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3. Euro Nymph Rod

Recently I have been reading, and becoming interested in, Euro nymphing techniques, flies, lines, leaders, sighters, and of course rods. I was wondering if anyone in our illustrious group of fly fishers has delved into the relatively new technique and if so what rod, or rods, have you bought. I'm most interested in how long a rod you are fishing, whether the reel seat is up, or down, lock, whether or not it is fast, medium, or on the slower side, and why you chose that rod? What attributes made you select that rod over others. I may buy a rod but since this technique would be (for me at least) a fill-in when fish aren't rising I don't want to spend more than $500. Thanks!

Matt; for euro nymphing, I like a long light rod with a soft tip and relatively slow action for heightened strike detection. I bought an 11’ 3 wt and although I haven’t used it yet , I’ve fished other rods of that size and weight and found it to be optimal for me . Reel should be small and light as well, I like a 3 weight to balance my setup. Longer rods , ie, longer than the standard 9’ are advantageous for nymphing because it’s always better to reach out to the fish with little to no flyline on or in the water to eliminate drag and compromise strike detection. Hope this helps

David,



Who is the manufacturer and do you remember how much it cost?

I actually deal with a guy in Chicago who makes my rods for me. He uses Sage blanks sonits pretty much a sage rod I guess but he builds from scratch. Want his contact info?

David,



Sage blanks are too rich for my pocketbook. I looked at a very nice Orvis Clearwater today, 10' #3, for $189 list. My buddy can get it for around $110. The rep at the fly shop said the Orvis Recon (he has one) 10' #3 is at least 5X the rod the Clearwater is in regard to actual fishing characteristics and aesthetics. I went to Bass Pro first and saw a Cabela's 10' #3 CZN and it was tip heavy. Then I went to a local fly shop (TCO for you PA guys) and handled the new Clearwater 10' #3. It is $30 less than the Cabela's CZN (or whatever it is called) and it is a heck of a nicer rod.

Hey Matt, I looked into the Cabelas CZN rods myself a few years back, and the one thing that kept coming up on the reviews by people who have purchased them had a pattern of the rods breaking in the middle section. Too many reviews said that from different sources for my liking.

The Clearwater would be a nicer set up no doubt, and rest assured thatif anything happens to the Clearwater, Orvis has a very reputable warranty. And I have to agree with what the rep said about the Recon.

Interesting. I like my CZN 10' 4 Wt and have had no problems with it in about 6 years. I've talked to other guys who feel the same way. Perhaps we're just lucky. If it does break, my experiences with Cabelas and rods (I broke a spinning rod way back, but no others) have been good. They stand behind their rods too. That said, I'm sure the Orvis rod is a fine one. I also have an Echo shadow 10' 3W I picked up from Sierra Trading post, and I love it. It's light, and it has plenty of backbone. I sold a Grey's Streamflex 3W a while back because it felt too noodly for me.

Louis,



It's just my opinion and you know what they say about opinions. If you have an opportunity to handle a Clearwater 10' #3 you will see it is very light and there is virtually no tip droop.

I would love to try a Streamflex , hear g ood things about them . For me, that noodlely feel is optimal for euro nymphing. I think it helps with strike detection and feel; only downside is no power for longer casts but you’re not really doin that anyway most of the time

David wrote;



That is a very good point. However I have a Zen connection with things piscatorial and often can sense the approach of a trout to my offering.

I just received a Hardy Zephrus AWS 10ft 4wt. I am dying to try it as soon as the snow is gone around here.

Some people like a fast tipped rod for Euro style, but being that close to the fish I prefer a med/fast action rod with a softish tip because it helps with feel and I don't lose as many fish.

I use a Scott A4 10' 4wt, and I like the action very much for Czech nymphing. I just wish Scott made them in a 3wt. But it's a very versatile rod being a 4wt.

Find a rod that feels comfortable to hold out straight if you plan on doing any Polish/ Czeh style nymphing. Light weight is key so your arm and shoulder won't tire out too quick. If tip heavy, get a bigger reel to overcome that issue.

Iasgair wrote;



Since Euro nymphing does not really cast the line in the traditional sense why don't you just underline the rod with a WF#3?

When I fished a few days ago I wasn't going to go out and buy a specialty rod and find out I didn't enjoy the technique. I used my 1st generation Sage Light Line Series 9' #4 and underlined it with a #3 I had on a Hardy Featherweight reel I rarely use. Since I rarely had any line beyond the tip top it worked fine. That LL rod is what would be considered a full flex with a soft tip.

I tight line a lot with a Cabela's 9' 3W LsI rod and it works for me. I especially like this choice if I anticipate rising fish; if a hatch starts it's easy to switch out spools and fish dries. I'm not a fan of using a 10' rod for dry fly fishing, but have done it, and have friends who prefer it. The LsI is considered a medium fast to fast rod.

Well Matt, Iam so fed up with winter here that I signed for a class on nymph fishing techniques on the Au sable river. Im looking forward to learning something useful, and just getting away from home for a weekend. I will be very interested in rod suggestions, but also leaders and flies. If its worthwhile I will post some info, it may or may not be helpful, but at least im getting the hell out of the house!

Mike.

Hi Mike,

Well I hope you enjoy your getaway weekend. I know a little about Euro nymphing from a guy I met at another fly fishing forum, from watchng YouTube videos and from a book written by a Euro nymph expert named George Daniels. The name of the book in "Dynamic Nymphing". He has a newer book about the same subject but with some different opinions he has gained since he wrote the first book about eight years ago. There seems to be a whole sub culture of Euro nymph enthusiasts that I knew nothing about until about two weeks ago. In essence you want to have no fly line on the water, or even as some proponents propose no fly line at all in the guides and obviously none on the water. I recently tied up a 32' leader which as I think about it now is illegal on certain PA trout streams. The leader has three upper sections, 20# Maxima Chamelon, 15# Maxima Chamelon, 12# Rio Sighter material, a tippet ring and then 4' - 6' of 5X fluorocarbon tippet.

I know Louis has a Cabela's CZN 10' #3 rod he likes and I talked to a guy who is a devotee of Euro nypmhing and he let me feel an Orvis Clearwater 10' #3 which is a really nice rod for $189 (that was a sale price) He told me he also owns the Orvis Recon 10' #3 and he said it is 5X the rod the Clearwater is but the price point is $459 so it should be better rod. To tell you the truth I just don't want to buy another rod to pursue a new technique that I would only do if there were no rising fish. For the short periods when there are no rising fish on the Delaware system I can nymph the same way I have for the last fifty years; high stick, short line, long tippet, and two flies trying to get drag free drifts. I know Euro nymphing is better in regard to fish hooked and landed compared to more traditional nymphing. However at almost 76 years old I hardly care about adding another 10 fish a day to my lifelong tally in the thousands. I surely don't want to spend $400 - $500 to get geared up with a new rod, specilized leaders and have to tie a lot of tungsten beaded nymphs. So I'll probably start bringing my 1st generation Sage Light Line 9' #4 with the soft tip and put on a 50 year old Hardy Featherweight reel with a nice #3 line and my ultra long leaders and when the fish aren't rising I will position the Hyde in some nice looking riffles and tight line nymph until the fish start to rise.

Makes sense to me, Matt. My CZN is a 4 weight, though, and I bought it on sale. My 10' 3W is an Echo Shadow that I picked up from Sierra Trading post for a song--around 150.00 (the Shadow II goes for 250.00). It's my favorite long rod. But I don't use it when a hatch is anticipated, as I noted above. I'll use a 9' rod, and Euro nymphing principles when they are effective. I really like avoiding split shot when I can, and I like the tight to the fly approach allowed by the Euro approach. Most of the time with the 9' rod, and sometimes with the 10' rod, I use a 9' leader, a sighter, then 3-4' of tippet, the "all around" rig that George Daniel mentions in both of his books on nymphing. If I know I will just be nymphing, I'll often go with the 10' rod and a long mono leader, like the 18' Hends Camu I've been using this season. Everybody has to find what works for him or her, and what works for me, may not work at all well for someone else, though.

Wow Matt, I love the sounds of that combo, soft tip rods just do it for me, a gentle men I know has a couple of older Winston im6 that he would like to sell. Unfortunatley I had a blow up with a a-hole at the store I was working at and decided to go back into retirement! I don't know, those rods are calling me, I may have to do something sneaky to get them by the little woman. Oh well its looking more like spring and I will be up on the ausable next weekend so its getting better!

Mike

Matt, what did you decide? I went up to Gates lodge and took the nymph fishing class, first of all I had a blast! Great guys, but I also learned that a 10 ft. rod is very desirable for this type of fishing. For me the lighter the better, and it looks like the orvis 10 ft. 3 wt. is the way to go. I really got stoked on this type of fishing and im going to give a go! I got George Daniels book on Dymanic nymphing, which is a really good read. Let me know what you decided on.
Mike.

Hi Mike,



I've lost interest. I really don't want to buy another rod. I have to sell a rod before I buy a rod. I'm 76 and have about 20 fly rods. I gave a couple away last year to a fellow who loves to fly fish but just doesn't have the dough to have multiple rods.

I'm pretty sure I'm just gonna use my 9' #4 Sage Light Line series rod but use my Hardy Featherweight with a #3 line and a 16' leader with a sighter. You know I prefer to fish dry, and I do at least 80% of the time and then only to rising fish. I'm a dry fly snob. The other 20% is when I go over to the Dark Side with the 9' #7 and throw #1 Clousers. I'm actually going out tomorrow to give the Euro nymphing a try on a perfect little riffly freestone.