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

Dave,

How about more two cents. I have had three Euro rods. The lengths were 11′ and 10’6″rods. What Jim says is very true so I will just hit “my” highlights. I now have a TFO Stealth 3 wt rod at 10’6″. When Euro-nymphing I like the longer rod. Just gets me closer to my target when fishing fast moving water. BUT using a 10″ rod like Jim works great especially if you bring an extra reel with normal fly line to swing smaller flies, dry flies or streamers. The longer Euro-rod I find is not good for those things because if using Euro fly line (thin level line) it’s tough to cast with 20′ leaders and light flies. A 10’rod seems to cast those light flies better when using normal fly line.

As far as the rod you are getting I can’t help you there since I don’t know anything about that company. But like I said earlier i have had three Euro rods – I like the TFO Stealth. Hope that doesn’t confuse you more.

Dave,

You might have read this already but I found this on the tacticalflyfisher.com site – Devon Olsen and Lance Egan site. They know their EURO!

I (Devin) was fortunate to fish prototypes of the longer rods during Joe’s development process and have fished the 10′ models as soon as they were available from the factory. Below is a quick rundown of my experiences with each model.

10′ 10″ 3 weight: This rod is very stiff/powerful overall but has just enough softness in the tip to protect tippet. Given it’s length, it provides very good reach and allows you to stay further from the fish. I like this rod a lot for floating the sighter methods where tuck casting is paramount. It is also excellent at fishing heavier nymphs and streamers. It does have swing weight that feels like most 11′ 3 weights so I suggest pairing it with a reel that is at 5.5-6.5 oz to provide balance in the cork. When I fished it with a lighter reel, I found it more difficult to make quick casts and hooksets and to hold the rod extended. With the heavier reel, it fishes much more comfortably.

10′ 10″ 2 weight: This rod very good for fishing micro leaders on wider rivers where reach is important but loading a cast with light nymphs is still necessary. It has plenty of power to fight large fish. So far, I have landed a carp of around 7-8 pounds and a rainbow that I taped at 25″ on this rod. The cushion in the tip allowed me to handle both of them on 6x tippet without much trouble. It is a very good all around nymphing rod as long as aggressive casts are not mandatory. The soft tip does recover slower than the 3 weight, and the shorter 2 weight, so I find I need to wait longer for the rod to unload on my back cast to maintain accuracy. This characteristic means that this rod also performs best in calmer conditions as it is difficult to punch accurate casts into the wind or to tuck cast with authority. Given its length, it performs better when paired with a reel in the 5.5-6 oz range for balance, but it does have a bit less swing weight than the 10′ 10″ 3 weight.

10′ 2 weight: For smaller rivers, this is a very good choice as an all around nymphing rod. It has more power than most other 2 weight Euro nymphing rods I’ve fished, and quick recovery, so it is possible to land large fish and accurately cast into tight quarters. I have enjoyed using this rod for floated sighter methods and dry/droppers on a Euro nymph leader on the smaller waters I frequent. It tuck casts well and is very light in the hand. With its shorter blank and light overall weight, a reel between 4.2 and 5 oz is sufficient for balance.

10′ 1 weight: This rod is a ton of fun for small water. I compared it to a couple of 10′ 1 weights that other friends have, and it has a lot more power in the lower end of the rod but still has a lot of cushion in the upper half of the rod. It protects light tippet very well and makes smaller fish a lot of fun on the line. It loads really well with lighter nymphs and propels them without a lot of effort. It does lack hook setting authority compared to the stiffer and longer models so it is not a great choice if you fish a lot of larger heavier wire nymphs and streamers. Similar to the 10′ 2 weight, it doesn’t need a lot of weight to balance it and a reel over 4 oz will probably do the job.

Are you tired Of our advice yet? I just happen to come across the following video from the guy who “wrote the book.”