advertised, it was definitely light. that “fake” cork felt very nice and solid in hand. it turns out that the cork is actually a different denser breed of cork that comes from korea. the rod was lined up with a 9wt. airflo ridge bonefish line which matched the rod nicely. the taper of the rod is what i call of the new school style. extra fast and a little more on the stiff side. the difference between the nrx and others is the level of “feel”. the nrx is extremely crisp and despite its “kind of stiffy” character, it still maintains a ton of “loving feeling”. if you like rods like the winston bII mx, sage xi2, xi3, or g loomis cross currents you’ll be all over this one. the nrx will cast as far as you can, want to, or need to and still feel like it’s got another mile or two of cast left in reserve. in close, the sensitivity of the rod makes pin point tip casting a breeze (you can actually feel the tip load close in). it is also a cannon into the wind. i spent much of my time with the rod just chucking it into a stiff 15 mph tradewind and i swear i heard the rod giggling (or maybe that was me). the new nano silica resin technology (don’t ask me, it has something to do with tiny silicone balls) used in the nrx is also supposed to make the rods 20% stronger than other rods or so the story goes. that i could not test as i am not that much into cracking rods with brass or lead eyed flies... but time should reveal the truth behind those claims. anyway steve rajeff and the team at loomis has put out a winner in this one. i can’t wait to get my hands on other nrx models. g loomis has 16 fly rods in the series including some two handed rods (ouch... that's gonna leave a mark).
is the nrx better than the original glx? i’m not sure i’m ready to make that claim yet. after spending a day on the water with the rod, i think it will probably find a place among my favorites... but, then again, who the hell am i? go pick one up and check, check, check it out for yourself. good times.
clay.
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