G. Loomis IMX-PRO V2 Review - New Fly Rods for Freshwater
The new G. Loomis IMX-PRO V2 is here! Another contender in the "mid-priced" but still American-made segment of fly rods, up against great rods like the Sage Sonic, T&T Zone, Scott Wave and several other great rods. Note that the Wave is size 6-12wt so only some sizes will compete here in freshwater but all the new IMX-PRO V2S Saltwater rods will compete directly with the Scott Wave and the Sage Maverick as well as the T&T Zone.
*Looking for our review of the new Saltwater-specific IMX-PRO V2S - Click Here!
There have been some changes to the IMX lineup since the last version. This "V2" or "Version 2" has dropped the 486 for example on the smaller end. The IMX-Pro Creek rods still offer an even smaller 4wt for those who really want it. This new series starts with a 490 and goes up to an 8100 (If you don't know all the numbers for fly rods yet, don't worry. First number is the rod weight, next is the length). Also interesting, nearly every model has the fighting butt rather than a typical freshwater reel seat. I like that, but in my experience most customers don't want a fighting butt on their smaller freshwater rods.
In my personal opinion, these will be very popular rods. G. Loomis quality without spending $1,000 is a no-brainer. But the competition is very tough in this segment. All of the top rod brands offer a mid-priced option now. It used to be mainly just Sage offering great rods in this range.
This is what I call a "rolling" review so I will be adding and updating as I test each rod. My first impressions are that these are actually built similarly to the NRX+ series (which has always been very popular) but the question is what did they leave out to keep the price down? Well the obvious thing is these are not colorful rods, no fancy thread wraps, nothing too crazy. Very minimal but they look nice. Sage is winning on looks with the Sonic, a nice shade of dark green. However at $650, Sage is not quite winning on price since this new V2 rod is launching at $595 - While it may not seem like much, that's still enough to consider if you are trying to keep to a budget. G. Loomis always slightly undercuts the competition on price, just the same as the NRX+ series do to the $1,000+ rods since they are now $990 against Sage and Scott at $1050-$1,100!
**This is a rolling review so I will update as I thoroughly test each model. Let me know if you have any questions: 941-483-6847
