Our private eye, Eric Arbogast, looked for the new best Fly Fishing Gear on the booths of EFFTEX, in Bruxelles.

This year’s edition of EFTTEX was held at the fairgrounds in Brussels again, easy to reach by car, albeit a little late due to special circumstances, on the last day of the show which usually goes from Thursday to Saturday.
We did get to sample some nice products, however, starting with the innovative inflatable craft made by 7Bass, who also won two EFFTEX awards this year with their smaller version of the Flatform XL.

Next stop was at Abel and Ross reels from Colorado, they had some color on display, including their new Vaya reels, as well as their very exclusive AC/DC and Johnny Cash reels.

Rainbow Kayaks is now specifically targeting angers looking for mobility with their Hardbelly interpretation of a roto-molded float tube, rock solid and unsinkable.

Hardy/Greys were also present with a nice stand showcasing their entire line of fly rods and reels, Howard Croston presenting us their superlight new MTX-S reel.

It is always great to chat with Simon Gawesworth at Rio Fly Lines, whose Technical Trout line also won show awards among other new products in their lineup. Also on offer by Rio for the coming season are a handful of innovative fishing flies! Rio TT

Right next door to Rio we found ever busy Marc Bale and Rudi Heger from Sage rods and reels who also found time to tell us about their new products, including the Trout LL, Trout Spey HD and Payload rod series coming up for next season.

Simon Kidd and Russell Weston were very accommodating at the Snowbee booth where they have a new line of impressive fly rods, the Prestige G-XS rods as well as matching fly lines including a great roll casting line, the ED-R line. Also new for this year is a new saltwater/salmon reel, the Geo-S, took honors at the EFTTEX awards.

A relatively new player on the scene are Taylor Fly Fishing, present at EFTTEX with a selection of their colorful fly reels, including the Revolution Z, as well as a new series of fly rods, the Truth.

Nick Conklin of Temple Fork Outfitters also had new products to present, namely he very much updated new NXT “beginner’s” kit with a chic new rod, new reel and a new line thrown in. Also new at TFO is a beefed-up Axiom fly rod called Axiom II-X, that will stand out in heavier line weights. The new BVK reels now have a sealed drag system to proof them against the elements and we also liked the Finesse series of fly rods that has had its look revamped.

A new company we saw is Traper Fly Fishing that offer a full selection of quality rods, reels, lines, waders, boots, fishing clothing and accessories.

A company with great tradition is Winston Rods from Twin Bridges, Montana that has two new lines of rods ready for the coming season, one being the AXL rods series designed to fish for alpha-predators and the new Air TH series which combine Winston’s Boron technology with a new resin matrix.

There was also gear Made in China!Zhonghua China Reels Color