Designed to make 80-foot-plus with less effort than traditional 9-foot rods, the new short length, fast-action PRO4x ShortStix are a true breakthrough for fly anglers. Honored with the ICAST 2014 New Product Showcase ‘Best New Fly Rod’ award, the new ShortStix rods are now shipping to fly tackle dealers worldwide. For fly anglers in the U.S. and Canada, they can expect to find the rods starting the week of September 15.
Using today’s new generation of short head fly lines, the 7-foot-6-inch rods load easily and offer exceptional casting distance especially with big, bulky, air-resistant flies. The four 3-piece ShortStix fly rods are inherently lighter and stronger – in hand they have the feel of a 9-foot 5 weight. Rods offered include an 8/9 weight for use with 300- to 350-grain fly lines; a 9/10 weight for 375- to 425-grain lines; a 10/11 weight for 425- to 475-grain lines; and a 11/12 weight for 475- to 525-grain weights.
G.Loomis chief rod designer Steve Rajeff, in collaboration with noted saltwater anglers Ian Devlin and Mark Sedotti, developed this new series, showcasing the advantages of a short fly rod. They can be used for anything in the salt, especially stripers and big fish like tarpon, cobia and redfish, plus also in freshwater for peacock bass and big largemouth.
“These new ShortStix rods are truly remarkable casting rods that just happen to be short,” said Devlin, an avid saltwater fly rodder who chases stripers off the East Coast. “In the speed of today’s lifestyle, more people find less time to actually practice casting, depending more on their equipment to compensate. Anglers can quickly be making long, accurate casts with short, power fly lines like the Scientific Anglers Titan Taper, Royal Wulff Ambush Taper and Airflo’s Sniper lines. You’ll be able to handle big fish including tarpon, cobia, roosterfish and big redfish, plus while designed for shallow water wading situations, the ShortStix fly rods are also ideal for fishing from a skiff or kayak.”
The PRO4x fly series are “a high-performance rods that both experienced and novice anglers will appreciate the lightweight feel and speed,” said G.Loomis Steve Rajeff. “The ShortStix rods have stiffer tips than ordinary saltwater rods to reduce collapsing loops that decrease distance, and simply just make fly casting easier.”
All four rods feature K-frame stripper guides to reduce tangles when shooting line. The two larger rods also featured integrated fighting grips for more power and better fish control.
As with all G.Loomis rods, the PRO4x ShortStix fly rods are manufactured in the USA. For more information on the rods, visit gloomis.com, call 800/GLoomis, or stop by your nearest G.Loomis tackle dealer.