Diamondback Fly Rods

09/03/2026

Brendan Petit joins Joe Goodspeed on the latest Designer’s Angle to talk trophy wild trout across Vermont and New York, and the tactics he uses to locate and catch this class of fish.

Full episode on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify (links in bio)

09/01/2026

Joe Goodspeed sits down with local angler Brendan Petit to talk about chasing big wild trout across Vermont, New York, and the Northeast.

Brendan talks about seeking out marginal water that may hold fewer fish, but has the potential to produce the kind of trout he’s after. They get into putting in time on the same stretches of river, learning individual pools and where the better fish hold, and coming back under the right conditions to make the most of an opportunity when it all comes together.

Joe Goodspeed sits down with Brendan Petit to talk about chasing bi...

08/28/2026

MUSKY SETUP GIVEAWAY

One lucky winner will receive:
-Universal Predator 500GN Rod
-Aeroflex Salt 9/10 Reel
-A hand selected musky fly from Joe Goodspeed

HOW TO ENTER:
1.) Follow Diamondback Fly Rods
2.) Like this post
3.) Tag a friend in the comments and they will also receive a fly if you win
Bonus Entry - Share the first slide in this post to your story and tag us

This giveaway ends September 7 at 11:59 PM ET. Winner will be announced and contacted through your comment and a DM by this account only.

Good luck. Now go find something with teeth.

08/22/2026

It's officially hard tail season here in the northeast, with large Bonito being caught from the Cape to Long Island Sound. These are sporty 8wt class fish that can run well into your backing. They also have the teeth to bite through your leader and the bigger Bonito can be a tricky fish to get in front of and hook, with their big tuna eyes and erratic feeding patterns.

Our suggestion for Bonito is Aeroflex Salt 9' 8wt rod, strapped with a Salt 1 (7/8 size) reel loaded with an Intermediate, and a spare spool loaded with a fast sink line. Abrasion resistant fluorocarbon over 15lb is a good bet to avoid bite offs. We like Sunline Shooter 16lb for this.

A fly pattern that matches the size and shape of the food source always helps with tuna eyesight in clean water. We are seeing Bay Anchovies, Silversides, a few peanut Bunker, and also fish coughing up small squid. Common denominator is that it has been mostly small, under 2".

08/18/2026

In the latest Designer’s Angle, we sat down with Min Brown to talk about the tactics he relies on across Vermont’s wild trout water.

Watch the full conversation on our YouTube, or listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify (links in bio).

08/18/2026

In this episode of Designer’s Angle, Joe Goodspeed sits down with Vermont angler Min Brown to talk about his approach to locating and targeting trophy wild trout.

Min breaks down how he approaches both familiar and new water, sight fishing, reading where larger fish hold, adjusting to changing water conditions, and the techniques and gear he relies on to consistently find these trophy class fish.

In this episode of Designer’s Angle, Joe Goodspeed sits down with V...

07/31/2026

Not the first time a fish has pulled the boat around on me fly fishing for Muskies. Here a Sturgeon swam into my fly over deep open water in the middle of the night, and went to the bottom feeling like a Musky that could be in the 50lb class. It was incredibly strong and took a while for me to bring it up into view in our spotlights to tell what we had hooked. A similar fight to the musky lost boatside in December alone in my boat last year 😢.

When an enormous fish is towing your boat around, its nice to know you have a rod that can absorb that load. This model, Universal Predator 500gn has a construction with the blended fiberglass composition, reinforced ferrules, strategic guide placement, and proper wall thickness to square off with a lifetime class fish. This wasn't the kind of 50 pounder we were hoping to see come up into view last night, but that's how it goes sometimes.

07/25/2026

A lot of musky talk around here lately. Head over to our site to learn more about the Universal Predator lineup. And stay tuned... you might just have a chance to win one for yourself.

07/21/2026

Although we love the current lineup, there are so many awesome rod models built by Diamondback over the years. Before the current 4pc Aeroflex series, there were actually a 2pc and 3pc original versions of the Diamondback Aeroflex from about 25 years ago. They were really nice blanks. This is a photo from years ago of a perfect wild Vermont brown trout Joe caught on his 8653 Aeroflex (8'6" 5wt 3pc) and a dry caddis during a nice late May daytime hatch.

Although the current Aeroflex rods have more sections and use different materials, the fast smooth actions of tje current lineup reflect a similar action and power profile as their predecessors.

07/17/2026

Purebred Muskies have the vision and vibration sensitivity to feed effectively in the dark. Their eyes glow like a Walleye when a flash hits them in the dark in photos. Similar to big wild brown trout, the adult fish are often feeding under the cover of darkness.

A smooth loading longer overhead rod with plenty of power to cast with a two hand grip like the Universal Predator 9'4" 500gn model makes it comfortable to cast predator flies in the dark. I like to rig my leaders so I can stop my presentation when the line to leader connection meets my stripping hand (it's pretty long, about 10.5'). This allows me to fish the fly all the way back with the best action as the presentation finishes boatside, where they can erupt in your lap in the dark. Which can terrifying and awesome when it happens. You want a good rod designed with strategic S-Glass / Carbon ratios that you can grip with both hands when it does!😉