Gary's Tactical Series Rods: Shakey Head

Great minds think alike, and many of the great minds in fly fishing took a look around at the arms race in the sport and said "enough's enough." Cost continues to skyrocket. Labels and brands are sometimes more about status than functionality. A rod might cost $1,000 and a Wall Street banker who fishes once a year will order it just to say he fishes with the best.

But what about the next generation of fly anglers? What about all those bass and walleye anglers out there today who'd likely try fly fishing, if only it were a bit more affordable? What ever happened to quality at an honest price? And teaching people to fish?

Temple Fork Outfitters (TFO), which started as a modest but successful fly-tying-supply business, asked those same questions. As an answer, it launched an aggressive mission to rewrite the rules of fly-fishing tackle and gear. TFO's goal: To make and sell rods and reels that belong on a river, not in a display case. Rods and reels that can take a beating and still perform. Rods and reels that are varied and specialized for today's techniques. Rods and reels that anglers can afford, whether they're beginners or experts.

The list of luminaries who quickly involved themselves with TFO reads like a who's who of fly fishing and American rodbuilding – Gary Loomis, Lefty Kreh, Bob Clouser, Ed Jaworowski, Nick Curcione, Jim Teeny, Gary and Wanda Taylor, Mike Kinney, Bob Meiser, Flip Pallot and literally dozens of advisory-staff members from around the world. This mix of engineering and design proved to be a winner in the highly competitive and discerning fly-fishing market.

The Gary Loomis Tactical Series represents TFO's charge into the conventional fresh- and saltwater fishing markets. Loomis designed this series by utilizing a new proprietary scrim in conjunction with TFO's high-modulus carbon-fiber blank material. The result is a lighter, more sensitive rod without a sacrifice in strength.

The Tactical Series blanks are tastefully finished and simply polished, with a thin layer of matte clear coat to enhance the natural luster of the fibers. TFO's trademark Color ID split-grip is further complemented by a two-piece reel seat and a natural-cork ring split grip.

Tactical Series rods are topped with TFO's proprietary Tactical Series guides, which include machined stainless-steel inserts. These special inserts are super-hard-chrome anodized, then swaged into a chromium-impregnated stainless frame.  What does this all mean?  Super hard, super slick, saltwater safe and no more lost fishing time due to lost inserts. Plus, they're 30% lighter than standard SiC guides.

TFO wants to earn and retain its customers, so each rod comes with a lifetime replacement warranty.

The Shakey Head rod is a 6'10", medium-light rod with a fast tip that's perfect for shaking 1/8- to 1/2-ounce finesse jigheads and plastics. A fast-action tip is a must for the shakey-head technique because it allows the angler to shake the bait effectively and at the same time, sense bites on a semi-slack line. The rod also has the backbone to achieve a strong and effective hookset, even on long casts.

Model	Length	Power	Line Wt.	Lure Wt. (oz.)	Pcs.	Action	MSRP
GTS SHS6103-1	6'10''	ML	4-10	1/8 - 1/2	1	Fast	$149.95