Euro Nymphing 3 Or 4 Weight Rod For The Bow River

[BlackGhost]

Hello All,

 

I have a 5 weight Sage 9' and now looking seriously at a Cortland Euro Competition Nymphing rod -10' 5" . most of the reviews I read are on 2 & 3 weights. We got big fishes in the Bow 😍! So I would like to hear from your valued expriececes. 3 or 4 weight.

 

Thanks...

[David]

The Bow isn't a great river to Euro nymph (EN) but there are sections that will work, generally a suspended indicator will be your best method to fish the Bow. Because of that I wouldn't get a dedicated EN rod.

You'll find that a lot of the good water you want to fish is unwadable and out of reach using EN techniques. Personally I'd stick with your 5wt to EN but also keep your setup versatile so when the situation arises you can pop on a suspended indicator to fish those hard to reach places. I did a lot of EN with my 9' 6wt and it worked just as well as my EN rod, the only difference between the two rods is the extra reach the EN rod gives. If your 5wt has a sensitive tip then you shouldn't have a problem detecting those subtle strikes. Nowadays I use a 9' 5wt to nymph the Bow using the techniques mentioned.

 

If you are set on getting a EN rod id go with a 4wt. EN is generally done in the shallow riffles so most of the time you aren't going to be catching really big fish. Saying that i have caught some 20" fish using my 4wt EN rod and it handles the fish fine. The 3wt on the Bow is probably too light, you don't want to fight a fish for too long especially when the water is warmer.

[BlackGhost]

Thank -you for your feedback and your comment makes perfect sense. Like you, I fishes with my 5 wt applying the EN style to nymph and have a blast . Once again Thank-You.

[FinnDawg]

The Bow isn't a great river to Euro nymph (EN) but there are sections that will work, generally a suspended indicator will be your best method to fish the Bow. Because of that I wouldn't get a dedicated EN rod.

You'll find that a lot of the good water you want to fish is unwadable and out of reach using EN techniques. Personally I'd stick with your 5wt to EN but also keep your setup versatile so when the situation arises you can pop on a suspended indicator to fish those hard to reach places. I did a lot of EN with my 9' 6wt and it worked just as well as my EN rod, the only difference between the two rods is the extra reach the EN rod gives. If your 5wt has a sensitive tip then you shouldn't have a problem detecting those subtle strikes. Nowadays I use a 9' 5wt to nymph the Bow using the techniques mentioned.

 

If you are set on getting a EN rod id go with a 4wt. EN is generally done in the shallow riffles so most of the time you aren't going to be catching really big fish. Saying that i have caught some 20" fish using my 4wt EN rod and it handles the fish fine. The 3wt on the Bow is probably too light, you don't want to fight a fish for too long especially when the water is warmer.

 

Any reason that you would say that the bow isn't a great river to EN?

[David]

One can definitely EN the Bow but the various EN styles is best suited for shallow rivers where you are able to wade to the areas that hold fish. When people say they EN I assume they are Czech/Polish nymphing (OP correct me if i m wrong). There are just too many areas on the Bow that you can't tight line, to fish the bow you need to be versatile, going with total EN setup on the Bow will severely limit the areas you can fish. Sure you can catch some fish but you'll spend a lot of time moving between the areas that cater to your method. I'm not saying EN techniques don't belong on the Bow because they definitely do just be aware that every situation is going to call for a different approach. My suggestion to the OP was not to go all out EN, but to be more versatile.

 

As to why i don't think the Bow is great for EN. You cant EN the Bow with this method alone, of course there's no single method to fish the Bow, but from my experience EN setups are very specialized which makes changing to different techniques time consuming. In contrast the Elbow River is great for EN, you can use your EN setup everywhere, if its the only technique you know you'll be fine.

[threepwood]

I've had plenty of luck on the Bow using EN techniques, and a 3wt has been enough to land good-sized fish. Euro-style rods have stiff butt sections, so you get a lot more fish fighting power than you do from a dry-fly twig in the same weight. Cortland makes a good one. I use a 10ft 3wt Redington Hydrogen, but I think you'd be fine sizing up to a 4 if you want that extra power. Just keep in mind it'll also be a bit heavier (and more fatiguing to hold out in front of you all day).

 

You have to pick your spots for EN in the Bow, but you can fish fast, shallow water that indicator setups struggle with. I've also found that using a suspension rig while floating and pulling out the EN setup for stops is a great way to do both if you're in a boat and can bring two rods easily. Check out George Daniel's "Dynamic Nymphing" for some ideas on quick EN to dry-fly changeover setups. He uses a cut-back tapered leader and a tippet ring above his indicator mono so he can swap out quickly if a hatch starts. If you keep some pre-tied rigs on a spool (I use a lindy rig spool that I got from Cabela's for like $2) you can change back and forth quickly.