Basically, it’s slightly worse than average. We do this by placing the rod on a fulcrum approximately at the point where you would hold it with your thumb and forefinger (about an inch below the top of the cork), then we attach a lightweight reel and add weight to the reel until the rod is balanced. Bottom Line: I don’t want to pass judgement on this rod yet, since it’s not a 3-weight. Looking forward to your review of the other Contact Rods, especially the 10'8" 3wt. We go back and forth on whether or not it should be included on almost every test. This rod is covered by the Sage Lifetime Warranty. Those who are after a nymphing type rod designed to fish very light (beads from 2 mm) or dry fly at short distance, with a natural fly line parallel would be happy to use: the Greys GR80, the Soldarini Hydropsyche Elite Competition, the Sage ESN HD or the Syndicate Pipeline. Thomas & Thomas not only joins them, but one ups them all with their new "Contact" series of tight-line nymphing rods. Packed with a suite of specialty features, this reel is designed specifically with the Euro-Nymph angler in mind and is fine tuned to the nuances of the application. There are good rods, and there are bad rods. 2016 has in many ways been the Year of the Fly Rod, with some impressive technology creating some truly groundbreaking rods from many of the major rodmakers. The Hydropsyche Elite Competition series designed by the former French competitor Thibault Guilpain has a thin blank with a night blue gloss finish coating. Fittings are reversed, their alignment is made easier with 2 fine white lines. The Fuji ceramic stripping guide is followed by 11 hard chrome single leg. Please leave a comment with any thoughts/questions/comments. A review of the CTS Affinity X 2wt 11' as a euro nymphing rod. I agree there are a lot of new tight line rods out there for less than 300.00 like the shadow II, syndicate, epiphany (by moonshine) that were not reviewed this year but should be next year and will be different. It’s not that a downlocking seat looks better, or is even more comfortable, but it dramatically changes the weight needed to balance the rod. Casting and Sensitivity: Like the ESN and the DXF, the Marryat Tactical scored the maximum number of combined points in casting and sensitivity. This is particularly important for longer (10.5’ and 11’) rods. Bottom Line: An excellent rod for the price! Hey George. About the technique now, the choice between those models will really depend of the ratio of your nymphing or dry-fly fishing. Then Tippet ring to sighter and then tied to 3-5' of tippet. Regards from Barcelona. If you can afford one buy it, you won’t be disappointed. These two blanks have an almost identical behaviour in fishing action, only the manufacturing changes: the Maxia is more typical nymphing, while the Contact is more typical dry fly fishing. The grey aluminium reel seat has a bottle green insert, the shape of the handle stays the same as the MX. If reach is your primary concern, this is the rod for you. The brown dull coating of the blank and the red wraps provide an original look. Add in the Hardy Rods, also. Its light weight makes this rod super fun to fish and a welcome reprieve from the heavier rods that we’re used to. The TP tied the Mystic for 2nd place with a BTW of 8.5 oz and a still super light swing weight of 96. Very nice job in doing the eval. I caught fish big and small and must say that from a novice's perspective, this rod is extremely sensitive and can easily detect strikes, even from small trout. It’s horribly heavy for a 10’ rod. The ESN HD is a complete redesign of the old ESN. Over the years I have fished the Hardy Zenith 10’ 3 wt, Syndicate 10’ 3 wt, Echo, Redington, and the first generation Sage ESN. Unfortunately, it’s super stiff and that made it very hard to cast. This next year the brand introduce some new rods for dries. Given the highly specialized nature of these rods, we thought it was worthwhile to include as at least some sense of value to a rod that some of you won’t be using every time you go out. In terms of length, the Thomas & Thomas and the Sage ESN are the shortest (6.5"). Hope this helps some! In this review, we compare 12 references in the 10’ #3 market: This recent Airflo rod has been specifically designed for euro nymphing. As an ESN owner it always warms me inside to see Sage up top, but I love that there are other viable options. I fished it for a few days, and it felt like a game-changer. Design, Fit and Finish: No one does finish like Winston – and this rod is no exception. Stren the old way. Rods with ERN in the middle of the #3 power have a frequency near : 76cpm for the Airflo Euro Nymph, 77 cpm for the Baetis Precision 2.0, the Echo Shadow X and the Hanak Superb XP, 78 cpm for the Thomas & Thomas Contact and the Maxia SX4. Design, Fit and Finish: The CN is essentially a standard first generation nymphing rod: half-wells grip, uplocking reel seat, fighting butt. We quantify the reactivity in cpm. For the models with #2/3 power, two frequencies are measured. THE SUMMARY The Thomas and Thomas 11’3″ #3 Contact now is my favorite tightlining fly rod. Design, Fit and Finish: The Tactical Pro gets a lot of things right. We are not a blog, or a review site. For those of us who have been at this long enough, you'll remember when Greys left us some 6 (or so) years ago to become a European only brand. This is the case of the Vision Nymphmaniac 10’ #3 which is a real #2, the Soldarini Hydropsyche Elite Competition, the Greys GR80, the Sage ESN HD and the Syndicate Pipeline Pro which are all #2/3. The Tactical 10’ 3wt is a fantastic rod. We have previously seen that this is not necessarily an advantage, except for those who use a manual reel. Casting and Sensitivity: While the deflection board was generally not that interesting, it revealed that this was in fact the stiffest rod (overall) in the test. About the comfort while fishing, our ranking system gives the best mark (8/10) to the Sage ESN HD: the 73 gr and the down-locking reel seat promotes balance allow to take the lead in the ranking! The reel seat mixes black anodized aluminum and cork insert. Question about the casting score..... Is it safe to assume that the better the casting score for the euro setup, the better the rod would be at casting dry flies in a pinch? Certainly not the worst combination, but nowhere near as good as the Sage. The only rod that was better was the Winston. The blank is your canvas. Since you’re not actually casting, “feel” doesn’t really make any sense to test. The Tactical, which shares its grip with the other Marryat rods, has a very large-diameter grip that just makes it really awkward. Comfort. So I purchased one and must say it is one great rod. It also has standard chrome guides and good, but not spectacular finishing. Casting and Sensitivity: Also excellent. Other models reviewed are really close in terms of comfort with marks being between 6.5 and 7.1/10. The price (and a viral video). When I first started to organize getting this fly shop off the ground, I had multiple options and brands to consider. Their actions are similar, of a moderate fast type, ideal for Euro nymphing. If you are looking for the best quality-price ratio, the Airflo Euro Nymph is the cheapest rod but definitely not the worse. The Greys GR80, la JMC Pure Equipe, la Maxia SX, la Soldarini Hydropsyche Competition, la Syndicate Pipeline and the Thomas & Thomas Contact are moderate-fast action rods. To calculate BTW we find the weight needed to balance the rod and add it to the actual weight of the rod. As for the handle, the one of the Vision is particularly thin (0.87"). I can say that it was interesting, but I’m still not quite sure what it all means (if anything). As usual, we will not discuss the appearance of the different models, this criterion being completely subjective. Be sure to include the best European Nymph rods in the market next time, Stickman NO/ for example. It feels very much like our champion, the Sage ESN, and at half the price! I'd love to see one of my rods on here next year. That gave us the ability to really see the differences in sensitivity between each rod. If the stripping guide being close enough to the handle does not put you off for dry fishing, remember that these rods will easily cast a #3 line if the need arises. For those who would like an even less powerful model, the Vision Nymphmaniac has a real power tested at #2. In all of the reviews I read, one particular detail really piqued my interest: accuracy. I regulary fish a 11' Sage ESN #3 for larger waters and a 10' Syndicate #2 for small rivers. This rod is 4 pieces, sold in a cordura tube with 4 compartments. Then we got to the fun part – fishing! 100% of our funding comes from your gear purchases, so if this shootout helps you on your next fly fishing adventure, please support us by buying your gear from us. It overcomes a gun metal reel seat made of aluminium with a wooden insert and a fine butt with a cork fighting butt. We’ve been carrying Mystic for several years now and we’ve always been impressed by the Reaper for its top notch performance and value price. While this wasn’t our favorite rod, I’m really looking forward to testing the 10’8” 3wt and the 10’2” 2wt (with a downlocking reel seat of course), as those rods are probably what we should have tested in the first place. Very helpful!!! Regarding the power, the rod reviewed in this test can be classified in two different categories: The action is characterised by the Action Angle (AA) and two categories are found in the bunch of rods tested. I don’t know about you, but none of that makes me think of an excellent Euro-nymphing rod. The Syndicate brand has established itself as the most popular manufacturer in the United States when we talk about nymph fishing. There’s nothing wrong with this rod, but it really doesn’t stand out in any way either. It’s the longest rod in the test and while you can always back up a foot, it’s often not an option to wade a little deeper. For others it's a deeply rewarding project. Thomas and Thomas fly rods. Like all the rods from the series, this model is equipped with a fighting butt made of cork that is removable. It scored the maximum number of combined points we awarded to any rod (16) in these categories. BACKGROUND Zach St. Amand told me that the new Thomas and Thomas “Contact” is his new favorite. The Mystic tied for 2nd place with a BTW of 8.5 oz and a chart topping swing weight of 92. Sure it’s long, but this rod is REALLY heavy. It only takes a bit of adjustment to get accustomed, but once you've sorted that bit out, you'll be glad to own it. As with all Sage’s rods in this price range, the finishes are top-notch. And it is… but not by much. That’s a lot of reel for a trout rod! Casting (10 Points) – Let’s face it; while most of the rods we tested are 3-weights, there’s really not a lot that European style nymphing has in common with a 3-weight rod. Ben, I'm surprised you did not include the Hardy Zephrus 10' 3 weight as the Zephrus won your 10' 5 weight shootout. A long rod with above average performance across the board. I learned to tight line on a fenwick 3100 aetos and the 3110 world class sounds just about like the aetos- good swing weight with a fighting butt, soft enough to cast fine- no sensitivity. You just have no feel for the bottom whatsoever. As usual, we started by weighing, poking, measuring, and wiggling until there was nothing left to learn from the rods. It’s really as good as we’ve seen. Logically, the highest frequencies are correlated to the weight being a #2 : 81 cpm with a weight of a #2 line and 75 with a weight of a #3 line for the Greys GR80 and the Sage ESN HD, 80 cpm and 74 cpm for the Syndicate Pipeline. We then awarded one additional point for exceptional finishing to all of the USA made rods – because, while all the rods are good, the USA made rods in this test are just a little bit better. 2018 European-Style Nymphing Fly Rod Shootout and Fly Rod Review. Not OP, but I have a related question that I'd love to hear your thoughts on: I currently have the Syndicate 10' 2wt, which I really like for nymphing. This 4-piece rod is sold in a compartmented Cordura case (unconditional guarantee with participation of 75 €). In steps the Sage ESN reel. For this category we fished all of the rods along the same stretch of river and compared. Finally, we awarded one point to Sage for having the best grip of the bunch and one point to Winston for just being so superior in terms of the quality of the finish on the rod. $425.00 Hardy Ultradisc. I read your nymphing rod shootout and was interested in several rods you rated at the top. If there’s one test where it was really going to be able to show us something, it’s this one. The last rod in the ranking is the JMC Pure Equipe (5.9/10) which has a slight trend to “go south”. It is indicative of the fishing capacity in dry fly (the higher the frequency, the more the rod will cast efficiently). If I’m being honest, she wasn’t much to look at, but we just jived. That means that you really need a light line rod to give you any shot of casting a fly accurately. Nevertheless, we took a leap of faith and did it for this shootout. The Sage ESN (European Style Nymphing) is built around the company’s latest Konnetic HD technology. Casting and Sensitivity: If you want to learn to nymph like the Europeans, the Orvis is the easiest casting rod in the world. It symbolises the link between the brand and this series of rods in particular, to the competitive practice of fly fishing. The starting SIC guide is followed by 10 single leg. This Contact series is built with a dark gray blank, the trims and wraps are brown olive, very pragmatic and change from the usual black. Fast action, with the majority of the values being between 68 and 70°. Most love the way it cast and the fact that the 3100 balances with a Click. If your after that big sale (closeouts) on fly fishing gear from brands like Sage, Simms, Winston, Abel, Loomis, Lamson, Bauer, Echo, Redington, Rio, SA and more, then you are on the right page. The truth is that it’s not a copy at all. $325.95 Thomas and Thomas Avantt. As the second longest rod in review, is still felt lively and light in your hand. I love these comparison/shootout/tests. Which is why we're doing this test. Unfortunately, the Sky fell in this shootout. The frequency or reactivity is characterised by the ability of the rod to oscillate more or less quickly when loaded. A well designed rod with a great fit and finish. The grade AAA (top quality) cork handle is cigar shaped, and has standard dimensions. Tied for first! It’s got all the bells and whistles. In fact we found that there was a massive difference between rods in terms of their overall casting ease. Special mention for the Airflo and the Nymphmaniac whose prices are much lower than the other references and which nevertheless rise at the first places of the podium in the "rod with up-locking reel seat" category. Weight: One of the best! Weight: The Worldclass weighs in at 3.32 oz with a BTW of 11.7 oz and a swing weight of 100. This is simple: We fish SAGE and can advise you on any of the full range of single hand, switch, two hand, and specialty fly rods by SAGE. Obviously, on a technical level, the Thomas & Thomas is the most accomplished in this category : it is very comfortable given its classic reel seat, it is the most responsive of the #3, and it has the delicious moderate fast action without any hard point on the blank, trademark of the Contact series. If you don’t believe me, just take a look at the MKII, which, while too late to test, has made vast strides in its design. Sure, it was missing some of the features that would have put this rod over the edge like a fighting butt and a downlocking reel seat. Without further ado: Balanced Total Weight (20 Points) – Balanced total weight (BTW) is a measure we introduced this year in our review of the Sage Salt HD. $825.00. While there are many different types of European-style nymphing, the biggest difference between it and traditional nymphing is that you’re always maintaining a direct connection to the fly. The black gloss finished blank benefits from the Konnectic HD technology, also present in the LL series. They are best suited with their real power #2/3. The cork handle is followed by an aluminium black reel seat up-locking overcoming a fighting butt made in EVA black foam. 406-222-7130 ), except for the use of pricey Torzite guides that don’t help you at all when you’re not actually casting…. Hey Mark, really useful comments. Because of its odd length (it’s 10’ 3”) it’s hard to really compare it to another rod, but by any measure, it’s really light. The Cortland Competition Nymph rod embodies a rod that feels like it wasn’t really designed for tight line nymphing, but is closer to a standard 3-weight taper with added length. The best score for length goes to the Echo Shadow X with 189 mm. Sage Salt HD 1386-4 Post: This is a rod that I will probably never fish, and maybe never have an occasion to fish, but it sure is cool. For its part, the Echo Shadow X is faster than the first two and its particular "American-style" manufacturing (very long handle and down locking reel seat) penalises the use of a semi-automatic reel (famous in France). We as Americans are behind in the tight line game and so are our rod developers with the exception of possibly Sage with the ESN HD. The reason behind this is that weight distribution becomes especially critical as rods get longer. level 2. 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