Shakespeare Fly Rods, Reels and Combos

Who Shakespeare is

Shakespeare is one of the older names in American fishing tackle. Wikipedia's article on the company says it was founded by William Shakespeare Jr. in 1897 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, moved to Columbia, South Carolina, in 1970, and is now a subsidiary of Pure Fishing. The maker's own product pages carry the tagline "Trusted Since 1897" and a footer saying Shakespeare is a brand of Pure Fishing, which agrees with that. I could not open a company history page from the maker, so I stop at those facts and leave out the stories about early reels and later rods.

That matters for how you read the Amazon range. Shakespeare is not a fly-fishing specialist, and the range on Amazon is a short list of simple outfits. The maker's pages describe them that way: value pricing, a freshwater focus, ready-made kits. If that is what you want, you can shop it with clear eyes. If you want a rod to grow into over ten years, look at the fly rod brands catalog for makers whose whole business is fly fishing.

What Shakespeare sells on Amazon US now

At our last check (October 2026) we track 26 live Shakespeare products on Amazon US: 13 fly rods, 7 combos and 6 reels. Two more listings have dropped off Amazon and are not in the table. We do not carry Shakespeare fly lines, backing or packs. Most of the range sits in our lowest price tier at our last check, with the Agility, Sigma Supra and Oracle 2 rods a notch above.

Read the table with the marks in mind. The Cedar Canyon reels, the Cedar Canyon Carbon, Select and Elite rods, the Elite combo and the Agility rods have a maker page we matched, so their action, warranty and reel specs carry the "maker" mark. Line weight, length and piece count are often still "listing", taken from the Amazon title, because the maker's pages show those fields as blank or give them only as a range. The Sigma Supra, Oracle 2, Premier rods and the Premier and Stream kits have no maker page in our data, so nearly every value is "listing", and a few are "—". One rod, the Cedar Canyon Summit, has almost nothing confirmed beyond its title. I would treat it as a title and a photo.

The rod families, and who each suits

Cedar Canyon Carbon, Select and Elite. These are the newest rods in the range and the ones with maker pages. The Carbon is an 8-foot four-piece rod the maker describes as carbon composite with a medium-fast action and medium power, with 5/6 and 7/8 line ratings. The Select is the odd one out: an 8-foot three-piece fiberglass rod with a moderate action, an EVA foam handle, a lightweight graphite reel seat and stainless steel guides, which the maker calls beginner-friendly. The Elite is a 9-foot four-piece carbon-fiber rod, medium power, medium-fast, with a cork handle. The three are meant to cover small water (Carbon), learning and rough use (Select) and general freshwater (Elite).

A line-weight note, because it trips people up: the Cedar Canyon rods and kits in our table are rated 5/6 or 7/8. A "5/6" rod is a dual rating, so you can pair it with a 5 or 6 line. I think of the 7/8 versions as bass-sized tools for bigger flies, not trout rods. See our 5-weight fly rods page and the fly rod weight chart if the numbers still feel arbitrary.

Agility. The maker's Agility page is labelled "prior gen", which tells you it is on its way out of the maker's current range, even though the rods are still on Amazon. It lists carbon blanks, a "light, medium-fast action blank design", four pieces, lined stripper guides, a wood spacer reel seat and a hard sectioned tube, in lengths from 6 to 10 feet and 3, 4 and 5 line weights. We track the 6-foot 3-weight, the 7-foot and 9-foot and 10-foot 4-weights and a 9-foot 5-weight. If you fish tiny brush-choked creeks, the short rods are the interesting ones. If you want a general trout rod, the 9-foot 5-weight is the usual shape.

Sigma Supra and Oracle 2. Three Sigma Supra rods (a 9-foot 6-inch 7-weight, a 10-foot 8-weight and an 11-foot 7-weight) and an Oracle 2 River 7-foot 6-inch 4-weight. All values come from the Amazon listings. The 9-foot 6-inch Sigma Supra is listed as graphite, and the 10- and 11-foot ones are listed as medium-fast. We found no maker page, so I cannot say more, and the piece count is not confirmed for the Sigma Supra rods. Check the listing's piece count and case before you buy.

Premier rods, kits and the Summit. The Premier combos and kit (5/6 and 7/8, 9-foot, four-piece) are listing-only in our data, with graphite rods and kits that the listings say include line, backing and a leader, and in one case flies. The Stream Kit lists a line, backing, leader and flies, with no rod specs we could confirm. Treat these as listings to read in full.

The reels

Shakespeare's fly reels are all Cedar Canyon, and the maker's pages describe them consistently: graphite frames, convertible left- or right-hand retrieve, 20 lb nylon backing, and a limited one-year warranty.

• Click. An adjustable click check, which the page describes as a simple, distinctive sound for anglers who like it. The drag is listed at 0.5 lb, the 5/6 weighs 5.2 ounces and the 7/8 weighs 5.54 ounces. A click-and-pawl design is about the lightest-duty drag there is, and it suits small fish. See click-and-pawl fly reels.
• Disc. In 3/4 and 5/6 in our table, listed at 2 lb of drag, 5.47 and 5.57 ounces, and a fly line capacity of WF4 plus 33 yards and WF6 plus 56 yards of 20 lb backing. The maker calls it perfect for freshwater.
• Premier. A 5/6 at 4.9 ounces and a 7/8 at 5.1 ounces, both 2 lb of drag, with WF6 plus 50 yards and WF8 plus 50 yards of backing. The page says sizes for fresh or salt water, then also calls it perfect for freshwater. I would read that as a freshwater reel and look for something sealed if you fish salt. Our saltwater fly reels page shows what that looks like.

Before you pair a reel with a rod, check that the reel's range covers the line weight and that the backing capacity is real for your fishing. Our fly reel size guide explains how, and parts of a fly reel covers terms like arbor and drag.

The kits

Seven combos turn up. The two best documented are on the maker's site. The Cedar Canyon Carbon kit lists an 8-foot four-piece rod, the Click reel, a weight-forward floating line, 20 lb nylon backing, a tapered leader, a fly selection and casting instructions, and the maker says it comes "Ready to Fish". The Cedar Canyon Elite combo lists a 9-foot four-piece rod with a cork handle, the Disc reel, a fully fitted weight-forward floating line and 20 lb backing, and says the leader is not included and you should add your own. (The Elite page calls the reel and line "fully rigged", and then its own spec list adds that the leader is yours to supply.)

A kit saves you matching the parts, which is the real difficulty for a first-timer. It also hides what you pay for each part, and it locks in a reel you may outgrow. If you already own a reel, the rod alone is usually the better buy. Our page on fly fishing starter kits and fly rod combos show how the category compares, and the beginner gear guide explains what else you need.

Warranty

Every Shakespeare fly rod, reel and combo page we read lists a Limited 1-Year Warranty and links to the maker's warranty policy page, with a separate 30-day return period. We did not open the policy text, so I will not describe the terms, the claim process or the exclusions. Read the policy on the maker's site before you buy, keep your receipt and note who sold it. A third-party marketplace seller may or may not be treated the same as a retailer, so ask first.

How I would shop Shakespeare

First, decide what you need: a rod, a reel or a kit. If you are building a first outfit, a kit is the sensible shortcut. Second, pick length and weight for the water. A 5/6 rod at 8 or 9 feet is the usual trout and panfish range, and a 7/8 is a bass-sized tool. Third, read the maker mark: the Cedar Canyon and Agility pages give you the most confirmed detail, and the Sigma Supra and Premier listings give you the least. Fourth, check whether the model you want is the current one, since the Agility is labelled prior generation.

If you outgrow the outfit, the rod is the part to think about. Compare it with others on our fly rods page, look at cheap fly rods in the same tier, and see fiberglass fly rods if the Select's softer action interests you. For how action feels in use, read fly rod action.