Medium or Medium Fast Action Rod for Nymph Fishing?

Gear & Reviews
21

People seem to have strong feelings on this issue, so I hesitate to engage. I have no expertise, just a lot of time spent nymphing.

A medium fast rod did fine for me. I tried a much softer and longer Czech nymphing rod and didn’t enjoy it as it made picking up the line and heaving it upstream more work. I never tried it with a fast rod, but I don’t think that would have made much difference to me. The reason for this is that had my greatest nymphng success on drifts that came downstream within 10’ of my feet. There may have been more fish there, but I suspect the biggest reason was that I could achieve a more natural drift close in.

22

Denny, there was no malice intended. I think some folks just don’t get my sense of humor. I will cease and desist on this thread.

23

Simon Gawesworth’s book on Single Handed Spey Casting explains the principles of a basic cast and how rod flex affects a fly cast.

The illustration 5 and 6 below is from his book explains the concept of the chord (dotted line) length of a flexed fly rod which he calls the “true lever length.” It is what I call the “effective rod length,” and it is longer for a fast action rod than a slow action rod.