A Trio Of New Fly Rods From Redington!

Introduction: Redington has been upping their game in a big way the last few years, introducing some pretty impressive products, especially when taking into consideration the affordable prices of most items. We recently completed a full review of their brand new redesigned Rise fly reel, but at ICAST 2013 in Las Vegas we met with Kara Armano to go over three brand new series' of fly rods.

The very slick looking new Vapen rod series from Redington

Vapen and Vapen Red: Vapen means weapon. Sounds intimidating enough, but let's start out with the feature that's most blatantly obvious about these new rods: the grips! While the new Vapen rods feature a premium Portuguese cork handle, the Vapen Red rods come equipped with the new and very different PowerGrip. Working with leading producer of golf club grips Winn Grips, these red grips are made of an advanced polymer that feels soft, won't slip, holds up to abuse, and are claimed to enhance casting power.

The Vapen rods are available with two different grip types

All Vapen rod blanks are fast action and come equipped with X-Wrap blank technology that involves counter-wrapping a layer of high-density carbon ribbon both inside and outside of the blank to increase power. This also makes for an ultra-cool looking pattern that you can faintly see on the blank. Locking your fly reel into place are carbon fiber reel seats and custom anodized reel seat highlights. Every Vapen rod comes covered by a lifetime warranty. Available in four piece configuration from three through twelve weight sizes, these will carry a retail price of $299.95 and $349.99. You can start looking for your own Vapen rod in August.

The Vapen Red Series with the golf style grip

Butter Stick: Here's something special for you dry fly gurus out there. These classic yellow fiberglass rods feature that soft, slow action that many anglers still prefer.  Rods in 4 and 5 weight sizes feature a traditional up-locking reel seat with wood insert, while 2 and 3 weights feature a cork seat with sliding rings. Every rod in the series comes with a durable Cordura rod tube and sock, and a lifetime warranty. You can pick up one of these rods beginning in August for a retail price of $249.95.

Dry fly fans apply here. The new fiberglass based Butter Stick

Dually: For the serious spey or switch rod enthusiast, Redington introduces the new Dually series. Comprised of switch rods from 4 through 8 weight, and spey rods in 6 to 8 weight sizes, these four piece sticks are made for big casts, big mends, and big water.

The new Dually Series is exactly what the name implies, a new series for spey or switch rod enthusiasts

These rods come in a variety of lengths and feature a full cork handle and reel seat, along with suggested line grain weights and alignment dots for easy piecing together. Every rod comes with a Cordura rod tube and sock, along with a lifetime warranty. Available in August at $249.95, Steelhead anglers will have plenty of time to grab one before the big winter run begins!

The Dually rods look ideal for steelhead anglers

Conclusion: Redington continues to not only expand, but innovate. Along with the St. Croix Legend X fly rods, the new Vapen Red series is the second rod we saw utilizing something other than cork or cork composite for grip material. Like bass rods, could this be the next big trend in fly rods? We aren't too sure about that yet, but we do like what Redington is doing and hope to see even more from them later on.