Nigro 5 Weight Quad

This is my first quad rod, meaning that it has four sides instead of the traditional six. In fact, this particular rod is a rectangle quad, or "r-quad," with two of the sides longer than the other two sides, making it slightly rectangular rather than square.

I commissioned this rod with Colorado's White River in mind. The White is one of my favorite fishing destinations. It's a little off the beaten track, and gets less fishing pressure than more popular Front Range destinations. Fishing on the White is very diverse, with short-casting to "potholes" in between white water, to long casts to rising trout feeding in lazy, slow-moving currents, to fishing big pools and log-jam backwaters.

Tom's r-quad has turned out to be an excellent fishing companion both on the White River and elsewhere. The rod is flawless. Effortless casting from 5 to 50 feet; excellent for roll casting in tight quarters; lots of feel for dry fly presentation; and plenty of back bone for landing tough wild trout. I was a little worried about its ability to cast side-arm, because of its asymmetrical construction. However, I needn't have worried. Often, when I am fishing the banks. I have to place the fly within inches of overhaning brush, but avoid getting the fly tangled in the brush. This requires a careful, side-arm cast. This rod really delivers with delicacy and precision, cast after cast. Precision really is the hallmark of this rod. In fact, recently I was challenged to an informal casting accuracy contest by a couple of my fishing buddies. Out of all the rods I own, I chose the Nigro r-quad. That should tell you something about how much I like this rod's feel.

This may well be my most versatile stream rod. It does pretty much everything well. It's my rod of choice when I'm headed to an unfamiliar creek or river and am unsure what I will find. I've used this rod enough that I know it can handle whatever I might find.