A fly-fishing shop owner turned rod designer from southwestern Ontario is receiving national recognition after his brand became the first Canadian line featured in a prestigious industry publication. Scott Hall and his wife, Tania, have owned Grand River Outfitting and Fly Shop in Fergus, Ont., for the past 12 years. “We have carried everybody else’s rods, and mostly all the rods are usually American-owned,” Hall said. “And I thought, ‘You know what? Why isn’t there a Canadian fly rod company doing this?’” Three years ago, he took a leap of faith and launched Hall Rod Company, a line of affordable rods. “It’s not just a basic rod. It has 24-ton carbon graphite. It has graphene in it. It’s a very special rod,” Hall said. “It’s an $800 rod that casts like a $1,400 rod.” He has since expanded his lineup to include various weights and species-specific models. While the rods are manufactured in South Korea using components sourced globally, the design and engineering take place entirely in Canada. “I get an actual sample that comes from South Korea. I give it to all my guys, we test it, we cast it, get all the little bugs worked out,” Hall said. “It goes back to the factory, they send it back. We do another sample back and forth two or three times until we get exactly what we want.” The bottom handles are produced closer to home, manufactured by Continental Cork Company in London, Ont. Sasha Skoropad, a fly-fishing instructor and consultant at the shop, said having local roots provides a major advantage for local anglers when it comes to warranties. “The reality is when going fishing, if we snap a rod piece before a long weekend, we have to send it away to get it fixed,” Skoropad said. “It can sometimes be a two- or three-month wait. Here, you literally can walk in the shop or within a couple days have that piece replaced and be back on the water. So, I think that’s really important as a Canadian-based company.” Hall said it was the surprise of a lifetime when Fly Fusion Magazine contacted him to inquire about his lineup. “I’ve always been a big fan of Fly Fusion. It was a magazine that I got a subscription to years and years ago," said Hall. Only a handful of companies are featured each year in the magazine’s “Ultimate Rod Review” segment. Hall shipped several rods to the publication’s Canadian headquarters for testing. “We’ll actually take each rod and put it through the wringer and then take it out on the water and bend it, sometimes break them,” said Chris Bird, editor of Fly Fusion. Hall’s Tailwater 9-foot, 5-weight rod caught the team’s attention, earning Hall Rod Company an Editor’s Choice selection. “I was excited about the look and feel, and the experience I had on the water with it,” Bird said. “This one just felt right. It just felt good in my hands. It cast really well.” Fly Fusion was founded in Cochrane, Alta., in 2004 and now operates out of Cranbrook, B.C., reaching readership across the globe. Hall is the first Canadian designer to earn the feature. “I’m absolutely shocked and humbled, really,” Hall said. “If you look in there, you have all the big names: Winston, Sage, Redington, Orvis—and now you have little Hall Rod Company.” Skoropad said the recognition carries significant weight in the angling community. “This is everywhere. You find it in Shoppers Drug Mart, everywhere on the stands. Other fly shops are looking at it. It’s quite respected—it’s a really big deal.”
