I have been reading about Fly rods. I see that many brands are made of graphite IM6, some with IM7 and now I see Pflueger has rods made of 98%IM8. I would like opinions of IM8 rods for those of you that have tried them in comparison to other graphite rods. Looking at the Trion rods by Pflueger.
All opinions appreciated. :?:
Buzz, where ya when we need ya? 
J.C. Buzz hasn’t held an IM8 yet. I already asked him. I thought some others on the BB might have had some experience with them. One person told me IM8 is suppose to be stronger than the previous IM’s. I haven’t found any literture on them either…
Quick! Buy one! Looks like you will be the first… Let us all know!
IM6 has been the standard for quite a while and seems to have the best combination of flex and strength for using the current manufacturing techniques, which by now are well refined. IM8 (or 9 or 10) by itself won’t be any better unless the diameter of the rod, thickness of the tube wall and taper are also adjusted to create a smooth casting yet strong and light tool. Cheap manufacturers will fail and good ones will succeed, but will cost. Don’t rush in to this.
I own a Plueger Trion 9’ 5 wt. made of IM8, and it is a fast, powerful stick for a 5 wt. I lined it with a WF6F bass bug taper fly line and fished it exclusively for a few seasons (about 75 trips) out of a kayak in the California Delta, slinging size 2 deer hair bass bugs and Clousers for largemouth bass. I even landed two stripers (18" and 19") on it while fishing for largemouths.
I recall one of these stripers I hooked got close to my kayak and went straight down and held for a little while directly below my kayak with the rod bent over in a severe “u” shape. I thought the rod might shatter but it held up against the fish, which then slowly relented and surfaced just before I brought it to hand. I only mention this episode because it convinced me how tough this rod is. Anyway, I was able to land both of these stripers in probably less than 5 minutes with this rod. I’ve since moved on to a 7wt. for fishing the Delta, as you just never know what you might hook out there. :shock:
In any case, I was very impressed by the Trion and, after several seasons of great topwater bass fishing, have developed a real fondness for it. Great stick for bigger fish and bigger waters.
I’ve since wiggled a few Trions in the lighter line weights and found their actions considerably slower and softer – don’t know if they’re as durable as the 5 wt. By the way, the “Pflueger” brand name is owned by Shakespeare. Another thing, don’t confuse the Trions with other rod models in the Pflueger brand fly rod lineup – I’ve also owned one each of the Pfleuger Medalist and Pflueger Supreme fly rods and didn’t care much for either.
– Mike
I did a GOOGLE search and it appears that IM8 graphite is used alot in the spin fishing world. Maybe a few lesser known fly rod manufacturers are using it but not the major players yet.
Just an opinion, yours will be different!
Hairstacker, That was a good testimony of the trion. Seems like others are a bit skeptical of the IM8 yet.
Thanks to the others that replied. I’m still open for more info if anyone has any.