The Best Of's

We asked our HOF crew to pick a rod they are most intrigued by this year and here’s the breakdown. Just a few ideas to think about whether you’re heading to the salt, gearing up for summer and fall steelhead, or simply going the route of the single-hander for trout and those warmwater species.

A 9-foot 5-weight is the ideal western trout rod and I can’t disagree; it serves equally well for bass, yellow perch bluegill and crappie. I consider it to be the most versatile stick a fledgling western flyfisher could own.

It is not always the best technique, but it’s not in my nature to put down the spey rod for long. Beyond effectiveness, it is an enjoyable style of fishing. It’s deliberate. It’s laid back. It’s showing a fly to the fish and giving them ample opportunity to eat it. If they like it, they will respond and when they eat, it’s a jolt on a tight line.

It is not always the best technique, but it’s not in my nature to put down the spey rod for long. Beyond effectiveness, it is an enjoyable style of fishing. It’s deliberate. It’s laid back. It’s showing a fly to the fish and giving them ample opportunity to eat it. If they like it, they will respond and when they eat, it’s a jolt on a tight line.

In high school I was a pretty poor fisherman, I certainly didn’t realize it at the time, but I was bad. There was a whole crew of us, and we were all bad at it. Relatively bad, as in we were probably better than most our peers, but we just didn’t know what "better than what we were" should look like.

The Missouri River is one of the premier tailwater fisheries in the world. If you are on your way up here, this is a list of the best fly shops on the Mo.