Fly Fishing Insider Podcast
Reyr Gear's rod telescopes and carries the fly line inside the blank rather than through external guides, so it goes from packed case to casting in about 30 seconds. Two models are offered: a medium rod around 6-weight and a lighter rod around 4-weight for small mountain streams and backpacking.
Derek Rodell is the owner of Reyr Gear, the California company behind a telescoping fly rod that stores its fly line inside the blank instead of running it through guides.
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What is the Reyr Gear folding fly rod?
The Reyr Gear rod is a telescoping fly rod with the fly line running inside the blank instead of through guides on the outside, a design that sits between tenkara and a conventional fly rod. Because there is nothing to string up, the rod goes from packed case or backpack to casting in roughly 30 seconds. The design came out of a product engineering career and two practical annoyances: rods broken in travel, and wanting a rod already in the car or the pack. Performance lands between tenkara and traditional gear, which means it will not throw 100 feet of line at tarpon and was never meant to.
What rod weights does Reyr Gear make?
Reyr Gear sells two telescoping models: a medium rod that fishes at about a 6-weight, and a lighter rod at about a 4-weight. The medium rod came first and was built as a do-anything rod, and it has landed everything from bluegill up to a 30-inch pike. The lighter model was added for small mountain streams, backpacking trips and a finer presentation. Sales run close to 50/50 between the two, arriving in surges rather than settling into a clear favorite.
Can you put a different fly line in a Reyr Gear rod?
Yes. Reyr Gear worked with Scientific Anglers to find a line that runs well inside the blank, and textured lines proved best because the texture cuts down the surface area in contact with the rod's interior and reduces friction. Any textured Scientific Anglers line is a workable swap, floating or sinking. The rod is sold as a rod, reel and line combo specifically so a buyer does not have to research reels and lines to get started, but it can be tuned by anyone who wants to.
Who buys a collapsible fly rod?
Buyers of the collapsible rod split into two groups. Some are experienced anglers treating it as a second or spare rod, the one that goes in the pack on a high-country hike instead of a $1,200 flagship rod they do not want to break. Others are newcomers, including apartment dwellers in cities like New York, who buy it because it fits in a drawer and is ready for a weekend trip without any setup.
How did the 2020 season affect Reyr Gear's sales?
Reyr Gear sold about two and a half times more over the summer of 2020 than the previous summer with no increase in its marketing budget, in line with the broader outdoor industry's roughly doubled sales. Keeping inventory in stock became the constraint. That growth pushed the company past being a side project run alongside a day job: Reyr Gear was hiring its first full-time employee ahead of the holiday season and planning the move to full time.
Does influencer marketing work for a small fly fishing brand?
Influencer marketing turned out to be the weaker channel for Reyr Gear. Handing a rod to someone with good intentions and saying go for it rarely produces the promotion a small brand actually needs; the execution has to be spelled out in advance. A Google search campaign became the most effective spend, because it reaches people already searching to buy something like a backpacking rod rather than people who might think about it eventually. Instagram still runs, but as awareness rather than a sales channel.
What else goes in a travel fly fishing kit?
Reyr Gear is building a compact travel kit around the rod rather than stopping at the rod itself. Collapsible nets, made by a small Pennsylvania net maker, are already on the site. Under consideration are a wading bootie for backpackers and cyclists who need something for the river without carrying full waders, and a packable wading staff. The stated weakness for the coming year is media: video, photography and instructional content, where small competitors are already well ahead.
Key takeaways
- A telescoping rod that carries the fly line inside the blank can be fishing about 30 seconds after it comes out of the pack, with no guides to thread.
- The medium Reyr Gear model fishes near a 6-weight and has handled fish from bluegill up to a 30-inch pike; the lighter model is closer to a 4-weight for small streams.
- Textured fly lines work best inside the rod because the texture reduces contact area and friction against the blank's interior.
- For a small gear brand, a Google search campaign reached buyers more efficiently than influencer seeding, because searchers are already looking to buy.
- Reyr Gear's summer sales rose about 2.5x year over year with no added marketing spend, and inventory, not demand, became the limit.
- A collapsible rod sells as a second rod: the one you take backpacking instead of risking a $1,200 rod in the high country.
