I was recently given the opportunity to try out the Douglas Upstream Travel Rod thanks to Scott and Tania of Grand River Outfitting & Fly Shop. They also requested that I share my experience with the rod. Now, Douglas is a rod maker that until a couple of months ago, I was not aware existed. As I’ve always been curious as to how a travel rod would feel compared to a 4 piece rod and I’d never cast a Douglas rod, I figured I’d give it a go. So here goes.

The travel rod consisted of 6 sections. It was shorter than anything I had cast in the past. The rod case is quite small and would be great if you wanted to tuck a rod away in your vehicle for those emergency “drive by a nice, interesting piece of water” events. Or maybe it’s just me that has those feelings. Given the 7 foot length, I figured the rod should do well fishing in tight conditions on small streams but that was not where I used it. I fished it on the Upper Grand River, some parts of which allowed limited room for a back cast where roll casting was required.
For the rod itself, it’s design is minimalistic. The reel seat is a ring design which worked flawlessly with my Orvis Battenkill ll reel. On the reel, I have an Airflo Superflo Universal Taper WF-3 floating line. The Upstream is very lightweight, and the outfit combined seemed to be well balanced. The rod has a hook keeper which I’ve always appreciated. The rod sections did not have alignment dots but given the small segments of the rod, I didn’t find this inconvenient.
On the water, the rod handled normal casting and roll casting well. I was fishing soft hackles on the swing. I felt that the line tracked smoothly and accurately while casting. I didn’t really notice that the rod was a 6 section rod at all, so hats off to the designer. As the water being fished did not require casting long distances, I don’t know how the length of the rod would handle trying to punch out a lot of line, but I don’t think that is what the rod was designed for. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to experience how the rod felt with a fish on the end of the line but with a bright sunny day and pea green water (see photo) it wasn’t the best of conditions. That’s my excuse. All in all, it was a good day.
Everyone’s fly fishing experience is different. You may be new to the sport or an old hand. If you’re looking at a new rod, try and take it for a test drive to determine if it meets your needs and expectations. If you are like me and are unaware of Douglas Fly Rods, check out their website to see what they have on offer or talk to Scott and Tania at Grand River Outfitting & Fly Shop.