The Epic Studio Built 686, often imitated, never beaten
Studio Built™ Custom - Our premium fly rod offering. The pinnacle of craftsmanship and performance.
Regarded by industry pro's and glass aficionados worldwide as the best glass 6wt made, the Epic 686 presents beautifully but packs plenty of attitude. Perfect for tossing big flies, swinging streamers and light saltwater work. Exquisitely handcrafted to order and delivered directly to your door.
The ultimate 6wt fiberglass fly rod.
The Epic 686 has gained cult status and we've seen many imitators try to replicate the magic of this fly rod. There is only one - and this is it!
Our Epic™ 686 is crafted from 8 micron FastGlass II. A unidirectional S-2 Glass, this material is stiffer and stronger than e-glass or standard s-glass. The 686 is as strong as an ox, super smooth and extremely versatile.
Experience the Epic® difference
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Industry-leading fly rod blank specifically chosen & high graded for your fly rod build
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Premium quality stripping guides (Titanium, or hard chrome depending on model)
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Stunning FLOR grade cork grip
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Alignment dots for easy assembly
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Personalised inscription
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Laser engraved winding check proving authenticity & ownership
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Exquisite Japanese silk thread wraps
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Hard anodised reel seat ensuring a lifetime of service
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Painstakingly handcrafted in our Wanaka workshop ensuring quality and durability
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Superior service and ongoing customer support
- Proudly handcrafted to order for you in New Zealand
Delivered direct to your door
Once ordered it usually takes around four weeks to build your new fly rod, then we deliver priority tracked and insured courier direct to your door. We'll email you with tracking info as your rod leaves our studio workshop.
Got questions? - Drop us a line, we'd love to hear from you.
Recommended line weight: AFTMA #6
Length: 8'6"
Pieces: 4
Total length: 2,580mm
ERN: (Unwrapped): 6.4
ELN: 6
Optimal Grain Window: 140 - 175 Grains
Effective Line Range: AFTMA 5 / 6 / 7
Action: Progressive / Mid Flex / Medium Fast
Taper: Fast
AA: (Action Angle): 68° (Fast)
Blank Weight: 63g
These are the smoothest, most beautiful fly rods you’ll ever cast. Purposefully designed and exquisitely handcrafted using only the very best components available. Premium quality stripping guides exquisitely finished in translucent Japanese silk wraps, each wrap incredibly strong and stunningly beautiful.
Every grip is of premium FLOR grade Portuguese cork traced from the source; a more perfect grip you will not find anywhere.
Each Studio Built Fly Rod is skilfully handcrafted for you our customer when you order it, no two are exactly alike.
Each fly rod is individually hand-crafted, balanced, inspected and tested here in our Wanaka workshop by one of our master rod builders. No aspect is overlooked, each fly rod is as perfect as we can make it and of heirloom quality. You’ll be passing this fly rod on to your kids.
Light in the hand and an absolute pleasure to cast; There is simply no better fly rod made - and your absolute delight is guaranteed.
"I really believe the EPIC 686 is by far the most popular GLASS streamer rod on the market. More often than not, I get requests for the 686 and most of the time in Salsa. Carl has created a wonderful, and powerful taper and folks love them!"
- Shane Gray Graywolf Rods.
"I will only touch on this for a second because everyone keeps hearing how phenomenal the 686 is. This is a phenomenal blank. The beauty is in the fact that the rod can lay out ten feet of line with the delicacy of a full flex cane, but when called upon fire 95' of line into a stiff breeze. It does all of this with a great deal of feel and composure that most rods will never achieve. It is quite possibly one of the best 6wts on the mark glass, graph, or grass."
- Zeb Tonkavich Snowman Custom Rod Works
"the Epic 686 is (f#$%'ing) magic in my hands. This fly rod is responsive, quick to load, and a powerhouse that lays out very long accurate casts with relative ease."
- Cameron Mortenson The Fiberglass Manifesto
FastGlass II™
All Epic "Glass" rods are produced from industry-leading 8 micron Unidirectional S-2 Glass. This next-generation fiber is specifically engineered for fly rod production and features 8 micron fibers developed and produced in the USA. These fibres are almost half the diameter of other unidirectional materials, resulting in tighter, more precise and stronger fly rods.
Built Epic Tough
Epic glass rods are incredibly tough. Our S2 FastGlass II has a far higher strength-to-weight ratio than Carbon fibre (graphite) rods. Epic FastGlass rods can endure more acute and severe bends than the equivalent Carbon fibre or even regular S2 glass, tip sections are stronger and far less susceptible to breakages due to high-sticking and problematic rod angles when pulling against load.
Got questions? - Drop us a line, we'd love to hear from you.