Fly Fishing
20 October 2017
Continuing the question ‘What’s the best rod to use for New Zealand Conditions’ Here’s another view from Carl McNeil, Director of The Swift Fly Fishing Company.
Carl explained ‘the rods are designed, born and bred in New Zealand’, and believes ‘each Epic® fly rod is crafted to last a lifetime, the perfect balance of technology, durability and aesthetic beauty’.
‘We use two materials for construction. An advanced proprietary Glass Fibre material – FastGlass and an industry leading Carbon fibre material featuring a proprietary nano-resin and helical layup.
Our FastGlass fly rods are full flexing and extremely tough and durable – they are very light compared to standard fibreglass rods. FastGlas fly rods are all about the fun of fishing – they just have more “soul”
Our more conventional offerings are constructed of Carbon Fibre (Graphite to those the USA)- extremely light and medium fast actions.
We do not make super stiff “Broomsticks” all our rods are fishing rods first and foremost – they have been developed for New Zealand conditions from the get-go.
They are all about presentation, quality and reliability’.
When asked about rods for specific purposes Carl went on to explain:
Epic 590C Nano-tech Carbon Fibre (5 weight)
The Epic 590 C is a custom tuned, advanced, lightweight, and highly responsive fly rod designed for technical dry fly, emerger and nymph fishing for trout of all sizes Extremely lightweight but extremely strong, moderate / fast action.
Epic 690C Nano-tech Carbon Fibre (6 weight)
The Kiwi classic 6 weight. The Epic 690 C is a custom tuned, and highly responsive fly rod designed for larger dry fly, streamer and nymph fishing for trout of all sizes.
580 FastGlass Fly Rod (Glass Fibre)
The perfect small stream dry fly rod, The Epic 580 is an extremely smooth and versatile fly rod and the perfect choice for dry fly fishing. The 580 is super versatile and super smooth. Our personal favourite, the 580 presents with grace but has the strength and lifting power of a big five’.
This is Carl’s all time favourite.
Chef Al Brown, a member of Team Kiwi at the Jackson Hole One Fly Competition mentioned that Team Kiwi used Epic’s Carbon Fibre Rods (Graphite to US anglers) this year. Could this have been their secret weapon in coming third in the strongly fought competition!
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