The World Goes Fly Fishing
This week we sold a rod and reel to one of our regular German customers who is currently planning his Alaskan fly fishing trip while on a business trip to Beijing, China.  While the this situation is somewhat unique there are many similar sales are being handled at our store every week.  Let's face it. The human race has tied the world together with fast communication and fast transportation. You can now communicate across the world instantly by phone, Fax and email.  You can board your plane in Portland, Oregon and five hours later you are in a thatched cabana on the beach at Loreto, Mexico.  Tomorrow, at dawn you will motor out over a calm tropical sea in search of golden dorado.  In the same afternoon you will keep in touch with home base through the internet.  Your associates relay pertinent information and you render advise.  You are on vacation, but you are in control.  Or maybe you don't want to be. It's your call. You're on vacation. The point is, that you can be in touch as much as you like.  We can now live, work and play more efficiently because of our new quick time travel coupled with our ability to stay in touch with each other.  You can be in many parts of Mexico and be in touch with home base on a daily basis.  Certainly, if you travel to fish our unique waters here in the United States, you have the at your disposal the finest transportation and communication system in the world.  You could be in Korea one day and on the Sandy River fishing for steelhead the next day.  The same is true if you live in Japan, England, France, Germany and nearly anywhere else in the world. We are no more than two days away from most of the planet. We now live in a global world where national borders are blurred by the masses of humanity crossing them on a daily basis.  Also we live in a world where technology is being shared globally on a daily basis.  

Since World War II, U.S. fly rod manufactures have dominated and set the standard for the rest of the world.  They started with European designs and added innovative engineering and materials technology.  There have been a steady string of innovations that have made our fly rods lighter, stronger and faster each and every year.   There is little doubt American made rods are the most copied fly rods in the world.  They are also some of the most expensive rods in the world.  But, you get what you pay for. Once again, when it comes to craftsmanship, the American big-5 fly rod makers have set the standard. 

It is evident that manufacturing plants in Korea are able to produce rods with similar casting and handling characteristics of the American rods.  It is also becoming apparent that craftsmanship and quality control in these Korean factories is very good.  What is now emerging is that Korean engineers have a few tricks up their sleeves, such as nano-technology where coating graphite blanks takes on more meanings than just cosmetics.  Certain series of Korean rods really cast.  These rods are making their way to the American markets under several different brand names.  These marketing companies are usually American owned.  Many of these rods are designed in this country.  In many cases, the rods are designed by a team that incorporates designers and engineers from both sides of the Pacific.  Its a two heads are better than one approach.  That is the way it seems to be at TFO.  The rods are conceptually designed by Lefty Kreh.  The materials engineering and actual construction is done in Korea.  This Korean team works exclusively with Lefty Kreh and TFO.  Together they have produced (4) series of rods that are extremely serviceable and value conscious.  Series-1 two-piece rods sell for $90-$100.  Pro Series four-piece rods sell for $140-$160.  That is $160 for a four-piece tarpon rod.  Suddenly tarpon rods and tarpon fishing got a lot more affordable.  Spey rods in this series come in (4) models that cost  $299.95 each.  The TiCr Series is even more interesting.  It uses a titanium-chromium clear coat over the graphite blank to give it impact resistance.  This coat also greatly speeds up the recovery of the blank.  This enables the blank to apply energy to the fly line in a very short, sharp burst.  The result is incredibly tight loops traveling very fast. The most amazing trait of this series is how easy it is to time these rods.  This enables the caster to reach out further and refine his accuracy.  Over the clear coat is another coating that is smooth, non-reflective black.  Will these TiCr Series rods hold up and perform in the field?  We presume so.  We will know more about them after our July saltwater trip to Loreto, Mexico.  I'm taking TiCr's in #8, #10, #12 weight sizes.  I'm also taking the latest models of Sages and Winstons.  The TFO TiCr rods will be judged against some very high classed competition.  There isn't anything that builds skills and technologies quicker than competition....or just plain old fishing!