The Backstage Pass

Destination fly fishing has a way of making anglers feel like they need to buy everything: A new rod. A better reel. Specialized boots. Another fly line. More flies. A different pack. Before long, the gear bill starts to look like a second trip. Sometimes, every bit of this gear matters... but sometimes, it...

Wind is simply part of saltwater fly fishing. You can choose your destination, your tide window, your target species — but there's no controlling the wind. It is that one nagging element that can make or break your presentation, and frankly, its better to embrace the challenge than falter in its path. The...

All fly rods can cast a dry fly. That doesn't necessarily make them great dry fly rods. A dedicated dry fly rod has a different job than a rod designed to throw weighted nymph rigs or streamers. Delicate presentation matters. So does accuracy, feel, line control, and the ability to protect light tippet. At...

For years, most tarpon rods lacked the flex and feel that lighter rods offered, but new materials and technologies have changed that. Today, a solid 11-weight has the backbone to turn a hundred-pound-plus fish boatside without turning into kindling, along with the power, feel, and finesse to make accurate shots in variable conditions....

Permit have a well-earned reputation for making anglers second-guess every piece of gear in the boat, starting with the rod. That's exactly what the Saltwater Invitational was designed to settle — a three-part series putting 8, 9, and 11-weight rods through the same rigorous, data-driven testing. This article covers the 9-weight permit course...

We wanted hard, unbiased data on how saltwater fly rods actually perform. So this past spring, Yellow Dog hosted the Saltwater Invitational at Turneffe Flats Lodge in Belize, in partnership with The Angling Company out of Key West: a performance-driven evaluation of modern saltwater fly rods built to answer which rod actually performs...