Fly Rod Review: AllFly System From AllRod
Images by Dan Favato
We could see fat Arctic grayling cruising the shallows from the floatplane window. Sensing that the guides might be a minute de-winterizing their 14-foot Lund boats stashed in the bush, I unfolded my triangular AllFly case on the grassy bank to rig the wrong rod for the day.
Space comes at a premium when you’re shuttling to and from every fishing location in a floatplane at Inconnu Lodge. The plan was, as with most fly-fishing days in the Yukon, to pound the banks and creek mouths of a giant lake with giant streamers for giant lake trout. The time would come for an 8-weight. Right now, I wanted a 6-weight with a micro-leech to catch one of these macro grayling. What luck that I had both rigs conveniently carried in one case, basing off the same handle.
Kiwi Multitool
AllRod arose in New Zealand in the lineage of the Johanson Family and Composite Developments (CD Rods), one of the earliest carbon-fiber rod builders. A collective of American anglers acquired the AllRod brand in 2024, including my long-time collaborator and fishing buddy, Justin Karnopp. I’ve been tinkering with these rods since they were first imported and developed a particular fondness for their versatility.
With the basic seven-piece kit, plus the extender and the Spey butt, you can rig the AllFly in many ways. The segments are listed 5/6 and 7/8, and they truly do sit nicely between a 5-weight and 6-weight, or 7-weight and 8-weight. Add the basic 5/6 or 7/8 pieces together for a 9-footer of either weight. Add the extender section to either setup and it becomes a 10-foot rod, great for nymphing or longer casts. Unscrew the fighting butt and replace with the Spey butt and it’s a 10’6″ 5/6-weight trout Spey or a 10’6″ 7/8-weight switch rod. I’ve found that throws a 350-grain integrated Skagit head very nicely with any anchored two-handed cast. We demonstrated that test case catching bull trout on swung streamers down into the river outlet of a large Yukon Territory lake.
Those are the six basic configurations, but I’ve played with more. I found the 9-foot length plus the Spey butt helps hold big streamers in the air when you brace that rear section against your forearm. It also simplifies the boat-side figure-eight for esocids like pike and muskie. I’ve experimented with adding the 5/6 tip to the 7/8 midsections for a softer delivery. You could also fish the 5/6 tip and second section with the 7/8 third for a light front and heavier backbone.
This is clearly not a conventional fishing tool, but anyone who’s fished in New Zealand knows the Kiwis have a different approach to angling and, well, most everything else. Their hut-to-hut backpack-trek fishing style and minimalist camper-van aesthetic both place a higher value on less gear and fewer rods. Highly technical sight-nymphing for giant trout in clear water demands creativity and adaptation, like adding an extra foot to your stick in the middle of a session.
Six Birds with One Stone
It is also hard to ignore the fact that in some sense you’re getting six or eight fly rods for the price of one. (That price being $595 for the basic kit, plus $50 for the extender and $25 for the Spey butt.) The AllFly tends toward medium on action and power, suitable for folks like me who don’t always prefer the lightning-fast, super-tippy rigid graphite often seen in the latest-greatest fly rods. It’s not sluggishly slow either. Most experienced anglers I’ve handed this rod to have found it an enjoyable, effective, and precise casting tool.
The AllFly is a jack of all trades, a renaissance rod that can do everything from alpine trout to light bonefish and tarpon. We used it at Inconnu Lodge in the Yukon Territory to catch lake trout up to 20 pounds, northern pike over 40 inches, bull trout, inconnu/sheefish, and those big fat grayling we spotted from the floatplane window. You can watch those remote adventures and the floatplane-flying folks who make them happen in our official 2026 Fly Fishing Film Tour selection, Yukon Resurrection, coming to a theater near you.
