Backcountry Fly Reel

More fly rod for your money. Servicing our customers direct means we’re free to use the highest grade components and materials available and offer outstanding service and support.

If you have any doubts as to our commitment to quality products and customer support please read our reviews.

Buy with Confidence. 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Epic Lifetime Support.

Yes, we ship all over the world. We ship tracked courier internationally every single weekday. Shipping and tracking information is emailed out to you and SMS updates provided also.

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Break a tip? we've got you covered. We send out replacment sections the same day.

Our Surefit™ ferrule system is so precise that breakages can be addressed by simply sending out the replacement part right away. Gone are the days of having to return a broken section and waiting weeks for a return.

We are a small, passionate team focused on designing & producing extreemly high quality fly rods & fly fishing accessories.

As fly anglers we delight in supporting our customers with outstanding customer service. Let's hook up.

The Epic Story Epic is owned and run by Carl McNeil and Jeanie Ackley, the filmmaking couple that produced the award winning fly fishing films Once in a Blue Moon, Casts that Catch Fish and Itu’s Bones.

As a Certified Master Fly Casting Instructor Carl has taught hundreds of fly casters and mentored many anglers to gain their fly casting and Master Fly Casting certifications.

Carl served on the Fly Fishers International fly casting and certification committees for 10 years, he is a past associate editor of the FFI fly casting magazine "the Loop" and has been extensively published in fly fishing magazines worldwide.

He was awarded the 'Presidents Pin' for 'Services to fly casting" and has also received the IFF Conservation Award.

His ground breaking fly casting DVD "Casts That Catch Fish" is one of the best selling fly casting DVD's of all time.

Jeanie is an award winning filmmaker, camerawoman & researcher, and has recieved an Oscar nomination from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for her documentary camera work. She is an accomplished business woman.

Born & Bred in New Zealand We reckon New Zealand is the perfect test laboratory to develop great fly rods.

And in true Kiwi fashion we favor solid design, original thinking and good old fashioned service over mass production, fashion and fickle trends.

We strive to be the very best, not the cheapest nor the biggest - and we pride ourselves on astounding customer service.

Epic Beginnings "Epic was born out of two frustrations I experienced in fly fishing:

My students were coming to fly casting classes with new fly rods so stiff and so lifeless they were extremely difficult to cast - even for me!  _ Probably great rods if you wanted to bust out a 100 foot cast on a football field, but a total impairment when used as practical fly fishing tools.

The second big driver was my own fishing experience. Like all fly anglers, I wanted to be a better fly fisherman, become a better caster and ultimately catch more fish. And like all anglers, I’d grown through experimentation and improvement on just about every aspect of the sport. Rods, lines, leaders, my casting - and thousands of flies. 

Eventually I started fish lighter fly rods and lighter lines in order to make better presentations. You know, to get more feeling, better casts and better response.

While the lighter rods had better feeling for sure, I was regularly breaking tips by point loading when netting big trout - Yep, we have some fairly big trout here in New Zealand!

And so the journey began. A journey to "build a better fly rod” - that phrase still sits on the whiteboard above my desk to this day.

Many materials were tested and many tapers developed in the quest to leave behind the stiff lifeless rods I was so used to using. My first fly rod that went into production, the Epic 580, went through 15 iterations before we settled on a taper that could truly be called Epic - and that's how the brand began.

Our tapers are powerful, but not stiff. Incredibly tough, but impart wonderfull responsiveness and feedback. And test, they can still bust out those long casts

I know that you’ll feel and appreciate the Epic difference. You’ll be making better casts, making tighter loops, better presentations, and ultimately catching more fish. And if you don’t, we’ll happily take back the fly rod you are looking at"

Effortless Fly Casting - Smooth Like Butter, Sweet Like Honey. Carl McNeil - Master Fly Casting Instructor - Author - Photographer - Filmmaker - Founder - Epic Fly Rods

Epic HQ is based in Wanaka New Zealand (where the big trout are) 

We ship internationally each and every day with 67% of our fly rods exported to discerning customers in the 'Good Ole USA' - Jeanie, one of our founders, was born in Nashville Tennessee and grew up in Columbus Ohio (She's still a Buckeye Girl)

Our other main markets are New Zealand, where we are proud to be ’New Zealand's Fly Rod’ - Japan, Australia and Europe.

With Studio Built Fly Rods, you can create a custom fly rod that's tailored to your exact preferences. Choose between different types of grips, reel seats and blank colors, plus add a custom inscription. *Please note that our Studio Built Fly Rods have a minimum 6-week waiting list.

Our Reference Series fly rods also feature the same top-quality cork, blanks and components. But without any customisation options.

Rest assured our Reference Series Fly Rods use the same industry leading blank and cast exactly the same as a custom built Studio Built fly rod - but without the price tag.