Shootouts

Our shootouts are the most comprehensive gear comparisons in the fly fishing world, and that's not a claim we make lightly. Where most reviews test rods or reels in isolation, our shootouts put 10, 20, or even 30+ products through identical testing conditions side by side, so you get a true, apples-to-apples ranking. We use standardized casting protocols, measure distance and accuracy, evaluate feel and ergonomics, and back every ranking with data and detailed reasoning.

No other fly fishing publication has run as many structured head-to-head comparisons as we have, and that growing database of standardized results, built across multiple seasons, is what makes the shootout format genuinely useful. If you want to know which rod or reel is the best in its class right now, this is where to look.