About Edge Rods
Edge Rods is an American rod company founded by Gary Loomis, who built his first steelhead rod in 1972 and went on to start G.Loomis before selling it to Shimano in 1995. Edge took shape in 2010, after Loomis was asked to build a salmon rod for a Salmon & Steelhead Journal competition; that rod won, and the salmon and steelhead lineup grew from it. The rods are hand-built in Woodland, Washington, on blanks supplied by Gary Loomis's North Fork Composites. Blanks are hand-sanded "naked graphite," left uncoated to drop weight, and Edge cites them as roughly 20% lighter than coated equivalents.
The catalog covered here is the salmon, steelhead, drift, float, and centerpin range. First Strike and Black Widow are the core casting and spinning builds, made on HM and IM blanks with LMX material and in-house carbon-fiber grips. Silver Widow sits above them on Edge's X-Ray LMX blank, which the company rates 30% lighter and 50% stronger than its HM blanks; that line includes dedicated centerpin (CPR) and long float (StR) models for drift and float presentations. The Epitome and Mag designations mark specific MBR-style builds, Delta is the USA-built LMX series, and XO Pro SJR covers shorter spinning builds.
Edge sells factory-direct, with most rods made to order, so build times run from about a month to several months.
What Edge Rods is known for
Gary Loomis-designed, USA-built salmon and steelhead rods covering casting, spinning, drift, float, and centerpin presentations. First Strike and Black Widow are the workhorse builds on HM and IM blanks with LMX material and in-house carbon-fiber grips. Silver Widow is the premium tier, built on Edge's X-Ray LMX blank and offered in centerpin (CPR) and long float (StR) configurations, with hand-braided metallized grips, titanium guides, and USA reel seats. Epitome and Mag mark specific MBR builds; Delta is the LMX bass line. Buyers cross-shop G.Loomis, North Fork Composites finished rods, St. Croix, and Lamiglas.