Nymphing rod

[Joe_P]

Hello all, looking for a nymphing rod. Normally i fish bamboo but nymphing with them is no fun. (Nymphing is really no fun either, but catching fish is) There are tons of new rods out there. I also have a 6 and a 9 year old so i have been out of the loop for a few years. I don't really want to euro nymph so i am looking for something for indicator fishing. I see lots of 10 foot rods and not sure if they are all euro nymphing rods. I used to be a winston guy, and i see they have a 10' rod for nymphing and then they have 10' 4 and 5 wt rods as well. I also see lots of people fish 10' orivs Recon's and not sure if they are using it for Euro nymphing as it is 10' and i see alot of euro rods that can be up to 11.5' long and i don't think recons come in those sizes. I appreciate any info and discussion in advance.

 

[NRD]

I've been using a 10' 4wt Recon for much of the last year. Recently even learned to Tuck cast with a mono rig. I am absolutely convinced that Euro or tight line nymphing is the least fun way to not catch fish. I'm also tiring of 10' rods. It seems to me that any 9' rod which can cast your nymph and indicator should be fine.

 

[FlyLikeTheFish]

I have a Marryat tactical pro nymph special 11' 6'' 3wt and quite like it. It's a long rod for sure so tight woods are a pain, though for true ESN the length is a huge plus. Very accurate rod.

 

[Frederick V. C.]

You can tight line or indicator fish with anything of reasonable length, 8.5 or more imo. Your choice should probably be based on what kind of water you plan to fish. On smaller water I have nymph fished for years with a fast action 8.5' rod but when I got a 10ft. 3/4 (cheap no name, but very light) it was a real eye opener. I keep a floater on it with loop to loop connection at the colored sighter. Handy when the evening hatch actually happens.

 

[ryansheehan]

A good 10 foot 4 weight is the most versatile rod out there for most of the places we trout fish around here.

 

[falcon]

A good 10 foot 4 weight is the most versatile rod out there for most of the places we trout fish around here.

I always thought so. They tend to have a little swing weight but it is not a real issue

 

[troutbert]

A 9 ft 5 wt works well for nymphing, and is also very versatile for other things: dry flies, streamers, etc.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I really like my Hardy UL LL 10'2" 2wt, it's probably the most versatile rod I own. You can tight-line on it or indicator fish with it and it excels in both scenarios. I primarily indicator fish on mine (I opt to do my tight-lining on my SAGE ESN HD 3wt 10ft as I find the rod to be more sensitive) with a RIO Tech Trout 4WF-F smooth line (current model) and the line flies off the guides. You'd be surprised how far you can cast this rod too so you could implement it for dries. Some guys claim to have casted this rod 60ft. I don't know if I can replicate that myself, but I did have it to a pond last year for some evening/night fishing after fishing a creek, and the rod did well on the pond. Not my ideal choice for pond fishing, but it did the job. Also, don't think just because it's a 2wt that it's a wimpy noodle. On my last outing at Penns I tossed 4.5mm beaded eggs (these are heavy water-resistant flies) just fine on this rod. I water-loaded my casts. When I fished my Helios H3F 6wt 9ft with those same eggs they felt like they were going to break the rod! The Hardy just has such a great recovery rate. You can give it a little flick and get a small precise cast or haul it and fire some line out. It's a beautiful rod too with the textured bronze blank with a transition to exposed glossy carbon fiber towards the hilt that totally looks cooler than the H3 white label. I don't mind that my Hardy is made in Korea, it's just as good as the contemporary high end US rods performance-wise though the US rods are finished a tad batter. Howard Croston is a genius when it comes to taper design and really knocked it out of the park with his new lineup of rods. My Hardy 2wt was my most fish rod of 2022 and will probably be my most fished rod this year too and I have yet to get it out.

A 10ft. 4wt is a great option too, but I'd rather have the increased sensitivity of my 2wt, which is far more advantageous for tight-lining than a 4wt, and take the deficit in power and stiffness of the 4wt. The only areas I can see a 10ft. 4wt besting my Hardy 2wt is with wind and streamer fishing.

I like my Hardy so much that I am going to try and get my UL LL 4wt 9'2" rod back from my friend as a long range dry fly rod.

 

[Nocktavius]

If you’re buying a rod specifically for nymphing go 2-3 wt and 10’. 4 wts and above just don’t have the suppleness for strike detection and tippet protection (you’ll pop off a lot of fish). A 10’ 4 wt is a jack of all trades and master of none. I throw nymphs (tight line and Indy), dries and small streamers with my T&T Contact II 10’ 3 wt. It’s a great rod- just bring a spare Harvey leader with you to the river and you’re good to go. The new T&T Zone nymphing rods look interesting as well as the Diamondback ideal nymph (after they poached Joe Goodspeed). Plenty of options out there.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

Oh, there are a lot more nymph-specific rods than my Hardy haha, almost too many to list. The T&T Contact and Diamondback nymph rods are great too. The T&T contact has had great reviews and a lot of people seem to like them. I have spotted several of them on my fishing endeavors. It's neat to own a rod from a PA-based company. The Diamondbacks are getting a lot of love too. I think they look a lot like the Scott G series in terms of the brown wraps over the gray blanks.

They way I look for a new rod is check out rods I just so happen to like (probably for a cosmetic reason). Test out the ones you like and narrow it down from there. I have found that a "rule-out" ideology" helps me sift through the "fluff" of the modern day fly rod market. Buy and fish the rod you like and see what you think. If you don't like it, sell it, otherwise you're set! Most of these rods mentioned in the past two posts typically have good resale value. My methodologies for finding the right fly rod are rigorous and not cost-effective, but in the end I get what I want and I am glad to have to the knowledge I now posses, which makes my future rod buying decisions a lot simpler.

 

[Spookintrout]

I would not go with any rod under 10 FT for nymphing. The idea is to lengthen your reach. Something like 85% of all trout are caught within 25ft so a rod of more than 10ft makes the most sense in terms of reach. Virtually any rod will work. Purchase what you can afford, so you can learn, and potentially not end up hating your rod. What makes a great nymph fisherman ends up being your ability to be stealth and get your fly to the fish.

 

[Spookintrout]

You do not need a nymph specific rod to nymph but it will greatly increase your ability to reach fish without having to move as much (moving=spooking) as someone with a smaller pole. Also nymph poles can handle light tippet alot better which ends up being a major selling point to someone targeting fish that get spooky, or larger wiser fish.

 

[Schaefer406]

Hello all, looking for a nymphing rod. Normally i fish bamboo but nymphing with them is no fun. (Nymphing is really no fun either, but catching fish is) There are tons of new rods out there. I also have a 6 and a 9 year old so i have been out of the loop for a few years. I don't really want to euro nymph so i am looking for something for indicator fishing. I see lots of 10 foot rods and not sure if they are all euro nymphing rods. I used to be a winston guy, and i see they have a 10' rod for nymphing and then they have 10' 4 and 5 wt rods as well. I also see lots of people fish 10' orivs Recon's and not sure if they are using it for Euro nymphing as it is 10' and i see alot of euro rods that can be up to 11.5' long and i don't think recons come in those sizes. I appreciate any info and discussion in advance.

If you are not looking to tightline nymph, there is not any practical reason for you to get a 2-3wt if you are fishing medium to large sized trout streams. With indicator rigs, you need the casting power that a heavier wt rod provides combined with a WF floating line with a nice shooting head. Assuming you are fishing medium to large trout streams, and that you are not always going to be fishing nymphs, I would say you should look for a 9.5' 4-5wt to cover your needs. I think a lot of people in this thread are missing that you specified you do not want to tightline nymph.

 

[Spookintrout]

If you are not looking to tightline nymph, there is not any practical reason for you to get a 2-3wt if you are fishing medium to large sized trout streams. With indicator rigs, you need the casting power that a heavier wt rod provides combined with a WF floating line with a nice shooting head. Assuming you are fishing medium to large trout streams, and that you are not always going to be fishing nymphs, I would say you should look for a 9.5' 4-5wt to cover your needs. I think a lot of people in this thread are missing that you specified you do not want to tightline nymph.

TRUUUUUEEE that man I did not read he wanted to indicator fish. If you want to indicator fish than buying a nymph rod would be counterintuitive because it would significantly reduce your casting ability.

 

[Joe_P]

If you are not looking to tightline nymph, there is not any practical reason for you to get a 2-3wt if you are fishing medium to large sized trout streams. With indicator rigs, you need the casting power that a heavier wt rod provides combined with a WF floating line with a nice shooting head. Assuming you are fishing medium to large trout streams, and that you are not always going to be fishing nymphs, I would say you should look for a 9.5' 4-5wt to cover your needs. I think a lot of people in this thread are missing that you specified you do not want to tightline nymph.

Thank you very much. That is what i was thinking as well. I can nymph small streams with bamboo, even what we consider medium in the east. The larger type waters are where i am stuck. I have some 9' winstons laying around that i kept, (kept my winston graphites) and may keep an eye out on the bay for a little longer.

 

[Schaefer406]

Thank you very much. That is what i was thinking as well. I can nymph small streams with bamboo, even what we consider medium in the east. The larger type waters are where i am stuck. I have some 9' winstons laying around that i kept, (kept my winston graphites) and may keep an eye out on the bay for a little longer.

I would lean more towards the 5wt side if you are going to be throwing tandem rigs of 3 mm beadheads or splitshot equivalent with a lunky indicator such as an airlock. Best of luck!

 

[Schaefer406]

TRUUUUUEEE that man I did not read he wanted to indicator fish. If you want to indicator fish than buying a nymph rod would be counterintuitive because it would significantly reduce your casting ability.

Your advice for tightline holds true though! The extra reach and rod tip sensitivity is key for me since I mostly tightline. I am fishing a 10' 3wt Recon and my contact with it is unreal. I hardly ever cast 25' away from my body and more-so rely on a stealthy approach just like you. Hell, I even throw some 5.5 mm beaded streams on the 3wt and it works just fine. It does struggle with big indicators though which is why I stay with stick on's or NZ wool with the 3wt.

 

[Nocktavius]

If you are not looking to tightline nymph, there is not any practical reason for you to get a 2-3wt if you are fishing medium to large sized trout streams. With indicator rigs, you need the casting power that a heavier wt rod provides combined with a WF floating line with a nice shooting head. Assuming you are fishing medium to large trout streams, and that you are not always going to be fishing nymphs, I would say you should look for a 9.5' 4-5wt to cover your needs. I think a lot of people in this thread are missing that you specified you do not want to tightline nymph.

Expending the effort / money to purchase a new fly rod specifically for nymphing without any intention of tight lining seems short sighted IMO. No reason you can’t chuck a bobber with a bamboo rod. But if you want a rod than can do everything, I’d find a nice fast 10’ 3 wt like the ones mentioned above. Then do yourself a favor and tie up a mono rig and watch your catch rate skyrocket. I fish a 2 nymph indicator rig with my 10’ 3 wt contact II on the Delaware all the time and have never felt like I couldn’t make a cast (at least one that wasn’t going to get immediately trashed by drag across conflicting currents). In nymphing your wading game is more important than your casting game anyway.

 

[Joe_P]

Expending the effort / money to purchase a new fly rod specifically for nymphing without any intention of tight lining seems short sighted IMO. No reason you can’t chuck a bobber with a bamboo rod. But if you want a rod than can do everything, I’d find a nice fast 10’ 3 wt like the ones mentioned above. Then do yourself a favor and tie up a mono rig and watch your catch rate skyrocket. I fish a 2 nymph indicator rig with my 10’ 3 wt contact II on the Delaware all the time and have never felt like I couldn’t make a cast (at least one that wasn’t going to get immediately trashed by drag across conflicting currents). In nymphing your wading game is more important than your casting game anyway.

Its not throwing a bobber, it is throwing the weight. That is why it is more for big rivers. I have an old winston 9 5wt WT, but am going to keep my eye out for a slightly longer BIIIX or even B2MX, not as familiar with the newer rods, but don't want one built for dry fly fishing like the air seems to be. My father lives in TN, and i am really looking for something to nymph those big tailwaters down there.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I agree with what @Nocktavius is saying. What I don't agree is with people recommending 9ft 5wts.

If @Spookintrout stated that 85% of trout were caught within 25ft. what would be the point of having the shorter stouter rod?

As I stated before the trade-off for nymphing is MASSIVELY in the favor of the longer rod in terms of line manipulation (the added length 10+ ft. and above helps a bunch with line control), sensitivity and tippet protection, though I think tippet tippet protection is also factored by angling skill. It would be a good idea to purchase a rod that could tight-line effectively incase the OP wishes to explore that option down the road. Tight-lining with a 9ft 5wt is doable but not very feasible and the experience would not be very pleasant.

When discussing rods I much more prefer to compare specific models as the actions and tapers vary with manufacturers and rod models. If we simply look at the line wt of a fly rod and determine that a larger wt fly rod can inherently outperform a rod of a lower wt class than my 9ft. 6wt H3F should be able to out cast a heavy nymph rig better than my Hardy 10'2" 2wt... but it doesn't, and the is because the Hardy has deeper power reserves and is able to tap into those to assist in leveraging the heavier rig.

Let's discuss indicator nymphing in of itself, which covers a wide variety of fly weights and indicator sizes. I don't know what kind of nymphing the OP is looking to do but it sounds like he just wants to do standard trout indicator fishing, which doesn't necessarily mean huge indicators. Most of my lighter nymphing can be accomplished with a lighter football style indicator. Now if I get into the heavy nymph rigs where I am tossing a heavier half inch style circle indicator, yeah, I'd bump up to a heavier wt rod, and that probably would be the proverbial 9ft 5wt. I think indicator nymphers need to focus more on the indicators they use. A good balance between buoyancy and density. I like the denser Oros and Lightning Strike Twist on style indicators as they are less wind-resistant due to their density and float well, though not as well as an indicator made of lighter material. The point I am trying to make is that sometimes you have to tweak indicators to better suite the capability of a fly rod. In instances where I am fishing larger indicators I am not worried about indicator slap because the water conditions are turbid and the fish aren't going to be wary about surface disturbances. And yes, I also understand certain instances require super light indicators such as Ghostech or NZ style.

Lastly, I would like to talk about fly rod actions. I won't ever say that a graphite rod mimics an action close to how bamboo rod feels, but a the deeper flexing nymph rods present a closer flex profile, so the OP should in theory be more used to the deeper flexing nymph rods as opposed to the shorter faster action graphite rods. Getting used to to a longer rod takes some time too.