Moonshine Rod Co. Fly Fishing Rod with Carrying Case and Extra Rod Tip Section, Slow-Medium-Fast Action

one cool lil rod! im on 2lb test and this rod handle some big fish today. alot of action, looks amazing, so glad i gave this company a shot! i paired it with a tica cetus sb 500 and love it. light weight setup but packs a punch. bonus it came with a carrying case its so well built the rod was worth the price alone.

What a fantastic rod! It punches outside it's weight class in every way. First of all, it looks great! Secondly, it is made exceptionally well. I have a couple of 9' 5wt St Croix rods and needed a 3 wt. I bought the 7'6" 3 wt Moonshine Drifter II. I've used it twice and am sold. It is incredibly accurate. In fact, in just a couple of minutes of use I found myself literally just thinking of a spot and the cast was almost automatic. I was nailing challenging targets time after time like shooting fish in a barrel. Fighting a fish is natural and intuitive with the drifter II. It has great feel and is super comfortable. The action loads easily and launches line. The handle is some of the softest feeling cork I've ever felt on a fly rod. So far, it's fantastic. My hope is it holds up over the years. Time will tell. At this point, I can see this being something I could proudly hand down as an heirloom.

I found Moonshine Rods while researching for blanks to build a flyrod to replace one that got donated to the fish gods. I spent 3 days researching Moonshine after finding them here on Amazon. I've enjoyed fast action flyrods for years, but as I get older I find I like a little slower, less demanding action. The Drifter seemed like "the one" to me. I ordered a 9' 5weight. 2 days later, I was opening a box to reveal something I didnt expect. A VERY NICE looking rod appeared as the packaging went away. Initially, you are attracted to the burl wood insert on the reel seat, then the cork handle, and then your eyes start wandering over the guides thread windings. Beautifully executed, no gaps, no lumps and well done top coat finish.After receiving my new reel and line, I strung up this gem and headed to the yard to see how this baby casts. Few false casts to feel out the action and let her rip. That's when I noticed something you don't see even on high dollar factory rods unless its a custom build on a mass produced blank. Most rods don't have enough line guides. This causes the line to sag between the guides, slowing down line speed and making casting long distance difficult. This rod has more line guides than most 9' rods, and if you load the action up statically, you'll find the line follows the blank perfectly! The Drifter casts effortlessly for me to 50-60 feet. and further with a bit more effort.Well done Moonshine Rod Co, for actually building a flyrod correctly!!!The extra tip section is a nice bonus as well.I'm looking forward to actually fishing this rod. At 200 bucks, I wouldnt call this a "budget" rod, but I would call it a very high value/per dollar spent rod. You can spend more, you could spend less, but this rod hits right in the feels for the best bang/$$ IMO.BTW, customer service is unbelievable. I emailed a question at 6:30 PM mountain time, I got a response and hour later. How many business answer emails after hours? These folks are awesome

I own the 5 weight and love it. I bought the 6 weight to fish heavier streamers. You really can't go wrong with this rod for the price point. It's well crafted, has great action. It's a beautiful rod. My Helios D is usually my go to. This rod has become a solid second choice, with fairly similar action. The rod tube is compartmented for each rod section, and each rod includes an extra tip section.

I wanted to try fishing for Coho from the beach, and needed something larger than my other fly rods. This (and the creede reel) was on sale for half off so I decided to give it a try.For the price I got it at, I am happy with it. Had I paid full price, I think I'd still be just as happy. It's a solid rod at a very good price.I also used it to chase steelhead this winter and plan on using it for large mouth this spring and summer :)I also have the 3wt for small creeks and it's an amazing little rod. Moonshine is putting out some great stuff and they go on sale frequently. If you are patient, you can get some quality gear and very low prices.

When Moonshine was reducing inventory on the original Drifter, I was able to pick one up at substantial savings. I got the 10’ 5wt to use on lakes especially out of a float tube. The medium action of the original Drifter was fine but swing weight on the 10’ rod was a little high for my wrist and balance a little awkward. When I got the chance to pick up the Drifter 2 on Amazon Prime day at 40% off, I went for it and got another 10’ 5wt. The Drifter 2 has a lot less swing weight and a much faster action. I like its feel and action much more. It has single foot guides (which I like but they could be larger) a different, lighter reel seat, alignment dots, and a small cork butte on the reel seat (smaller than a fighting butte). I believe I will use this rod a lot more than I was using the original Drifter. For me and with this rod I think the balance and action of the Drifter 2 is much nicer. Of course, like all the Moonshine rods it has two tips and good warranty. Yes it is made in China but that is no problem for me. I have a lot of rods and some of my favorites are Chinese. As I understand, the Drifter 2 uses higher modulus carbon fiber allowing for more power with lighter weight which is an advantage for distance, wind and streamers. Hope this assessment was useful. After fishing the rod I am changing my rating from 5 to 4 stars. It really bothers me the guides are so small. Makes it difficult to use and land fish with long leaders. The small guides are a pain.