I’ve designed this series of rods especially for Czech, Polish, French, and Spanish style nymphing techniques. They are longer, slow action rods, which makes roll or lob casting heavily weighted nymphs much easier. And, the sensative tips are optimized for detecting subtle strikes. I build these rods with Figured English Walnut reel seats, and Olive, Straw, and Black silk thread wraps. They are available in the following sizes and weights.
Slow Action, Full Flex Taper – $2195
9′ 0″ 3 wt 3 piece 2 tips
9′ 0″ 4 wt 3 piece 2 tips
Dave what is the approximate finished weight of the 3 weight? Do you ever let any out for demo purposes. But it is winter here in CO. Thoughts on Bamboo in winter. How long to get one?
Hi Bill,
Great to hear from you of your interest in my EuroNymphing rods. Because my EuroNymphing rods are longer than what most are used to, they are a little heavier as well. My finished weight of my 3 wt rod is about 4.5 ounces. The final weight will vary slightly based on the type of wood in the reel seat. I’m happy to let folks take out my rods for a few hours to check them out when I can meet up with them but it’s not really cost effective to ship/insure them so someone who is not where I am located. But, I’m actually going to be in Denver for The Fly Fishing Show at the Denver Mart on January 4, 5, and 6th. I will not be having a booth at the show but my wife will be teaching a couple of casting classes and giving casting demonstrations. I’ll be hanging out at the show all 3 days. It’s possible that I might be able to bring my 3 wt with me to the Denver show if you think you might attend. I can’t promise anything yet but I’ll put it out there as a possibility. Also, I’ll be at The Fishing Show in Pleasanton, CA in February with a booth, and also at the Wasatch Fly Fishing show in Sandy, Utah in April with a booth.
A little about my EuroNymphing rods…I’ve gone to great lengths to design a rod taper for these rods that has a nice medium-slow action with a very sensitive tip that excels in the casting actions used in EuroNymphing. But, at the same time they do very well at casting a standard dry line in the event you’re on the water nymphing and fish start rising to the surface for a dry fly hatch. My rods do an excellent job at turning over light tippets/leaders on floating lines on these occasions. At 9 feet in length, they are a littel heavier than a lot of bamboo rods, but if balanced with an older, heavier reel, they feel nice. I actually have a couple of old Pflueger 2094 reels lined up with my EuroNymphing lines that I regularly use on these rods.
I fish my bamboo rods all year long out here in Central Oregon. My feeling is that they perform well in cooler temperatures, although I rarely take them out when it gets below freezing….actually, I just don’t fish when it gets that cold!
My lead time on rod orders varies, but right now, I could probably get one completed for you by the end of April. I ask for a deposit of $200 to get on my build schedule, with the balance due when I complete the rod. Please don’t hesitate to check back with me if you have more questions. I would love to get one of my rod into your hands.
Best Regards,
Dave
Dave I was looking without my readers on to see what Kathy was teaching. I did not see it for the Denver show. Still thinking about heading down there on the 5th-weather and other things permitting.
Couple questions: I have 9 foot FE Thomas that I sometime use. Not sure what it’s overall weight is but it gets pretty heavy after a couple hours. Thoughts about grip styles. Don’t hold it against me but I have a Temple Fork Drift Rod. It can extend to a 12 foot trout spey rod. 6 pieces whatever. But it had a couple things on it one that might be different than the cover shot and one thought. The grip on it is a rather robust cigar grip verse the little one on the FE Thomas thought on a beefy grip. The other thing that it has is a removalable butt section. Not a fighting but but a weight to help balance the whole thing out. Can even add some washers to it to get the balance right. Anyway do not want to reinvent the wheel. Maybe we can discuss it the 5th.
Hi Bill,
Great questions…All of us have different ideas of what we want in the balance of a rod. One of the challenges with these longer bamboo rods is balancing with modern-day reels. Most modern day reels are very light, and often aren’t great at balancing on a bamboo rod. But, most older reels are heavier than modern day reels and match better with bamboo. I personally fish with several older Hardy and Pflueger reels, along with a few heavier modern day reels that are heavier…Saracione and Bellingers. On my 9′ 0″ Euronymphing rods, I use an old Pflueger 2094 Gem reel. I’ve also been playing around with the idea of adding a small amount of weight in the butt cap of the reel seat on my longer rods for those anglers who are interested in this approach…just like you have with your Temple Fork’s rod. This sounds like a great topic of conversation when we get together at the Denver show. I’ll be bringing my 9′ 0″ 3 wt bamboo euronympyhing rod for you to check out, along with the reel I usually put on this rod. It might be a good idea if you also bring the reel you normally use for your euronymping…would be a fun thing to compare.
Dave