XPT Series

    When it comes to saltwater fishing one thing is for sure, you can't compromise.  Mediocre equipment just doesn't cut it.  When you are dropping 400 bucks a day for a top flats guide, or you've secluded yourself in a pristine remote location miles away from civilization, the last thing you want is equipment failure.  Knowing you saved $200 on your rod will be no consolation when a hard charging fish turns it into a pile of splintered graphite. 

    Designing the perfect saltwater fly rod is a difficult process.  The perfect saltwater rod must posses several key abilities.  If looked at individually, each of these abilities is easy to accomplish.  However , the designs required to accomplish these abilities often contradict each other.  Combining all of these abilities into a single rod may be the ultimate rod design challenge.  A challenge that has never been met until the McFarland XPT series.

    The first ability of a fine saltwater rod is speed, or how quickly you can get your fly to the target.  Your standing on the bow of the boat with about 12' of line out of the rod and another 70' on the deck.  Your guide spots a tarpon at  70' and you need to get your fly there now!  To accomplish this the rod must load, at least to some extent, with just that twelve feet of line.  Otherwise, excessive false casts are required.  False casts waste time and spook fish.  Unlike tip flex rods, the XPT loads immediately with a sort amount of line.  These rods will go from 0 to 70 feet more quickly than you ever though possible.

    The second ability is distance.  Were not just talking about distance in the fly shop parking lot.  We're talking about distance on the water, through  the wind, and with a wind resistant fly.  These rods throw tremendous amounts of line with ease.  

    The third ability is accuracy.  Accuracy is especially critical is saltwater fishing.  Put the fly too far away and the fish will never see it.  Put it on top of him and he will be spooked.  While the single most important  factor of accurate casting is the caster, a great rod will help facilitate accuracy.  With the unparalleled line feel of the XPT, you will know exactly when to haul and when to apply power.  This high amount of line feel, combined with amazing lightness and perfect balance, will make the XPT feel like an extension of your arm allowing you to place the fly exactly were you want.

    Ability number 4 is power.  Not just power during the cast, but pure, raw lifting power when fighting large fish.  When a 100 pound tarpon takes your fly, not much else matters except power.  As the name implies, these rods are all about power.  Our taper design, combined with our unique scrim and high performance graphite materials, will provide the power you need to battle these powerful fish. 

    The final ability that a saltwater rod must posses is strength.  The strength of the XPT is the result of our scrim design combined with our multi-modulus graphite lay-up which places graphites of varying modulus at critical stress points throughout the rod.  This ensures the absolute highest level of strength even under extreme loads common to saltwater fly fishing.

     XPT rods are strikingly beautiful and stand out from the crowd thanks to a cobalt blue coated blank with dark blue wraps and fine metallic silver trim wraps at the ferrules and inscription area.  Unlike the cheap aluminum reel seats used by other manufacturers, our reel seats are machined from a super high grade aluminum and anodized in an attractive pewter color that perfectly complements the cobalt blue blank.  XPT rods come in a blue powder coated aluminum tube and a hand-made cloth bag.

    So how did we do it?  How did we combine all of these abilities into a single fly rod?  Wouldn't you like to know!

Take a look at why our rods are better.                                Click here for more XPT photos