Nearly every year, George Anderson, owner of the Yellowstone Angler in Livingston, Montana, assembles a list of the best 8-weight rods available on the market and put them head-to-head against each other. This annual list is an amazing reference point for anglers looking to upgrade their 8-weight, and the insights provided by the list are far worth a read for anyone looking to pick one up. The team at the shop goes into insane detail to show exactly how these rods perform, using the same reel, line, and leader in every test. Yellowstone Anglers’ half-century of fly shop and fly rod experience makes these annual lists invaluable.
For full results and in-depth discussion of reach rod, check out the Shootout’s page, here.
This year’s 8-Weight Shoot Out focused on most of the new, higher-end rods that entered the market in the last year. To see more in-depth coverage of more 8-weights, go read Yellowstone Angler’s 2018 8-Weight Shootout!
This Year’s Entrants (Alphabetical):
Douglas Sky G 
Price: $795
Echo Prime 4-Piece
Price: $469.99
Fenwick Aetos
Price: $189.95
G. Loomis NRX Plus Salt
Price: $895.00
G. Loomis Asquith
Price: $1,200.00
Orvis Recon Big Game
Price: $549.00
Orvis Helios 3F
Price: $949.00
Scott Sector
Price: $985
To find out which 8-weights topped Yellowstone Angler’s list, check out the full Shootout results on the Yellowstone Angler’s page, here!
