To celebrate Scott’s 50th anniversary, the rod maker called up 5 members from its fly rod hall of fame, each representing a unique and compelling contribution to the fly fishing industry and all who fish. These limited edition rods were produced in one batch late in 2024 and will be available until the run is gone.
Scott F 703-4 (7’0″ 3-wt, 4-pc fiberglass fly rod)
Rod designer: Harry Wilson
Why was it groundbreaking? 2-piece rods were the global standard prior to the 1980s and specialty fly rods of any kind rare. Wilson rolled out this packable creek rod which offered a completely unique tool for the backcountry angler. Looking back 50 years, this is arguably the fly rod that initiated Scott’s market domination in the category of small stream fly rods. The genetics of this rod are found today in the modern Scott F Series as well as the GS 772-4 and 773-4, all considered peerless. Who designs creek rods better than Scott? No one. This was the original.
Why is it timeless? Just when fiberglass was about to be supplanted by graphite, Wilson landed on the ultimate application of the material: the creek rod. To this day, fiberglass has proven superior to graphite for crafting short, light line fly rods with the suppleness for effortless casting, accurate presentations and a fish-playing action that showcases the fun factor in fly fishing. Wilson’s semi-hollow internal ferrule, still utilized in today’s F and GS rods, offered superior feel because it flexed with the adjoining rod pieces rather than creating flat spots in the loading profile of the fly rod. The sweetest light line rods of all time were all designed with internal ferrules, whether in this century or the previous one.
Scott G 904-4 (9’0″ 4-wt, 4-pc fly rod)
Rod designer: Harry Wilson
Why was it groundbreaking? The 2-piece version of this rod was the first 4-weight over 8 feet designed by any rod maker and this version was lauded as one of the first 4-piece rods that honestly felt the same as its 2-piece counterpart. Considered a design marvel in the late 1970s, this model proved to be one of the finest angling tools of its generation, a precision caster that excelled in every on-the-water technique with durability that kept most of the originals in tact for 45 years and counting.
Why is it timeless? No modern fly rod roll casts, protects delicate tippet or more artfully presents a dry fly at the end of a long leader. A prevailing theology among accomplished technical dry fly anglers is to choose the fly rod that offers the greatest level of control. On rivers such as the Henry’s Fork, Missouri, San Juan, Silver Creek and Delaware, the most important role of the fly rod is to help the angler make a precise cast and dead drift. In reach casts, stack mends, slack line techniques and downstream presentations, this rod is unsurpassed, and while modern graphite materials improve the power, stability and lightness of our fly rods, nothing beats the feel of an original Scott G.
Scott STS 909-3 (9’0″ 9-weight, 3-pc fly rod)
Rod designer: Jim Bartschi
Why was it groundbreaking? The STS 909-3 completely changed the image of the Scott Fly Rod company, and that is no exaggeration. The Scott Heliply Series were excellent saltwater fly rods, but they represented a “swimming against the current” mentality that was being outpaced by the competition’s fast-and-faster design theorem for successful angling in the oppressive saltwater environment.
The Scott STS Series, most notably the 909-3, beat the competition at its own game. Seemingly a mirage, the STS 909-3 was lighter, stronger and a better caster than any previous saltwater 9-weight thanks to its unique combination of high modulus materials, a 3-piece blank design and the use of internal ferrules. As a footnote on the use of internal ferrules in saltwater rods, the attrition began when 4-piece rods overtook 3-piece rods for travel convenience. Skinny internal ferrules used in the tip to tip-mid connections lacked sufficient durability, so Scott has designed modern saltwater rods with a sleeve ferrule (beginning with the S4S series).
Why is it timeless? If you don’t literally require a 4-piece rod for travel convenience (many of us own long rods, or fish from our cars or boats, right?), you will never fish a more lethal saltwater fly rod, nor a more versatile one. The STS 909-3 is a rod (or possibly the rod) that characterized the 9’ 9-weight as the most useful saltwater fly rod. From bonefish, permit and redfish to striped bass of any size, juvenile tarpon, open-water salmon and false albacore, this is your rod. For those who seek effortless power, the STS 909-3 casts with the subtlety of an air horn, generating sensational line speed at every distance and possessing an extra gear in the butt section for launching bombs into the wind and cranking on heavy sounders in the end game. This is a hall of fame fly rod.
ARC 1287-3 (12’8″ 7-weight, 3-pc two handed fly rod)
Rod designer: Larry Kenney
Why was it groundbreaking? The ARC series of single and double handed fly rods represented the first industry use of ARC reinforcement, a scrim material aligned off-axis to reinforce the blank’s hoop shape for greater stability, resilience and durability. Utilizing ARC in combination with Scott’s large-diameter blanks (with thin walls, lighter than competitors) allowed Larry Kenney to build long rods that felt much lighter than any previous steelhead/salmon series. There was, in fact, no comparison. ARC 2-handers changed our experience with 2-handed rods because they cast with the ease and intuition of single-handers. Originated when tactical Skagit and Scandi heads were abstractions in a spiral-bound notebook, ARC 2-handers were tuned to traditional, long-headed Spey lines.
Why is it timeless? This rod does everything well. There is nothing finer than making long, level cross-river casts with a true Spey line, but the irony is that this broadly-tuned 1990s 2-hander is more adaptable to both Skagit and Scandi heads than more specifically-designed modern rods. There is no need to ask whether this is a “Scandi” rod or a “Skagit” rod. Many of us who still fish our original ARC 2-handers freely interchange our modern heads with that old Spey line on the Hardy Marquis. They all cast well because the rod flexes evenly, so the angler may choose lines for the fishing, rather than the fly rod. This rod has a faster learning curve than almost any other 2-hander.
Radian 905-4 (9′ 5-weight, 4-pc)
Rod designer: Jim Bartschi
Why was it groundbreaking? The whole Radian Series was billed as “fast with feel,” but the 905-4 and perhaps the 907-4 were the models that actually set the bar. The Radian was Scott’s first and only “ultra-fast action” fly rod, a rod that paralleled for power the Sage Method (today, the Igniter). Scott marketed the Radian as versatile “fast action,” but many anglers found they went well beyond, into the realm of specialty streamer rods for overlining, out-distancing and overpowering.
The Radian 905-4 was special because it possessed all of this power and yet was supernaturally light in the tip. It felt different than any other fast action fly rod, more precise and nimble, with feeling that transferred to the hand at a cellular level. The Radian 905-4 was spectacular with a streamer, but even better with a dry fly. Its popularity surged worldwide, becoming the 5-weight against which all others were compared in Montana, Wyoming, Argentina, Alaska. The Radian 905-4 was elevated above the rest of the Radian series and above all other rods in its action class. Then, suddenly, it was gone.
Why is it timeless? The Radian 905-4 is the finest ultra-fast action fly rod of all time. Do not miss the opportunity to put at least one of them in your quiver. Every angler should own this fly rod. It is a rod of unmatched feel that stands completely alone in its action class.