©2005 By Joshua Field

About five months ago I read a positive review for an extremely inexpensive graphite rod by W.W.Grigg that someone had purchased for their son only to find that it was such a competent caster that they claimed it for themselves. Curiosity got the better of me and I went out searching the web for this rod. It turned out to be surprisingly difficult to find. BobWards.com claims to have the rod for $40 but it has been out of stock for as long as I’ve seen it listed on their site.

I ended up emailing the Grigg Company to see if they might sell me the rod retail or point me to a retailer that carried the rod and had it in stock. Interestingly enough I got a quick response from none other than Tom Grigg who pointed me to an online dealer that they supply. I ordered the rod from them and after a couple of phone calls to clarify my information the rod was on its way. In anticipation of getting this new rod, I stopped into Orvis and did some lawn casting of their comparable models. I should mention here that I learned on glass and now fish solely with Bamboo, so graphite takes some getting used to. The closest in weight/flex/length I found was Orvis’ high end T3 Midflex 7’9” 5wt ($575). It took quite a few casts before I closed my stance and adjusted my throw enough to compensate but once I did, I discovered that it was a nice casting tool. I’ve actually played with a few rods in the Orvis range now and I can say that they do have a high quality product but the prices always give me sticker shock. Some will say that its sacrilege to compare a $575 top of the line rod with a $50 rod but I’m inclined to say that each have their place in the broad spectrum of options that are available to fisherfolks. The Grigg is a long way from top of the line in terms of price but not as far as I would have thought in terms of performance.

When the Grigg rod arrived it wasn’t packed very well but didn’t sustain any damage during shipping. My first impression was that it looked surprisingly well made for such an inexpensive rod. The BobWards website called it a 4/5 but the rod is marked 5wt so I loaded it with some 5wf Cortland Laserline from a couple of seasons ago. The reel seat and hardware were much nicer than I thought they’d be. The reel seat is black metal of some sort, probably aluminum and has a real wood insert. The grip is a reverse half wells and is inletted to receive the real seat. Here I would have preferred a ultrafine grip as the rod is fairly small but the reverse half wells is certainly better than a full wells. All in all, an impressive hardware setup for fifty-dollar rod.

The blank is a nice dark gray color and the wraps are dark red/burgundy - all perfectly finished. The stripping guide is black, though the rest of the guides are chromed. The rod assembles as expected and everything fits nice and snug. With everything assembled it was time to do some lawn casting.

First impression- this rod is a shockingly capable fly flinger for the price (remember - $525 less than the Orvis rod!). I started with a few short casts and had to lighten up a lot to avoid shocking the line. This rod is definitely a tip flex and is pretty stiff through the butt section (especially compared to the Orvis Midflex). It delivered very tight loops and I had no trouble shooting plenty of line despite the fact that the line really needed to be dressed. I can’t foresee any situation on our moderately sized rivers where this rod won’t deliver a delicate presentation to a skittish fish at a reasonable distance (but be sure to take it easy on those short casts). Regardless of whether you are an experience angler looking for a bang-around rod that won’t break the bank or a beginner trying to avoid the frustration of learning to cast with inferior equipment, I’d highly recommend the Grigg GX series, which come in a huge range of lengths and weights – from a tiny 6 foot, 3wt to massive 13 foot, 11wt (though I think the 7’6” is ideal for Berkshires streams).