Coley,

First off, I don't know, nor do I care enough to ask around. Reformed bait thugs I've known who became purists use flies tied only of natural materials, except for the steel hook. Silk thread, not nylon or kevlar, no tinsel, just natural fur, hair, feathers, in natural, not dyed colors. Not easy these days to tie a fly with no synthetic materials.

I heard Ed Ward (one of the originators) describe the Intruder as an engineered fly pattern, er lure. And Bantam's rendition can only be a more evolved edition.

AP,

5 stars fer sure!

Metaladdiction,

You can use whatever rod you wish. I know guys who claim to have cast Dick Nite spoons on their Spey rods, but none who have cast a RVRFSHR. The boundaries between fly fishing and conventional gear have been irrevocably erased with the invention of space age plastic rods and plastic fly lines. So just for chuckles I long ago defined fly fishing as limited to rods made from Tonkin cane or greenheart, lines of silk, leaders of drawn gut, and reels made in England. And with the popularity of dirty-azzed nymphing, that pretty much makes everyone a knuckle-dragging bait thug. That shouldn't offend anyone would it?

Sg