I’ve seen some rods by Temple Fork Outfitters with the Gary Loomis name attached and there’s a little write up on their website about him sharing his designs with them to allow his rods to be made at a slightly lower price point to be accessible for more people. Does anyone have experience with these rods? Are they anywhere near as good of quality as I’m hearing of the Loomis rods (haven’t used one myself)? Looking to add a new setup this year and am thinking of pairing a Pflueger President with one of these TFO rods.

AirPrex,

Interesting post. I am a big fan of G. Loomis Rods. They are of the highest quality and designed with leading technology materials. They are also the most expensive rods on the market too. I own 2 Loomis rods and am extremely pleased with their performance. Jackfish turned me on to St Croix " Premiere" series rods, which are a notch below in performance to St Croix's high end Eyecon, Legend and Avid Series Rods. But Premiere Series rods have a nice price to value in my opinion. St Croix and G. Loomis really do price their rod series to value ... the highest performing rods are the highest priced.

Good to hear Gary Loomis is back making rods again. If his new line of rods with Templeton Fork Outfitters are of similar quality to current G. Loomis models and have a lower price point ... I am sure Gary will make a big splash in the rod market.

I am a big fan of Pfleuger reels from the economical President and Supreme up to the Patriarch. Pairing with a G. Loomis or new TFO series rod would be a nice set up.

Looking forward to seeing what Gary Loomis rod types and pricing will be available from TFO.

I had a 10 weight TFO fly rod. Broke in half on a hook set. Ill never buy another TFO.

TFO are NOT Loomis quality.

Thanks for the input. Had been looking at this from the “Gary Tactical Series” . With the expectation it’s not actually of Loomis quality, seemed like it could be an okay deal at $80. Might instead look at the Fenwick HMG or St Croix Triumph after hearing your feedback.

Gary Loomis founded North Fork Composites which sells rod blanks to a number of custom rod makers; one of them is Kistler rods.

Good to know, thanks. I’ll keep that in mind if my budget increases a bit. For the time being I found an awesome deal ($100) on a Pflueger President 30 / Fenwick HMG 6’6” MF combo that I’m gonna pull the trigger on.

AirPrex: "Good to know, thanks. I’ll keep that in mind if my budget increases a bit. For the time being I found an awesome deal ($100) on a Pflueger President 30 / Fenwick HMG 6’6” MF combo that I’m gonna pull the trigger on."

Nice pair there

I own 15 St. Croix rods and 5 Loomis rods (I worked in a fly shop for 13 years and took advantage of every pro form available). I have recently bought a few TFO rods and, while they are not as nice as the the more expensive rods, I am pleased with them. I also found TFO's replacement policy to far superior to St. Croix's policy.

AirPrex: "Good to know, thanks. I’ll keep that in mind if my budget increases a bit. For the time being I found an awesome deal ($100) on a Pflueger President 30 / Fenwick HMG 6’6” MF combo that I’m gonna pull the trigger on."

You are just teasing with that and not saying where you found it. That’s the regular price for just that rod.

"You are just teasing with that and not saying where you found it. That’s the regular price for just that rod. "

Haha found the deal from Glen's Army Navy / Outdoors store up in Grand Rapids, MN. Looks like it's gone up $10 since I ordered mine yesterday but still a good deal. They have the same $60 off deal on the Pflueger President combo with the Fenwick Elite Tech Walleye or Aetos rod as well.

AirPrex: "

"You are just teasing with that and not saying where you found it. That’s the regular price for just that rod. "

Haha found the deal from Glen's Army Navy / Outdoors store up in Grand Rapids, MN. Looks like it's gone up $10 since I ordered mine yesterday but still a good deal. They have the same $60 off deal on the Pflueger President combo with the Fenwick Elite Tech Walleye or Aetos rod as well."

Guess I’ll have to drive the 25 miles and check this out...

I have a TFO spin rod and fly rod. The fly rod is nice. For the spin rod, I bought the 3 piece so I could bring it to the BWCA easily. It’s OK but heavy. It’s admittedly the rod I let newbies use in the BW. I think I paid $150 for my TFO spin rod 10 years ago. It was more for being a 3 piece. I also have the Cabela’s Fish Eagle II and St. Crook Triumph 4 piece rods. I prefer the Triumph over the TFO all day long. Since then I have purchased several Avid/GLX/NRX so the triumph doesn’t get used anymore. (PM me if you want to buy a 3 pc TFO med-heavy).