Not long ago, I received a smallish tube from Australia.
Inside was my new fly rod from Nick Taransky. The rod is a 7"3' 3/2 for
a 5 or 6 weight. As you might be able to tell from the pictures, it's a beautiful rod. It's made with alternating strips of
blonde and flamed cane, with amber wraps and some pretty nice engraving. It has scrollwork on the ferrules, a mayfly lifecycle
on the reel seat band, and an osprey on the reel-seat butt. It came packaged in a cool kangaroo leather case that feels and
looks great.
I call it the Osprey because an osprey is a flying fisher. Unlike
all of my other bamboo rods, which were comissioned with a specific piece of water in mind, this rod was conceived as
a travel rod. I figured that a compact rod would be good for those trips where I am flying somewhere to go
fishing. (Or when I'm flying somewhere on business, and bring a fly rod along just in case.)
It's relatively short and breaks down into 3 pieces so it packs down into
a rod tube that is only 32 inches long. It's a 5/6 weight, which is about the perfect all around rod to handle everything
from small trout to big bass.
 
I lawn cast the rod as soon as I received it. I found that my favorite line
to use with it is a 5 weight Orvis superfine.
Not wanting to wait until I went traveling, I took the rod out to some
of my local fishing venues. I was not disappointed.
It works well for fishing up close, but has plenty of punch for longer casts
when needed, casting fast, tight loops. It's a surprisingly powerful rod, particularly given its relatively short length.
After spending the day with it, I really liked the way it casts. The only downside I found is that it tends to overpower small
fish when I would set the hook, yanking them out of the water and launching them over my shoulder if I'm not careful.
This liability will be an asset, however if I hook into a big trophy fish, as the rod has plenty of backbone for fighting
big fish if necessary.
I'm very pleased with the rod. Some of my other, more specialized rods might
be better for specific types of fishing, but this rod is very capable across the spectrum, which is what I wanted in a travel
rod.
Best of all, as much as I hate air travel, I'm now looking forward to my
next trip. You can bet I'll have this rod with me.
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