Kudos to Fly Fisherman's 2025 Gear Guide Award Winners

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To read all of the nitty gritty, field-tested reviews of new fly-fishing gear for 2025, grab a copy of Gear Guide 2025 at the Outdoor Sportsman Group newsstand, through the Fly Fisherman Special Issues app available in the App Store and Google Play, or on newsstands today.

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Let's start with a shout out to the companies that are working hard to keep our streams (and oceans) clean and protect the very lifeblood of this sport. If we don't have clean water, we don't have fish or fishing.

Patagonia gets a Gear Guide Green Award for the new R2 Techface Pullover, which is made without the use of per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) or “forever chemicals.” More important, for 2025 Patagonia has removed these types of troubling chemical compounds from its entire product line.

B Corporation Mayfly Outdoors also gets a Green Award for building a new $1 million anodization facility in Montrose, Colorado, that has zero emissions. It turns raw machined aluminum into products that last a lifetime and it consumes less water than the average American household because it recycles and reuses the water. It returns no wastewater into the environment, as the entire building is without a single drain.

Orvis gets our award for the best new fly rod. The H3 was already likely the top-selling premium fly rod of all time and Orvis this is year boldly replaced it with a new Helios that shook the marketplace with new tech and new data that shows the tip-top wobbles less after the initial rod stop.

Simms got multiple awards but the most interesting was perhaps in the wader category, where competition was tough. All the new entries provided more economical choices compared to their premium wader models, and the new Simms Flyweight Packable Wader reverses into its own chest pocket to give you a small, portable bundle that weighs only 30 ounces.

In the reel category a look at the new American-made Seigler LF and CF, the first machined freshwater reels with a lever to quickly switch the drag on and off.

And as we move into winter, Skwala's new RS Outpost Jacket is at the forefront of our minds as it's likely the warmest feature-rich fishing jacket we've ever seen. With 150 grams of breathable, full-stretch 3DeFX+ synthetic insulation, you can fish comfortably in almost any winter weather.

Read on for a special sneak peek of all of Fly Fisherman’s 2025 Gear Guide Award Winners.

Best New Fly Rod Series: Orvis Helios

The Helios 3, introduced by Orvis in 2017, became one of the best-selling fly rods of all time. Consumers loved it because it was light, delivered flies with pinpoint accuracy, and was extremely durable. It was the most popular and widely acclaimed fly-fishing product in Orvis history, so it was a difficult task for Shawn Combs, director of product design and development, and his team at Orvis when they set out to create a rod even more accurate, durable, and lighter. According to Combs, the fourth generation of the Helios is all three of those things, and he’s got the data to prove it.—Ross Purnell

$1,098-$1,198 | orvis.com

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Best New Wader: Simms Flyweight Packable Wader

This wader has a single zippered chest pocket and the whole wader folds in and out of it, forming a compact, lightweight pouch that’s easy to clip onto the outside of a pack, onto your raft frame, or stow under a seat. The whole package weighs 30 ounces. Our tester used the Flyweight Packable Wader for early September small-stream fishing when the weather made it unclear if he’d be wet wading or if he’d need waders. It’s the ultimate shoulder-season backup—keep it in your boat or truck just in case you need it. You can also start chilly mornings in the wader, and by the time lunch rolls around you can reverse the wader back into the pouch without creating storage problems. It goes withtout saying these are the waders you need for backpacking into icy alpine lakes, or for Alaska float plane lodges where your baggage weight limit is tightly controlled. With these waders, your allowance can now include a bottle of whiskey.

$379.95 | simmsfishing.com

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Best New Saltwater Fly Line: Scientific Anglers Magnitude

Scientific Anglers—the company that first introduced the world’s first floating, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) lines in 1952, and decades later began refining the lines for saltwater conditions—has in 2024 totally reimagined their offerings of tropical saltwater lines. I refrained from using the word “redesigned” because these new Magnitude lines aren’t a mere alteration of a previous product. This is a completely new creation in the same way that the first breathable waders and the first graphite rods were fundamentally different from their predecessors.

These are the first lines from Scientific Anglers that are not polyvinyl chloride. Magnitude lines are made from new, naturally buoyant polymers. That’s one reason why they are clear or available with clear tips—because these new polymers don’t require an infusion of tiny glass spheres or bubbles for buoyancy. The clear polymers float all on their own. Clarity is a very obvious stealth advantage in shallow, clear water where the fish are on high alert for anything that looks unusual. These clear lines make absurdly long leaders unnecessary, as the tip of the line is an extension of your leader.

$149.95-$179.95 | scientificanglers.com

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Best New Sun Shirt: Skwala Sol Defense Hoody

When you are on the water at home in the summer or anytime in the tropics you need protection from two things: the sun and nasty biting insects. Black flies, mosquitoes, no-see ums, doctor flies, and many other insects can be irritating, ruin days of fishing, or cause loss of sleep from incessant itching. And it seems that insect-borne diseases are increasing every year. So the Skwala Sol Defense Hoody uses fibers treated with permethrin for long-lasting insect protection. The garment isn’t just treated, the fibers are treated before the polyester knit fabric is created, so the insect defense lasts up to 40 washes.

$99 | skwalafishing.com

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Best New Wading Jacket: Grundéns Portal Gore-tex Wading Jacket

Grundéns has used more than 100 years of experience on commercial fishing boats on the North Sea and the Bering Sea—as well as their own experience in wet and rainy Poulsbo, Washington, and the nearby Olympic Peninsula—to create their first-ever fly-fishing wading jacket in collaboration with Gore-Tex.

$599 | grundens.com 

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Best New Freshwater Fly Reel: Siegler LF & CF

A few years ago Wes Seigler developed saltwater reels with a lever that allowed you to quickly disengage the drag or quickly reengage the drag and return to a precise and previously determined drag setting. Allow me to explain: Let’s say you are tarpon fishing in Florida, running from spot to spot in a skiff. Each time you stand up on the bow, you’ll need to strip out line but you don’t want to pull against the drag. On a standard reel you have to use the drag knob to release the drag. When you have enough line out, you turn up the drag in an attempt to get back to the right setting. Seigler reels still have a drag knob but they also have a lever, which allows you to instantly disengage the drag, strip out line, and then flip the lever to quickly return to the previous drag setting. It’s helpful when you just staked up, and a string of tarpon is rapidly approaching—or in any situation where speed and a precise drag setting are essential.

$400-$550 | Seigler.fish

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Best New Midlayer: Simms Confluence Hoody

When you’re not really sure what kind of weather you’re going to get into, the Simms Confluence Hoody is a dependable wing man for a wide range of conditions. The full-zip jacket is made from a stretch-woven face fabric with a grid-fleece liner. It’s stretchy, comfortable, and that waffle fleece inside traps heat and keeps you surprisingly warm for such a lightweight piece. The outside is treated with a durable water repellent treatment so occasional rain and snow showers are no problem. It’s made from 48% recycled polyester, 45% recycled ocean polyester, and 7% Spandex.

$249.95 | simmsfishing.com

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Best New Freshwater Fly Line: Airflo SuperFlo Max

There is a tectonic upward shift in floating lines at Airflo that makes lines float higher for better presentations, easier mending, and smoother pickups. Airflo Superflo Max lines are still made from inert polyurethane, but what now makes them float is completely different. One of the many benefits of these polyurethane fly lines is that you can pack more tungsten into less coating and produce a line that is narrower and more dense. That’s why Airflo sinking lines have always been the answer when you want to go deep, fast. To create floating lines, however, Airflo has historically used gassing agents to blow air bubbles into the coating to decrease density. The inconsistency of this process sometimes resulted in lines that didn’t float consistently.

The solution? The new Superflo Max floating lines coming in 2025 use glass spheres for flotation, but it took more than four years of research and development to perfect the process. Because polyurethane lines are extruded under very high pressure and then cooled, the glass spheres have to be tougher than similar spheres used in PVC lines, and the result is a line that is super durable.

$99.95 | airflousa.com

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Gear Guide Green Award: Patagonia R2 Techface Pullover

Have you heard of chemical compounds called per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)? They are also known as “forever chemicals” because they persist in our water, in the fish, in our bodies, and they have been linked to health hazards such as liver damage, asthma, and cancer. Patagonia has been busy replacing products that contain PFAS, and reported that as of spring 2024, “about 96 percent of Patagonia’s materials by weight with water-repellent chemistries are made without PFAS.” Their goal is to be completely rid of PFAS in all products by 2025.

$199 | patagonia.com

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Best New Wading Boot: Simms G3 Boa

This is the first time the Boa Lacing System has been used in any Simms G3 boot, and this just may be the best iteration of any Boa wading boot we’ve seen. The M4 Boa Lacing System has a more precise gear ratio than previous versions and makes it much easier to replace the cable system in the unlikely event one breaks. In our experience, the Boa steel cables are far more dependable than traditional laces. If you haven’t used Boa before, consider smooth, even tightening all the way to the base of your toes, and a quick release at the end of the day so you can pop your foot out quickly and easily. Simms has smartly put the dial on the outside of these boots so the top of the boot wraps around your ankle like a burrito and can close tightly at the top no matter if you are wet wading or if you have double socks underneath.

$329.95 | simmsfishing.com

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Best New Watercraft: NRS Boundary 100

Go. Anywhere. That’s the idea behind the New NRS Boundary 100. Fully inflated and assembled, this raft drops neatly inside a standard truck bed. It’s light enough (50 pounds) that you can also strap it to the top of your car or SUV. You can carry it to/from the river almost anywhere—there’s no need for a developed boat ramp—and it meets the checked bag luggage requirements of all major airlines. Wherever you want to go, the NRS Boundary can take you there.

$1,875 | nrs.com

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Best New Women's Product: Simms Women’s G3 Guide Wading Jacket

Thundering rainstorms frequently pass overhead in Colorado’s high country where I guide in the summers, unleashing their full torrent as the mountains pierce the storm clouds. Experiencing that with regularity, I appreciate a quality, functional rain jacket, so the new Simms Women’s G3 Guide Jacket suits me just fine.

The 3-layer Gore-Tex Pro Shell fabric allows it to pack smaller than some of my older, more abused rain jackets, but without losing any features nor waterproofness. The multiple fabrics are strategically placed to maximize mobility, which is critical while I’m hopping boulders up and downstream to land fish.—Kara Armano

$599.95 | simmsfishing.com

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Best New Saltwater Fly Reel: Bauer SLT

Big fish and big rods deserve an equally powerful reel that has the drag to deal with adrenaline-laced runs; take the abuse dished out by coral heads, jetties, and boat decks; and deliver clean aesthetics you can be proud of.

The Bauer SLT has a new stacked and alternating stainless steel and carbon disk drag that disperses heat for smooth engagement to slow down powerful fish like tarpon and GTs. An oversized low-durometer rubber O-ring increases consistency throughout the drag adjustment—each click turns up the drag evenly, there is no exponential increase in pressure. Two full rotations take you from 4 to 20 pounds of pressure.

$895-$1,095 | bauerflyreel.com

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Best New Insulated Jacket: Skwala RS Outpost

I visited the Skwala headquarters in Bozeman, Montana in June during their open house cookout and had a sneak peek of the RS Outpost jacket. This foul-weather fortress can withstand high winds, pelting rain, sleet, snow, and subzero temperatures. Hard days on the water call for no-nonsense gear that simply works to keep you dry, warm, agile, and most importantly fishing longer.—Dennis Pastucha

$649 | skwalafishing.com

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Best New Pack: Simms Headwaters Backpack

Backpacks have the capacity to take enough gear for an all-day fly-fishing adventure, but the problem is often finding one item in all that jumble. And with a traditional top-entry backpack, you have to take the pack off to dig around and find what you are looking for. The new Simms Headwaters Backpack solves this problem with a zippered side access panel. You can unbuckle the waist belt, slide the backpack around into a sling position in front of you, and open the side panel to see the contents. In backcountry match-the-hatch situations, where you are frequently changing flies, this feature is key. Inside the side access compartment there is a large zippered organization sleeve and an adjustable divider to keep things organized.

$249.95 | simmsfishing.com

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