Reply To: First Euro rod recommendations

Dave,
Congratulations!

I am glad to offer my 2¢.  I don’t have a lot (or any) rod construction experience.  But, I have fished hard with two very different Euro rods.  My first was an 11’ 3wt.  I opted for that rod to get the max length.  And, it worked well.  However, although it was a 4-piece rod, the pieces were so long the rod case only fit into my gear bag diagonally, and that was still a stretch.  It was just a pain to pack for trips.  For that reason, I sold it and got a 10’ 2wt.  That has worked well for me.  It fits my gear bag and honestly, I haven’t missed that extra foot.

Another consideration for not going with the longest rod is something called rod recovery.  That describes how quickly the rod tip stops moving after the cast.  It is hard for rod manufactures to minimize this tendency the longer they make these soft-tip rods.  The slower the rod tip recovery, the more difficult it is to start a controlled drift after the cast.  Therefore, I would pick the 10’ 2wt.  By the way, the 2wt has plenty of backbone to handle big trout.

Sorry, I can’t offer any personal experience with the grip or thread wrap options.  However, I do know that with a Euro rod, you want the down-locking reel seats to position the reel close to the butt-end of the rod to help counter-balance these long rods.

Here’s 2 more cents.  Some parts of the Henry’s Fork are conducive to euro nymphing such as the canyon area.  But, a lot of that river is wide, flat and shallow and the fish are spooky.  That requires fishing farther away than usually doable with a Euro rod.  So, be ready to nymph at a distance with your favorite indicator or dry-dropper.  But, the Yellowstone is full of Euro nymphing water.  Try your best to get to Soda Butte creek.  It is great Euro water with chunky cutthroats.

Fins up!

JRC