Thomas & Thomas Announces DNA Collection and “Name the Spey” Winners

Thomas & Thomas has announced the release of their new two handed rods, as well as the two winners in their “Name the Spey” contest: Wyatt Thaler and Matt Vetter, for their submission the “DNA series.”

The DNA series comes in three different actions, and is crafted on the design belief that “two handed rod should be capable of handling all types of lines and casting styles. This view has not changed and every rod in the DNA collection will perform well with shooting heads or longer belly lines in floating, intermediate, sink tip or full sinking varieties.”

Read the full press release in the extended entry.

Thomas & Thomas Announce DNA Series of Two Handed Rods in Three Distinct Actions.

Greenfield, MA – September 24th, 2012.  USA fly rod maker, Thomas & Thomas is pleased to announce the launch of its DNA series of two handed fly rods.

The DNA series is comprised of nine different rod models and offers rods in three distinct actions to allow anglers to select rods that are optimized for their preferred line designs, casting styles and terminal tackle.

Thomas & Thomas has always taken the view that a well designed, two handed rod should be capable of handling all types of lines and casting styles. This view has not changed and every rod in the DNA collection will perform well with shooting heads or longer belly lines in floating, intermediate, sink tip or full sinking varieties.

However, the rapid progression of fly line design in recent years offered the Thomas & Thomas design team the opportunity to ‘optimize’ actions and ‘dial-in’ a DNA series that raises the bar for two handed casting tools.

The DNA series will be available at fly shops and online at www.thomasandthomas.com from October 1, 2012.

The DNA Action:

Available in 1307-4, 1368-4, 1409-5, 1510-5 with prices starting at $980. This is a classic, progressive design, inspired by T&T’s original DH series. The highly regarded DH1307-3 and DH1409-5 rods were used as the benchmark for the development of these new DNA blanks. By taking advantage of recent developments in materials, Tom Dorsey has achieved the same smooth actions in a significantly lighter, slimmer blank and multi-piece configurations that perform like three-piece rods.

Thomas & Thomas recommend the DNA action for anglers seeking two handed rods that will do it all – skagit, scandi, spey, and overhead – with ease. The DNA is the perfect ‘all rounder’ and the best choice for experienced casters fishing mid belly length lines and longer.

DNA rods feature a natural clear blank, black wraps with deep red edging, American Tackle titanium stripping guides, smoked Snake Brand guides and a newly designed, lightweight clear anodized reel seat with black spacer.

The DNA-XF Action:

Available in 1176/7-4, 1267-4, 1298-4, 1339-4 with prices starting at $960. This ‘extra fast’ design flexes more in the upper and less in to the butt sections. It produces a crisp, sharp feel that is perfect for throwing tight loops off the tip with a short casting stroke. T&T especially like this action for throwing floating and intermediate ‘scandi’ heads for salmon and steelhead and for overhead casting for stripers in the surf.

Thomas & Thomas recommend the DNA-XF action for anglers who predominantly fish near the surface and enjoy Scandinavian underhand ‘touch and go’ styles of casting. It is also the recommended action for long distance overhead casting.

DNA-XF rods feature a natural clear blank, black wraps with sky blue edging, American Tackle titanium stripping guides, smoked Snake Brand guides and a newly designed, light weight, all clear, anodized reel seat.

The DNA-XD Action:

Available initially as a 1208-4 priced at $980. The ‘extra deep’ action is designed to be stiffer in the tip and fuller flexing deep in to the handle of the rod. It’s optimized for sweeping heavy terminal tackle from the water and launching short heavy heads with authority. This rod has been thoroughly tested with the popular skagit lines of the moment and the results have been more than solid. Expect to see T&T develop more rods in this action in the future.

Thomas & Thomas recommend the DNA-XD action for anglers who predominantly fish deep and utilize ‘sustained anchor’ styles of casting with Skagit heads.

DNA-XD rods feature a natural clear blank, black wraps with grey edging, American Tackle titanium stripping guides, smoked Snake Brand guides and a newly designed, light weight black anodized reel seat.

Commenting on the Thomas & Thomas DNA series Mark Richens said, “Thomas & Thomas has such a rich heritage in the field of two handed rods and its been enthralling to see what our team can do with the latest generation materials. The results, eighteen months in the making, are truly impressive – the DNA actions have been refined over and over again to achieve all the performance characteristics desired by modern speycasters.

Given the amount of work involved in developing this series we’ve gone ‘all-in’ on the finish and components – a beautiful anodized reel seat, titanium strippers, ‘made in USA’ snake brand guides and a great new cork grip design.

The DNA series is the fruition of a more collaborative approach from T&T – we have listened to invaluable input from Europe, the Pacific North West, the Great Lakes, Maritime Canada and the North East speycasting community. Tom’s working relationship with our lead advisory staff member, Jonathan Huff, is playing out extremely well. Jon is, in my opinion, the most talented caster of his generation and he provides us with a unique insight in to how our designs compare with the competition. He pushes us – not just to match the performance of the ‘best of the rest’, but to exceed it. Thanks to the input of a multitude of talented anglers we’ve developed a new, two handed offering that will be the talk of serious salmon, steelhead and striper anglers in 2013.”

About Thomas & Thomas:

Born in 1969, of an obsession to create the world’s finest fly rods, Thomas & Thomas strives to set the standard for craftsmanship, performance and aesthetics in rodmaking. From a small shop in rural New England, Thomas & Thomas builds timeless classics from bamboo and fiberglass and modern masterpieces incorporating the latest graphite technologies.

For more information please visit www.thomasandthomas.com or contact Trevor Bross on +1 413 475 3840 or [email protected].