New & Notable: Scott Fly Rods' 50th Anniversary Edition Rods

To celebrate its 50th Anniversary, Scott Fly Rods is bringing back five classic rods from five different decades. The collector models from designers Harry Wilson, Larry Kenney, and Jim Bartschi are built to historic specifications with a resto-mod approach—like a classic car restored and upgraded with modern components and technology. Think of it as a tribute.

They are instantly recognizable to Scott fans, and for newcomers, it may be their first chance to grab hold of a piece of history. The anniversary rods are on sale for a limited time. Dealers are taking orders until Jan 31, 2025.

1970s: F703/4

The Scott Fly Rod Company was started by Harry Wilson in San Francisco in 1974. An accomplished engineer by trade, Wilson left his job as an executive and started building fly rods in a basement on Cook Street. He named the newly incorporated company after his son, Scott. In 1975, Wilson hired his first employee, Larry Kenney, and together they developed light, responsive, smooth rods that became globally coveted.

While most of the world used clunky 8-foot 6-weight 2-piece fiberglass rods, Scott used new tapers and the Scott hollow internal ferrule to popularize light-line multi-piece fly rods. No model exemplified their prowess better than the F703/4. The anniversary edition of this 7-foot, 3-weight 4-piece fiberglass rod comes on a golden blank with amber wraps, the highest quality cork, and new, golden anniversary hardware ($995).

1980s: G904/4

When graphite arrived on the scene, Harry Wilson dedicated himself to creating longer light-line rods with the new material. After many challenges and attempts, Scott released its first 9-foot 4-weight graphite rod. To many, it was angling “perfected.”  The new tool allowed you to fish long leaders and small flies on technically challenging rivers like the Henry’s Fork, Hat Creek, and Paradise Valley spring creeks, and better control drag, use lighter tippets, and fool large trout like never before. The anniversary edition of the G904/4 is black with brown wraps and anniversary hardware  ($1,095).

1990s: ARC1287/3

These two-handed salmon and steelhead rods were the first to use Scott’s lightweight unidirectional graphite designed and laid up on a zero-degree axis. Today, many blanks are designed in this fashion but it was a major step forward when Scott introduced these light, smooth double-

handers. The ARC 1287/3 is still one of Scott’s most sought-after rod models, and the 12’8” 7-weight 3-piece rod is still right at home anywhere from the Deschutes to the Kispiox River.

2000s: STS909/3

Scott burst onto the saltwater scene with disrupter advertising (remember the old “jet ski” full page ad in Fly Fisherman magazine?) and at a time when saltwater flats fishing was just taking off globally in new, far-flung destinations.

New STS saltwater rods introduced at the start of the century added to the success of ARC technology by using the first multi-modulus blank designs to build strength, and produce light rods with an extremely quick recovery speed. The 9-foot 9-weight 3-piece STS ($1,195) is still considered the crown jewel in Scott’s transformative saltwater series.

2010s: R905/4

The Radian series brought together fast action and feel to create a high-performing casting tool that was also a joy to fish. Rod designer and Scott President Jim Bartschi also used game-changing components in the Radian, which raised the bar for the entire industry and made the 9-foot 5-weight 4-piece Radian the finest fast-action trout rod of its generation. The Radian has been out of production only a few years, but fans around the world now have another chance at a brand new Radian with this anniversary edition ($1,095).

---