5/22/2023 0 Comments Powell light touch fly rodOn a 9 foot rod a -M, medium weight, meant a 7-8wt rod. Depending on the length of the rod, the dash/letter designator meant different things. All these rods were labeled simply as "TR" rods with a number indicating length and then a dash (-) followed by a letter desginating line weight. Usually built with a black anodized with wood insert seat and wrapped in burgundy or burgundy tipped with black, these 4 piece rods were considered more utilitarian 'pack' rods and as such were not given the same cosmetic treatment as their lovely green two piece counter parts. From 1990 through 1993 these four piece blanks were not the dark green of the two piece rods but were built on an uncolored gray blank. Then in about 1990 Powell began offering these rods in four piece "Travel Rod" models. For the rest of the Powell Rod Co's production their graphite blanks came out of this facility with Loomis and Powell alternating blank production runs.įor the first few years of production the Light Touch rods were only offered in two piece models. On a hand shake, Walt moved all his rod rolling equipment, much of which they had been sharing and was needed by Gary, into the new shop. Gary built a big new facility across the river in Woodland, Washington. As both grew their business they outgrew the Oregon facility. They shared shop space for years in Oregon just north of Portland. Gary Loomis and Walton Powell were always good friends and fellow innovators. They were sold in the black with brass hardware powder coated aluminum rod cases.Īn aside on the Loomis/Powell realtionship. They came with wood spacer reel seats as standard as well. Gold wraps for the anodized gold color seats and gray wraps for rods with the anodized silver seats. Standard configuration was a dark green blank wrapped in green tipped on either gray or gold - depending on the reel seat. Built on moderately fast IM6 blanks with Powell tapers on Powell mandrels they were (and still are) the Chico era Powell's most popular graphite rod series. These were, for a time, Powell's top of the line rod series and their most expensive for a few years. In 1987 Press Powell introduced this series of two piece rods on lovely dark green blanks. If it’s Powell and green it’s definitely Light Touch, if its 9’6” 7-8 in a 2 piece it’s definitely a Summer Run or LT9678, same animal, different name.In my opinion this series are easily Powell's finest work in graphite rods and generally speaking the Light Touch rods are among the most enjoyable to fish graphite rods ever built. 2 piece in the series was the “ North Umpqua ”.Īs the Light Touch series matured, we freshened it up by swapping out the names (summer run, etc.) w/ actual model numbers such as LT9678, which was the same exact model as the “Summer Run”, just w/ a new model number. was called the “Bigwater”, the only other 7-8 wt. 2 piece in that series and the 9’ 7-8 wt. The entire early Light Touch series rods were “named” for each model, the “Summer Run” was the early incarnation of the 9’ 6” 7-8 wt. ".we (Powell) produced a line of rods called the Light Touch, about 16 different models in it’s maturity, they were all IM6, all Powell blanks produced under Gary Loomis’ supervision and all 2 piece models built on a dark green blanks, the early versions of the 4 piece models were on a gloss charcoal blank and later evolved into the dark green versions as well. Having put in my two-cents worth, here's the text from his email: I'd also like to add that you won't find a better rod builder or nicer guy than Jim Clarkson. The only thing that it might need is a fighting butt, which Jim should be able to install. You won't find a better one for the price. I would also like to add that the rod that Doc Cedar is selling would be a great investment for someone looking for a light steelhead rod. I will offer an excerpt from Jim's email, which will give some perspective on the rod, and Powell's connection with Gary Loomis. As I've always suspected, the Powell Light Touch LT9678 and Summer Run were one-in-the-same rod. I received an email back from Jim Clarkson (Raptor Rod Works), who was the chief rod builder at Powell's when I lived in Chico, back in the late eighties and early nineties.
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