The Sully Fly Fishing Rod is going to shake things up a little.
Back when Walton Rods was founded a few years ago, it was created by lifelong friends, Brad Smith and Mike Malchow. The company was named after Brad’s then newborn son, Walton. Fast forward a few year’s later, and the C-9 and N-7 rods have changed how fly fishermen look at mid priced fly rods. Now, we are happy to introduce Sully to the mix, this time, named in honor of Mike Malchow’s best fishing friend, his dog.
If you have ever seen Mike out on the water when he isn’t guiding, he has Sully in tow. That dog just hangs out and loves to be a part of the action. It never gets lost and sometimes enjoys getting sprayed by a skunk. Sully is a part of who Mike is when he fly fishes. With that in mind, Mike has been working on this prototype rod for a while.
After it was finished to his specifications, we went around and around about what to call the stupid thing. We kept throwing around buzz words like dependable, companion, trustworthy, etc, to try to brainstorm a rightful name. That’s when Mike suggested naming this rod after his dog, and it just fit. Mike’s dog Sully is now immortalized.
The Sully Fly Rod
Per Mike’s specifications, this rod is light, fast action, and accurate. It’s also pretty. Brad wasn’t too cracked up on the idea of making a rod pretty vs, functional, but Mike was able to accomplishment both. The high gloss blue finish mixed with the high performance cork really sets the rod off. The dark brown reel seat really gives the rod an elegant look.
As far as price, this rod will debut at $285. Mike had full control over pricing for this. Since our founding we have put fisherman first and have chosen to take less and share a great rod worth much more than the price tag reflects. We will never gouge fisherman just because we can as often seen so frequently in the industry. Should we follow traditional pricing guidelines, this rod should sell for around $425. However, since we sell direct and include no middlemen, we can do this at the sub $300 price point and still offer a lifetime warranty for a rod 100% handcrafted in the USA.
The Sully will debut at the Heartland Fly Fishing Festival, Jan. 20-21, 2018 located in Zionsville, Indiana. We will offer a 5wt and also a 6wt with a rod butt. Additional sizes will soon follow. There will also be a Kickstarter launched to coincide with the show to offer the same discounts as everyone else who can’t make it to Indy. The Kickstarter will include the Sully and N-9 only.
There’s more information to come. Thanks everyone for following along!
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