Jerry French worked with Pieroway Rod Company of Calgary, Alberta Canada to produce a compact series of switch rods designed specifically to work with Olympic Peninsula Skagit Tactics Commando Head Systems.
We could split this rod series in two with the smaller versions being transformable trout spey rods. They can go to single hand, single hand skagit or two hand spey and the removable fight butt enables that versatility. The 6 weight and up play into the switch or compact spey category for steelhead.
Being a trout swing junkie in the dead of winter I got my hands on a 490-4 trout size version to experiment with. Well I didn't need to do much of that experimenting to figure out what this rod does well. I short order I had dialed in to the Renegade and enjoying some easy, groovy casting while enjoying all the power and recovery I needed.
It's a soulful rod that just goes about it's business much the same way as I do. Don't over-think it and success will come easy.
I loaded this 4 weight with a
Scientific Anglers Spey Lite Integrated Skagit in 210gr. It matched up just the way I like it. Again, don't over-think it! I'm sure whatever line choice you make be it
OPST Commando,
Airflo Scout or
RIO's New InTouch Skagit Trout Spey will be happy to put a load in this rod. Just trust the grain charts and go with it.
I've been experimenting with single hand spey or single hand skagit for a few years now and especially on the trout scene. I've cast many different rods in the 8' to 9'6" length range and have a whole bunch of opinions about all of them. The sweetness of the Renegade is it really cast with a honest spey action. It's not "made up", or made to work, it literally feels spey from the first snap T.
The progressive medium-fast action of the
Pieroway Renegade not only makes for enjoyable casting but also provides a good trout fighting, tippet protecting action. This is one of my concern areas for just grabbing any old 5 weight fast action rod and making it your single hand skagit stick. While you can get good cast from them oftentimes they don't do well in the fish fighting department and broken tippets come easy. Not so with Renegade.
The rod build itself is quite unique. Starting with the removable fight butt on small models 3, 4, 5 wights. It comes with a screw in plug to cap it off when fight butt not in use. Reel seat is quality, double locking nut with woven graphite insert. Rubberized cork handle is a bonus providing alot of grip in frigid cold swing water.
The rod blank is a pewter color and guides are wrapped in army green. I appreciate the lack of color in favor of stealth. The titanium rod guides are smoke in color and nicely over-sized which really helps limit the ice in freezing temp fishing situations.
The feel of this 490-4 Renegade is very compact all the way from casting stroke to grip feel. It keeps your stoke in tight giving full control to the angler. Its compact feel lets you enjoy single hand cast with line hauling all the while when one reaches for two hand it feels confident in shooting line.
The final cast...
One would have a hard time finding a rod like this especially for the price. Well actually, you can't find a rod like this at any price. At this time of writing I know of no other production rod company who builds a 9 foot trout spey rod. So regardless of price the Renegade's uniqueness and versatility make it hands down a favorite in my single hand quiver.
For me, the success of trout spey doesn't come from big, long cast and long river swinging runs. It's a short order game, ambush style and reaching in to ultra-lite skagit. This is trout spey, and
Renegade is a honest trout spey rod.
How to get started in: Single Hand Skagit Trout Spey
Greg Darling
"My Passion For Fishing Is A Lifelong Pursuit Of Discovery"
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