After many years as passionate fly fishers, we thought there is not much that can surprise us anymore in regard of fly fishing equipment. As it turned out, we could not have been further from the truth.

Friends of ours had been raving about their modern fiberglass rods for quite a while, but as dedicated fast action rod junkies, we didn’t really care. When we came across Carl McNeil’s already legendary NZ made Epic fiberglass blanks a while ago though, we decided to give it a go. All that was needed was a rod builder. Then we remembered having seen Steve Duff’s Kustom Fishing Tools add in Flylife magazine many times. www.duffrods.com.au And we had also noticed that he uses EVA grips on his high end custom made fly rods, a feature the new rod just had to have. Having put together a list with the hardware and the finish we wanted on our rod, we sent Steve an e-mail and he got started. We couldn’t wait to receiving the finished rod, to cast it and to fish it of course. And when it finally arrived, it was like Christmas and Queen’s Birthday on the same day.

And the verdict: Woow! There is life before death after all.

Our Duff Epic #4 rod is an absolute dream. The semi transparent white blank, the hardware and the master rod building skills that brought it all together make up for an awesome fly fishing tool. As passionate fast action addicts, we were a bit nervous, but the Duff Epic #4 is a joy to cast. We knew it would be nothing like the old wobbly glass rods and yet the light overall weight, the very smooth, responsive feel and especially the fast blank recovery surprised us nevertheless. Have a look at the stunning range of Epic blanks and other great stuff on Carl McNeil’s website. www.swiftflyfishing.com

We have not caught many fish on our Duff Epic yet, but with the weather getting warmer, it should only be a matter of time until its fish fighting abilities are seriously put to the test. Will keep you posted!