The Best Rods for Bass

. . . Some of them work great in salt water, too

Whew! You think your tackle room is overflowing with gear? Try adding 54 fly rods to the mix. For more than three months this past year, my den resembled a field of dense volunteer pines--a virtual forest of graphite and boron. By late fall, our test crew was in a state of near mutiny trying to recall what it was like simply to go fishing without comparing rods and taking notes. I would like to tell you that it's tough work--and somebody's gotta do it, right? --but the truth is that we were delighted at the rare opportunity to sample so many fly rods from so many manufacturers. Read more – offline – from the current issue; subscribe to FRR.