Angling Trade is a print and online publication aimed at folks who work in the fly fishing business. They’ve just published a piece in their newsletter about Montana Brothers Rodworks, written by Todd Tanner. Todd is the director of School of Trout (where I’m the head casting instructor). Last year, he solicited opinions from his instructors and other well-known anglers about their preferences in fly rod brands. I’d mentioned Montana Brothers—a company Todd was unfamiliar with. He contacted the brothers—Doug and Dan Daufel—for more information, and they ended up sending him a few rods to try out. Below is the link to his article on the rods.

By way of full disclosure, I provided a lot of input into the design of both models of the 4-weight rods Todd writes about. Between the 904 and 904L, I prefer the 904 (it’s stiffer than the L version) for the vast majority of my 4-weight fishing. Like Todd, I consider it the best 4-weight rod that I’ve fished. The brothers are currently at work on 3- and 5-weight models, with an 8-weight for saltwater use planned as well.