Thanks to Ben for the gear review on the St. Croix Imperial fly rod penned earlier this Summer.

Theaux,
This past weekend was a fantastic experience in Western Maryland. I started my morning by trying out my new St. Croix Imperial Fly Rod. The 7 ft 3 wt rod was the perfect tool on the small brookie streams that are in abundance near theSavage tailwaters. This rod works magic for the close in fishing that brook troutstreams demand. Whether it was flicking a hopper or twitching a caddis, thisfast action, lightweight rod delivered pinpoint, delicate presentations that had brook trout pouncing on my flies all morning. Hitting the deeper plunge pools in Middle Fork produced several decent size brookies in the 10 inch range. When I had satisfied my penchant for brook trout, the 4 piece rod fit easily in my day pack for the hike back to the car.I took the afternoon to explore the waters of the Savage. There were still Sulphurs coming off sporadically, which I was fresh out of, but a couple browns in the 12-14 inch range were eager to take an elk hair caddis drifted through the pockets. The best fish of the day was a thick bodied 15 inch brown who sucked in a hopper under a leafy bank.

Thanks for all the advice and setting me up with the gear to get it done!

-Ben