About

Origin story

I didn't grow up fly fishing. And when I decided to learn, I quickly got lost.

The gear culture was complex and confusing. Few brands felt beginner friendly. I also noticed that many fly fishing products seemed disconnected nature. There was so much cheap plastic and so many flashy colors.

But the thing that surprised me most was how global fly fishing is. Scottish spey casting. Japanese tenkara. New Zealand nymphing. Patagonian streamer fishing. Each tradition reflects a different fishing philosophy and relationship with the water. None of the brands I came across made it easy to learn each tradition and truly fish like a local.

Those experiences led me to start FitzAlan. We make high-performance gear that works anywhere in the world, share perspectives that help you fish like a local, and work hard to make newcomers feel welcome.

FitzAlan is the brand I wanted to find when I started.

– Taylor McKnight, FitzAlan founder

Who we are for

FitzAlan is built for fly anglers who travel the world. Our goal is to serve our customers at every point in their journey.

Newcomers. Maybe you have never been fly fishing but want to learn. You want to get started without getting lost in terminology or feeling like the culture wasn't made for you. FitzAlan will help you begin.

Intermediate anglers. You fish a few times a year and want more from the sport. You want to improve, to travel to new rivers, to feel genuinely connected to the waters you fish. FitzAlan gives you the gear and the knowledge to do that.

Experienced anglers who love to travel the world. You travel specifically to fish. You might have fished Scottish lochs, Japanese mountain streams, or rivers in Patagonia, and want gear designed for exactly those experiences. FitzAlan was built with you in mind from the beginning.

Who we are

FitzAlan is a fly fishing brand based in the United States. We design performance reels and gear for anglers who fish around the world.

We produce in small batches and obsess over the details. Our manufacturing partners are the best in the world with decades of experience. Every reel ships directly from our office in a premium gift box with 30-day returns.

What we believe

Fly fishing is global. Scottish spey casting, Japanese tenkara, New Zealand nymphing, Patagonian streamer fishing – these regional traditions reflect different philosophies and relationships with water. Learning from them makes us better anglers and more curious people.

We believe watersheds matter more than catch counts. We believe outdoor gear should look more like a fashionable future and less like a military surplus catalog. And we believe everyone belongs on the water.

How we design

Every detail is intentional. Our Tyrian red finish is based on an ancient Phoenician dye made from sea snails. Emperors and artists wore the color for centuries. It took weeks for us to get right.

When developing products, we work to minimize and wherever possible eliminate plastics. We field-test across diverse conditions, from Montana trout streams to English chalk streams to Japanese mountain rivers. We'd rather make something excellent in small quantities than produce a lot of something average.

Ready to fish?

Start with the Vernly Series. Our two reels cover every water you'll fish.