We are a small, passionate team focused on designing & producing extreemly high quality fly rods & fly fishing accessories. As fly anglers we delight in supporting our customers with outstanding customer service. Let's hook up. The Epic Story
Epic is owned and run by Carl McNeil and Jeanie Ackley, the filmmaking couple that produced the award winning fly fishing films Once in a Blue Moon, Casts that Catch Fish and Itu’s Bones. As a Certified Master Fly Casting Instructor Carl has taught hundreds of fly casters and mentored many anglers to gain their fly casting and Master Fly Casting certifications. Carl served on the Fly Fishers International fly casting and certification committees for 10 years, he is a past associate editor of the FFI fly casting magazine "the Loop" and has been extensively published in fly fishing magazines worldwide. He was awarded the 'Presidents Pin' for 'Services to fly casting" and has also received the IFF Conservation Award. His ground breaking fly casting DVD "Casts That Catch Fish" is one of the best selling fly casting DVD's of all time. Jeanie is an award winning filmmaker, camerawoman & researcher, and has recieved an Oscar nomination from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for her documentary camera work. She is an accomplished business woman. Born & Bred in New Zealand
We reckon New Zealand is the perfect test laboratory to develop great fly rods. And in true Kiwi fashion we favor solid design, original thinking and good old fashioned service over mass production, fashion and fickle trends. We strive to be the very best, not the cheapest nor the biggest - and we pride ourselves on astounding customer service. Epic Beginnings
"Epic was born out of two frustrations I experienced in fly fishing: My students were coming to fly casting classes with new fly rods so stiff and so lifeless they were extremely difficult to cast - even for me!  _ Probably great rods if you wanted to bust out a 100 foot cast on a football field, but a total impairment when used as practical fly fishing tools. The second big driver was my own fishing experience. Like all fly anglers, I wanted to be a better fly fisherman, become a better caster and ultimately catch more fish. And like all anglers, I’d grown through experimentation and improvement on just about every aspect of the sport. Rods, lines, leaders, my casting - and thousands of flies.  Eventually I started fish lighter fly rods and lighter lines in order to make better presentations. You know, to get more feeling, better casts and better response. While the lighter rods had better feeling for sure, I was regularly breaking tips by point loading when netting big trout - Yep, we have some fairly big trout here in New Zealand! And so the journey began. A journey to "build a better fly rod” - that phrase still sits on the whiteboard above my desk to this day. Many materials were tested and many tapers developed in the quest to leave behind the stiff lifeless rods I was so used to using. My first fly rod that went into production, the Epic 580, went through 15 iterations before we settled on a taper that could truly be called Epic - and that's how the brand began. Our tapers are powerful, but not stiff. Incredibly tough, but impart wonderfull responsiveness and feedback. And test, they can still bust out those long casts I know that you’ll feel and appreciate the Epic difference. You’ll be making better casts, making tighter loops, better presentations, and ultimately catching more fish. And if you don’t, we’ll happily take back the fly rod you are looking at" Effortless Fly Casting - Smooth Like Butter, Sweet Like Honey.
Carl McNeil - Master Fly Casting Instructor - Author - Photographer - Filmmaker - Founder - Epic Fly Rods