"I first encountered the
Titanium Rod from Colorado Rods in January 2002. David Ahn tried to get me to
try one, but I knew, I just knew, that if I did, I would be in love with them
and would forsake all other rods. Well I thought about those babies for a long
year and how much I yearned for them. And in January 2003, at the Maryland Show,
yes, I tried them out. Right after trying other, very nice rods. So, I picked up
a 5 wt and immediately was casting 20 feet farther than with the other brand.
Wow! I tried the 5, then I moved to a 7/8. What control, what distance, what
sensitivity!
So, I took the plunge, and got a 5 -- for trout
-- and an 8/9 -- for salmon and bonefish and other saltwater species. My son and
I were planning on our New Zealand trip in March, and so as I considered the
trip, I took pity on my son -- he would suffer if he did not also have a 5 wt.
Titanium Rod. So, I called David, and, yes, I got a second Titanium Rod for my
son to use.
In New Zealand, I fished for 10 days on both the
South and North Islands for brown and rainbow trout in size usually 2 to 8 lbs.
(I managed to turn up a rainbow on my last days on the North Island that went to
14 lbs! as well.) All were caught on my wonderful glorious Titanium Rod. I found
myself able to reach distances and angles never before attainable. And boy did
they produce fish! I look forward to many grand years fishing my Titanium Rod.
What about line weights? Well, although the rod is a 5 wt., I needed to be
prepared for eventualities. So, I rigged up both a 6 and a 7 wt reel and on
several particularly windy days the 7 weight performed very well. The line did
not feel heavy for the rod, and I was able to punch it out to where the fish
were and tease them into taking.
What about the big rod? How did that work for me? My first experience was on the
Potomac, upstream from Washington DC, in April, fishing for shad. Friend,
Sebastian O'Kelly and I put out from Fletcher's Landing and anchored just short
of the seam. I was using a 350 grain Teeny line and on the first cast, I was
overwhelmed by the power of the 8/9 rod to throw that line out to where it would
sink down and come around right into the fish. Casts routinely ran 60 to 80
feet. And, guess what, almost every cast I got a fish as I stripped it back in.
We cleaned up, to the chagrin of neighboring fishermen who did not do nearly as
well. Sebastian is a great caster, clearly better than I am, and Ient the rod to
him to try out. First cast and he throws the whole line! He dubbed the rod a
"boomstick". And I agree.
Next I did my annual pilgrimage to an unnamed river in Labrador in pursuit of
Atlantic salmon. I spent the entire week working that river with the 8/9
Titanium Rod. Great performance. To me, it clearly out-powered all other rods in
use in the camp. Again, I reached places in the pools that I fish every year
that I had never reached before, and found fish where others could not. To own a
Titanium Rod is to have a new love affair, and one that is most satisfying! I
look forward to many years of enjoying the Titanium rods I own and will purchase
in the future. ~ Terry Shultz ~
I’ve been using ADG rods for about a decade,
beginning with David’s IM-6 and IM-8 series graphite rods. When he came out
with the prototype Titan Titanium rod, I field tested it at my Labrador lodge
and on salmon rivers of the Maritimes. While his graphite rods were really good,
the Titan was an amazing evolution in rod design. The rod does the work, making
casting effortless, and the responsiveness is unbelievable. I’ve never had a
breakage with any ADG rods, and they’ve been used under extremely severe
weather conditions of heat and cold during the past 10 years. I’m not an
engineer, but it seems that the titanium wires convert the energy you put into
the rod to energy output with no loss of power. I’ve been fly fishing and
writing about it in Canada for more than 40 years, but have never found a
sweeter rod to use. I now have just about every ADG Titanium rod available, and
would not use anything else. Strength, power, sensitivity, dependable
performance, these are the features I look for in a fly rod and ADG delivers. I
consider it a revolutionary design in fly rods, much like the introduction of
graphite over fiberglass materials. Since trying the Titanium rod I’ve been
converted, and all of my fishing now is with ADG Titanium rods. If you try one,
I’m sure you’ll be convinced as well.
Len Rich, Canadian Outdoor Writer
Award-winning freelance writer/photographer
1991 recipient - Canada Recreational Fisheries Award
2007 recipient - OWC Jack Davis Mentorship Award
Approx. 20 lb, 34" Smallmouth Buffalo
("Texas Bone Fish") caught 3/10/07 at "The Narrows Recreation
Area" near Spicewood, Tx. on an ADG TITAN Titanium Rod!.
"I purchased my TF 804-4 Titan
rod at the FFF Southern Council Conclave in Mountain Home Ark last Oct 2006. I
have caught 145 white bass, 18 largemouth, 7 smallmouth, 10 Guadalupe bass, and
3 Smallmouth Buffalo since Feb 7th 2007. Went fly fishing 3 hours last Sat on the San Gabriel
below Tejas Camp above Lake Georgetown ( Near George Town, TX ) and caught 20
whites. Went back Sunday and caught 21 whites but it took 5 hours and lots of
casting, striping and moving up and down a 50 yard stretch of the river... A
good number of these fish have been caught on my Titan TF 804-4 including this
monster I plan on buying some more Titan rods this year in different
weights..." Best Regards
Bruce
Reds Caught on both my 7.5" 6/7wt" and 9' 7/8wt ADG Titan fly rods
During fly fishing trip summer 2008 off Lake Charles LA, Our guide put us on at least 20 to 25 Redfish that we could site cast to the visible fish or its wake, but I only hooked and landed 6 Reds 19" to 26" Reds, I had another Red on, but after a good fight the fly pulled out due to I think I put way too much pressure on it. I lost another one due to poor hook set on my part and letting the fish have slack line.
I was fishing all day with my ADG Titan 7.5" 6/7wt and 9' 7wt/8wt rods, with saltwater redfish taper S.A. weight forward 7wt and 8wt fly line acordingly, 15lb saltwater redfish taper leader, with 15 pound fluorocarbon tippet, then tied on a copper colored Spoon fly which caught three of my five Reds landed to hand, then shrimp imitations caught the other two Reds I landed. Due to the power, ease of casting and accuracy using my Titan 6/7wt and 7/8wt rods helped cast, hook and fight, then land some really nice size Reds.! Once I got over the initial excitement of seeing my first Redfish in many months, this rod allowed me to cast smoothly and accurately to some really spooky Redfish, many of these fish were so spooky you had one chance to cast, so if you missed the sweet spot, they were gone. Also my arm never got tired after many hours of casting. I can't even count how many other fish spooked either before we spotted them or before we could get a cast off. Many mud slicks left from fish that spooked from the boat noise. It was a great 7.0 hours of fishing.
This is now my 4th ADG Titan fly rod in the last two 2.5 years. I have a 8' 3/4wt Rod, 9' 5/6wt Rod 7.5' 6/7wt and 9' 7/8wt TitanT Rod. I have caught fish up to 20lb on my 3/4wt Titan. My favorite rod out of them all is the 7.5' 6/7wt TitanT Rod. As I have said before, these rods allow me to focus on catching more and bigger fish due to their ease of casting, accuracy and durability. I use these rods for most of my fresh and saltwater fly fishing with the exception of a few old rods I still like to fish with. I hope ADG keeps making new and innovative rods. I suggest a short 7'8" 7/8wt rod as a new model to be used for both fresh and saltwater species.
"ADG's 9 ft 5 wt Titan fly rod is the best
fly rod I have ever used in 35 years of fly fishing. The titanium gives this rod
a feel like no other. The smooth yet powerful action makes casting effortless.
Just relax and let the rod do the work. I believe ADG has made a significant
development that will surely elevate fly fishing to a new level of performance
and enjoyment." ~ Joe Dickey
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