Gear » Fly Rods

Tom Rosenbauer gives his expert advice on picking the best beginner rod: from line weight to rod length, keep these tips in mind when you purchase your first fly rod.

Images by Rick Mikesell Shawn Combs, vice president of Scott Fly Rods, handed me the new GT 8106-4 on a stretch of the South Platte that runs under a bridge in an industrial section of Denver, and the carp were in the foam below the weirs. The GT 8106-4 is 8'10", four-piece, built on Scott's X-Core blank with ARC2 reinforcement. The new internal ferrule is...

Finding the right fly rod for casting poppers and streamers For most anglers chasing bass on the fly, no single 7-weight does both jobs equally. Moderate-fast rods like the Winston Saltwater Air and the 8'5" Orvis Helios D throw foam poppers more naturally, while faster saltwater 7s like the Sage Salt R8 and Scott Sector handle weighted streamers and...

Find the right switch rod for summer steelhead fishing The best switch rod for summer steelhead in 2026 is an 11' or 11'6" 7-weight, paired with a 450-grain Skagit short head and a compact Scandi for surface presentations. Three current rods anchor the realistic choice at every price tier: the Echo SR Switch at around $329, the Redington Claymore 7116 at...

As spring gives way to summer, fly anglers everywhere begin watching river gauges, tracking hatches, and finding any excuse possible to get on the water. From chasing trout during evening caddis emergences to sneaking away for warmwater adventures while runoff swells the rivers, this season reminds us why we love to fish in the first place. It’s also the...

Photo by Gforcegerry If you think a twelve-weight is a casting rod, the price gap between a $400 and an $1,100 model looks crazy. It's not — because a twelve-weight isn't really a casting rod. The eleven is the casting tool; the twelve is a leverage tool for wind, big flies, and a fish that doesn't quit. Once you accept that frame, the premium tier...

photo by nunezimage A 3-weight fly rod is the right tool for most May small-stream trout fishing because it handles the short-range casts, tight-canopy deliveries, and light tippet these waters demand — and Yellowstone Angler's 2025 shootout confirmed the shift by scoring 56 3-weight rods specifically at 20 to 40 feet. For May, the best all-around choice...

Images by Rick Mikesell We spent the day on a Front Range reservoir chasing big carp on the flats. Fish moving in and out with the wind, shallow enough to see them, but easy to lose them in the churned-up mud. The kind of fishing where you don't get time to think through a cast. You see the fish, you move the rod, and the shot either happens or it doesn't...

photo by goodluz A 4-weight fly rod delivers quieter presentations and longer drag-free drifts during April's Hendrickson and Baetis hatches — the two surface-feeding windows where a 5-weight's extra mass most often costs fish. The difference comes down to 20 grains of line weight (120 vs. 140 grains at the AFFTA standard), which translates to roughly 17...

Orvis has released a limited run of Helios D fly rods tied to its ongoing work with Captains for Clean Water. The series focuses on two saltwater models built for the fisheries that the organization is working to protect in Florida Bay and the Everglades. The release includes a 9-foot, 9-weight and a 9-foot, 11-weight, both built on the distance-focused...