Nymphing rod

[Silent Ocelot]

@Joe_P, some of the Winston nymph rods look pretty neat too and I am intrigued by them. I've seen 4 and 5wt 10ft versions. I don't even know if Winston is currently producing a nymph-specific rod. I do like that good ol' Winston feel and need to fish my LT more. The Helios H3F 10ft. 5wt may be something to explore also. I have no experience with that rod though to provide a thorough synopsis.

The more I read about what you are looking for the more I confuse myself into recommending what I suspect would be the most ideal platform for you. The joys of over-thinking...

 

[Joe_P]

@Joe_P, some of the Winston nymph rods look pretty neat too and I am intrigued by them. I've seen 4 and 5wt 10ft versions. I don't even know if Winston is currently producing a nymph-specific rod. I do like that good ol' Winston feel and need to fish my LT more. The Helios H3F 10ft. 5wt may be something to explore also. I have no experience with that rod though to provide a thorough synopsis.

The more I read about what you are looking for the more I confuse myself into recommending what I suspect would be the most ideal platform for you. The joys of over-thinking...

They do make a nymphing rod that is 10'. They come in 3, 4, and 5 wts. They also make the Air up to 10' in 4 and 5 wts. I remember the BIIIX came in 10' 4wt and 9.5 5wt and 6wt. The air seem to be dry fly type rods and i don't think chucking weight would be much fun. I think i am going to lean to the BIIIx but i have to read more about their other newer rods.

 

[krayfish2]

I'm pretty sure that I used to tight line nymph spring, penns, little j and others with an old Leon Chandler 7'6", 5 weight.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I think think those 10ft nymph-specific Winstons are a thing of beauty and should suite you well. Hope you can get one. I'll keep an eye out on the internet for listings for those rods but they don't pop up very often. Yeah, the Air is definitely a dry fly rod. It would be terrible to nymph with and would probably struggle under moderately heavy nymphs. I want an Air 4wt 8'6". I tried one out at a local fly shop and really liked it.

I still stand by the fact that Winston has a feel that is unique. A nice relaxed tempo but still very accurate. Their rods look the best too.

 

[Joe_P]

I think think those 10ft nymph-specific Winstons are a thing of beauty and should suite you well. Hope you can get one. I'll keep an eye out on the internet for listings for those rods but they don't pop up very often. Yeah, the Air is definitely a dry fly rod. It would be terrible to nymph with and would probably struggle under moderately heavy nymphs. I want an Air 4wt 8'6". I tried one out at a local fly shop and really liked it.

I still stand by the fact that Winston has a feel that is unique. A nice relaxed tempo but still very accurate. Their rods look the best too.

If the air is a dry fly rod, and the fact that it comes from Wisnton, if you are in the market for that type, i would almost guarantee it is a winner, even without casting it. I can guarantee a few things in this world, one being winston knows how to develop dry fly tapers, lol.

 

[dudemanspecial]

I'm pretty sure that I used to tight line nymph spring, penns, little j and others with an old Leon Chandler 7'6", 5 weight.

The difference between a 9 foot and 10 foot rod is one step forward or backwards.

I say this as a guy that fished a 10 footer for years (still do sometimes). Mainly use a 8.5 now.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

@Joe_P, that they do! I have an LT 4wt 8'3" that I need to fish a whole lot more! I also think the G. Loomis Asquith 4wt 9ft and Hardy UL LL 4wt 9'2" are great dry fly rods... I need get my Hardy 4wt back... and an Asquith 4wt 9ft. Nothing like feeling one gets with a Winston! I hope that you can get your 10 footer Winston in your preferred line wt. Methinks it will make for a stellar rod for larger rivers.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

@dudemanspecial, I do like an 8.5ft length too, and would have to say if I had to choose one platform for all of PA trout fishing, I'd choose a 4wt 8'6", sacrificing the power and casting distance of the larger caliber 9 footers for a more compact rod better suited for close quarters. My personal favorite being my H3F 4wt 8'6". Great rod, though I may try and use it in a trade to get my Hardy 4wt back. During 2019 and 2020 I fished that H3 a lot, it may have been my most used rod in 2020. I fished in creeks varying in size from 10ft wide creeks to Tulpehocken sized creeks (fished it on the Tully). It felt good to use it in all of those different sized creeks, but it did feel a tad underpowered in the Tully (naturally). I find the 8.5 length length rods to be just perfect for creeks where a 9ft length rod is a tad too long. My next 8'6" rod will probably be a Winston Air 2 4wt. I'll probably have to wait until next year to get that one as I spent way too d*** much on fly fishing this year. A fly shop I go to frequently had one but I didn't see it there the last time I went there. A buddy of mine had a Winston Nimbus 3wt 8'6" that he adored and used for all of the wild/native trout trips we went on and he threw some really great loops with it. I say had because he broke the tip last year. I don't think he ever repaired it as he lazy and smokes too much. The Nimbus was a cool offering from Winston, an interesting slate blue blank color as opposed to the proverbial deep green associated with the company. On discount these rods could be had for around $300, helluva bargain for a rod with a good and proper metal tube. I digress...

My main choice for using a 10ft rod are what I have stated above. There's no denying the advantages of using a 10+ ft. rod as the line manipulation and drift control offered is substantially better than that of shorter rod lengths. So any creek where I can use a 10ft. rod I am going to use it.

 

[JeffK]

The modern nymph rods are designed to be light in hand and give one more control, especially if you need to cross conflicting currents. I too used all my old rods for tight line or classic upstream nymphing and caught many fish doing it. But the old rods feel like clubs to me when I use them for nymphing today. Modern nymph rods are more fun to nymph with IMHO - they are lighter, offer more control, are more sensitive, and catch a lot of fish. The downside is that the more they are specialized for nymphing the poorer they are for dries. Older nymph rods did both well; modern ones not so much. I haven't seen the Winston ones - maybe they do dries better than others.

One does need to get used to modern nymphing rods.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I agree with most of what you say @JeffK. Due to the inherent properties of modern nymph-specific rods they are not very good for dries. I will say that the Hardy 2wt I have can fish dries pretty well because I have a WF line on it. It varies from rod to rod. The Hardy is also a 10'2" rod so it's not as long as some of the other nymph rods. I'd venture to say an 11ft rod would be horrible to fish dries with. I also wouldn't fish my SAGE ESN 3wt 10ft. for dries. The Hardy UL LL is a mystery to me. It just seems to do everything pretty well. Only thing it really won't do well is streamers.

I don't think those Winstons would be very good for dries, though they may do it better than a lighter wt rod in the same length.

The casting done with nymphing and dry fly fishing are drastically different so rods curtailed to each should be chosen for the intended purpose. Rods need to be assessed and judged for intended purpose and what should be within the realm of what they should be able to do.

 

[mikeg126]

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.

Joe - Call Tactical Fly Fisher. Devin Olsen is the owner and one of the top authorities on euro nymphing/tight line nymphing. He recently put a series of videos on You Tube about selecting rods. I've talked to him about other things but I would trust his advice.