Appreciate suggestions for a nymphing rod (weight & length) -- Midwest/Northeast streams. Thanks Dave
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Appreciate suggestions for a nymphing rod (weight & length) -- Midwest/Northeast streams. Thanks Dave
I have a used TFO Pro(with Warranty Card) and a SA Nymph line I'd ship to you for $135. It will throw a double nymph rig and indicator very well. Have pics if you are interested. No pressure. James
I think you've thrown out a pretty broad catagory, but I'll try. Guessing you're talking trout (not steelhead or such), I'm kind of partial to a little 7' #4 bamboo made by Steve Pennington in Iowa for smaller streams, go to my Winston BIIx 8' #4 or Btx 9' #5 on a little bit bigger waters. Narrow down what you're fishing and I'm sure you'll get plenty of suggestions.
It depends entirely on the water body and your casting skills. Not the best answer, but the truth.
For best all around on gentle streams a 4-6 wt. 8-8'6" medium action rod is fine. For areas that require more roll casts, a 9' rod makes that easier. For tighter areas a 7'6" is good. Bass Pro's Hobbs Creek series is good and not too expensive ($90). TFO is good except for their shorter rods which tend to be VERY soft/slow and will be in the $125-150 range. Reddington rods are about the same, as are Cabelas (which you can often find on sale). Cabelas tend to be a little slow as well.
I nymph with all my rods. I just adjust my cast depending on how big of a nymph I have to use. I can sling large double bead stones with my 3 wt if necessary. The only thing I adjust for is size of the water and potential size of fish. I do know that the 9'6" and 10' lengths in 3 and 4 wt are very popular for Euro-nymphing nowadays.
I do not do much of that though.
I would say a 9' 5 wt should cover most trout waters...
51BC, good to hear from another Steve Pennington bamboo rod owner. I also have the Pennington Pine River 7 foot 4 weight rod, I use it for pocket water fishing on small streams. It is a fantastic rod.
Back to spike-2, out west on our larger rivers I use 11 foot 6 weight rods (Sage XP & Z-Axis) for nymphing. The reach cast and mend you can toss with those rods is unbelievable. But if your rivers are not really big then a 9 footer works just as well. If you are doing the strike indicator style of nymphing, that is what I do, then you do want to be able to toss a good mend to get a longer drag free drift.
Larry ---sagefisher---
51BC is right -- I do mean trout in small streams like the Ausable & Pere Marquete in MI and the the Upper Lehigh in PA. From my little bit of "homework" it seemed there was a fair number of discussions about 91/2 and 10' rods. But from the comments above that doesn't have to be the case.
Thanks all for your helpful comments. Dave
I usually use an 8'6" 4-weight for nymphing and it has worked fine. Last summer I bought a Cabela's CZN rod --10' 4-weight. I've only had a chance to use it once so far. I'll try it a few more times to see if I can get used to it, but would not be surprised to find myself going back to my regular rod. The 10' length made high sticking a bit easier, but the rod felt too soft to fling the fly back upstream after the drift.
I have used all my rods for nymphing at one time or another. Even my Pennington 7' 4wt. I live in the midwest and fish either an 8 1/2' 4wt or, if there is allot of wind, an 8'8" 5wt. I have a friend who does allot of nymphing and he uses a 9' 5wt.
for nymphing i like a slightly stiffer rod at least 9' long. I do like to do a lot of high sticking and and extra length helps keep line off the water, this help detect subtle bites. i generally like a 5wt because i use probably more weight than most fishemen, to get the flies down fast in fast/deep water. i recently bought a 6wt that's faster than anything i have. i will be working that as ofren as i can. i also do a lot of nymphing with my 4wt in the smaller < 40' wide, i normally fish.