Last week RIO introduced its new InTouch Single Hand Spey line as the first addition to its 2016 lineup. Today, RIO has followed up by announcing a bevy of other new lines and other products, which will join the InTouch Single Hand spey line in RIO's refreshed and seemingly ever-expanding list of offerings.
RIO continues to grow its list of lines that bear the "InTouch" moniker, which RIO dubs its lines (most, but not all) that are built on their ConnectCore technology. ConnectCore is RIO "ultra-low stretch" core material which RIO says improves casting, take/strike detection and hook sets.
In addition to the Single Hand Spey line, five other new InTouch lines will join the family, including the InTouch Salmo/Steelhead, InTouch Pike/Musky, InTouch Short Head Spey, InTouch Long Head Spey and InTouch Striper.
If you hadn't heard, soft action rods — glass, bamboo and slow graphite — are cool again. For old men and slow rod hipsters, RIO designed the new RIO LightLine. The line is built with an extra-supple coating and a short front taper and weight distribution that RIO says makes the line "ideal for short casts on small creeks." The LightLine will be available in both double taper and weight forward, in 2-weight through 5-weight.
Rounding out the new line additions is a new shooting head, RIO's Skagit Trout Max, which continues what may best be termed an epidemic of new products geared toward the two handed trout fisherman. The Skagit Trout Max, which will be available in grain weights from 200-270, is an 11-foot head designed for chucking big flies and sink tips.
Pretty much everyone knows what happens when you make a technical modification to your nylon copolymer formulation, but just in case you're a dunce like me that doesn't understand much about polymer chemistry or molecule grafting, RIO says the answer is a 20% increase in strength with no sacrifice in suppleness. The new creation is RIO's new Powerflex Plus, which RIO will offer in tippet and leaders.
RIO will also begin offering tippet rings. We've often taken the time to extol the virtues of and recommend tippet rings, but unfortunately many anglers seem to have trouble finding them as doing so usually involves sourcing them from smaller manufacturers or figuring out what trying to navigate the jewelry making industry to find a near equivalent product. That will likely all change now that RIO is introducing their own rings, which should find their way into fly shops and onto the websites of online dealers thanks to RIO's national distribution network.
Finally, RIO will offer two new nymphing leaders, the Euro Nymph Leader and Two-Tone Indicator Tippet. The Euro Nymph leaders are 9-foot leaders are built out of a high-vis, milky white tapered leader and then hand-tied to 22 inches of RIO's Two-Tone Indicator Tippet and is finished with one of those new RIO tippet rings. The Two-Tone Indicator Tippet is opaque with 8 inch sections of fluorescent pink and chartreuse defined color changes to provide visual clues for tight-line nymphing.
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