Long nymphing specialty rod

[bigjohn58]

This post makes me want to build a rod this winter if I could ever find the blanks for the right price.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

Good stuff! Thanks for the replies. I may delay my purchase and buy the Helios. It sure is tempting...

BTW: I apologize for my typo in the title. It seems I had a stuffy nose when I tried to type "long". At least I got to enjoy the wit of folks on this board.

 

[albatross]

Like AFish and RyanSheehan I have a 10 ft 4 wt that I use almost exclusively for trout fishing. My rod is the original Helios that I bought used. The rod is very versatile and allows me to nymph or throw dries or streamers depending on the situation.

I imagine the Recon would also work just fine, but keep your eyes on the used market for an original Helios if you can find one.

 

[redietz]

I've got a 10' 3wt and 10' 4wt, both StreamFlexes. They were designed for nymphing, but I use them mainly for upstream wet flies. Both will throw dries effectively, and I was using the 4wt for streamer fishing a couple of weeks ago, with no problems.

They're no way limited to nymph fishing alone.

(Although the "log" in the original title to this thread was probably a typo, I find these rods especially useful for putting the fly on the other side of logs near the far bank.)

 

[lineman]

I use a Syndicate competition nymph rod. The model is a P2 1034.
It is a 10' 3wt. 4 piece and weighs in at 3 ounces which is lighter than most 2wt. rods on the market.
The rod has a very sensitive tip and is a mid flex rod. The butt section is large for a 3wt. rod and can handle large, heavy fish easily.
I just had it on the upper Madison River for ten days and it handled dozens of large trout easily with minimal break offs. Prior to using this rod I hand many more break offs with my 9' 5wt. St. Croix.
I believe these rods are as good or better than any 10' nymph rod on the market and are more economical.
Google them and read about them, there is a lot of good things written about them and very little if any negative. I highly recommend a Syndicate nymph rod.

 

[fishhead]

I have a 10' 4wt Recon that I have only fished twice that I would sell. Just havent been able to get comfortable with it. Personally prefer my Streamflex and my Douglas.Shoot me a PM if you are interested.
Joe

 

[tomitrout]

I have a 10'-6" Tenkara rod....yet to use it.

 

[ryan1mazza]

I rock a 10' 5wt Recon 90% of the time. I euro nymph with it mainly but it has no problem tossing big articulated streamers. Its also a decent stick for steelheading. The Recon is a beast of rod.

 

[Flydrifter74]

I like my Scott A4 10' 5 wt for nymphing and have no problems with casting a dry fly.

 

[JeffK]

I'm a big fan of the 10' 3 wt Grey's Streamflex with a 4 wt line. Prefer the original Streamflex rather than the newer Streamflex XF2 and Streamflex Plus rods. They keep getting more expensive, but do not fish better IMHO (nicer hardware on new ones though - often had to reglue reel seat on the older ones)

 

[jkilroy]

10' 4wt esn. You can do most everything with it. Cortland nymph rod is another good option.

 

[jkilroy]

10' 4wt esn. You can do most everything with it. Cortland nymph rod is another good option.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

I took a 10' 4WT Recon demo rod out on the Lackawanna River for a few hours in the morning on Thursday. I had a 15' euro-style leader with 2 short sighter sections, running 3 nymphs through runs.

I caught a handful of trout, but the point was to get a feel for the rod. Here are my impressions:

1. It is really, really light in the hand, especially with a fairly heavy reel (Ross Rhythm 2). After myriad casts, I had zero shoulder or wrist fatigue. That was nice. I figure that was partly due to the light weight and partly to the rod being longer so I did not have to extend my hand as much as with my 9' rod.

2. It's really stiff. I felt like it was too stiff for lighter tippet. I did not break off any fish on 5x, but I'm not sure how it would handle lighter tippet. I also felt like it was a little too fast when I set the hook. Maybe that impression is based on what I'n used to. On a side note, I had 5 WT line on my reel and it had no problem casting 35'+ of line. I was stripping a tandem of weighted streamers for 15 minutes at the end of my morning just to try that out with the rod. It handled the distance and crazy set-up with ease.

3. It's not quite long enough. I felt like there was some benefit to the 10' length compared to my 9' rod. that only made we want more reach!

Orvis is coming out with a 10' 3 WT Recon in late winter or early Spring. I'll give that a shot since it should feel softer and a little more sensitive.

Greg at A&G Outfitters recommended the new Sydicate rods. he said guys have been coming up from Lehigh Valley to buy them from him. He's getting more stock in fairly soon so I'll try one then. I'm specifically interested in the 11' 3 WT. It retails for $325.00, just about the same price as the Recon.

So, the quest continues...

 

[ryansheehan]

Fly-Swatter wrote:
I took a 10' 4WT Recon demo rod out on the Lackawanna River for a few hours in the morning on Thursday. I had a 15' euro-style leader with 2 short sighter sections, running 3 nymphs through runs.

I caught a handful of trout, but the point was to get a feel for the rod. Here are my impressions:

1. It is really, really light in the hand, especially with a fairly heavy reel (Ross Rhythm 2). After myriad casts, I had zero shoulder or wrist fatigue. That was nice. I figure that was partly due to the light weight and partly to the rod being longer so I did not have to extend my hand as much as with my 9' rod.

2. It's really stiff. I felt like it was too stiff for lighter tippet. I did not break off any fish on 5x, but I'm not sure how it would handle lighter tippet. I also felt like it was a little too fast when I set the hook. Maybe that impression is based on what I'n used to. On a side note, I had 5 WT line on my reel and it had no problem casting 35'+ of line. I was stripping a tandem of weighted streamers for 15 minutes at the end of my morning just to try that out with the rod. It handled the distance and crazy set-up with ease.

3. It's not quite long enough. I felt like there was some benefit to the 10' length compared to my 9' rod. that only made we want more reach!

Orvis is coming out with a 10' 3 WT Recon in late winter or early Spring. I'll give that a shot since it should feel softer and a little more sensitive.

Greg at A&G Outfitters recommended the new Sydicate rods. he said guys have been coming up from Lehigh Valley to buy them from him. He's getting more stock in fairly soon so I'll try one then. I'm specifically interested in the 11' 3 WT. It retails for $325.00, just about the same price as the Recon.

So, the quest continues...

Like I said earlier I use a 10' 4 weight helios but have also used my fathers recon same specs. While the butt section of the rod is stiff the tip is super absorbent. When using small midges like I often do, the tip protects 7x(shhh I dont want to get into what a horrible person I am for using it, but size 22-26 its kind of a neccesity) without issue. It's definitely a different feeling than shorter rods but it will protect light tipppet. As far as wanting to reach more I think alot of that comes down to body type. The difference between someone 6'4" and 5'8" can definitely change the need to go from 10 to 10.5 or 11.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

Good point on the body type. My buddy is around 5'8". He uses 11'+ rods. I'm 5'11" so I do have a little bit of an advantage. I think the only way to tell is for me to demo a few rods & lengths as those opportunities are available.