QUICK SPECS | TECHNYMPH – Primary Range
Length In Feet | 10’6″
Line Weight | 3
Application | Czech/Euro Nymph
Recovery Rate | Fast
Action | Medium Fast
Physical Weight In Grams | 82
Carbon Grade | SK40T
Blank Design | DNA Helical Structure
Grip | Shortened AAA Half Wells Cork
Reel Seat | Double Down-Locking Anodized Black
Fighting Butt | Natural Cork
Guides | Light Weight Black PacBay Single Foot with Black Thread Wraps | High Number Of Guides At 14 (including tip)
Alignment Marks | Small White Dot With White Arrow
Stripping Guides | Two Light Weight PacBay Stripping Guides Located At Specific Lengths On The Blank
Measurement Marks | On Both Male And Female Ferrules
Rod Tube | Black Cordura Tube
Rod Bag | Black Cotton Rod Bag
Sections | 4
Designed By Reel Fly Fishing In South Africa | Tested On A Huge Variety Of Local Waters
Our Story – Taking South Africa’s Nymphing Game To The Next Level.
Setting out to create a truly next-generation Euro Nymph fly rod was always going to be a challenging task. Work began at the end of 2019 on what would, after many revisions, become our TechNymph 3wt fly rod. We then took our tried and tested TechNymph 10′ 3wt taper and tweaked it for the new 2023 TechNymph 10’6″. Based on competitive feedback we tightened the blank up a little in the mid-section to give a slightly whippier action so to speak with a little more mid-tip section responsiveness.
Key Criteria Behind Our TechNymphs Design.
Application, a Euro Nymphing rod is about fully maximizing a few key areas of focus. Reel Fly Fishing quickly identified that maximum feedback, supreme tippet protection, pulling power, balance, recovery rate, finish, and physical weight would be the defining factors when building a showcase of what a South African-designed Euro Nymphing rod should encompass.
Feedback
Providing immediate feedback allows you to tactically feel the structure and bottom of the water section that you are fishing. This information and feel is what allows you to fully maximize that piece of water. Being in constant contact with your flies plays an integral role and having an extension of your arm through our specialized blank means you get more feel, more of the time. The DNA Helical nature of the TechNymph immediately transmits even the slightest bumps, knocks, and bounces as your flies move along the bottom back to your hands. This informative nature of the rod makes it much easier to distinguish between a strike/take/bite to that of the structure on the bottom.
Tippet Protection
Being able to utilize thinner and lighter tippets results in a quicker sink rate, better action, and generally more strikes. The drawback of lighter tippets if you are not using the correct type of rod will result in more lost fish through broken tippets at key points during the fight. Fish can suddenly turn, change direction or move erratically especially when it comes to landing them. Without a blank that is designed to act as a shock absorber, this will result in a lost fish through broken leaders/tippets. This tippet protection is where the TechNymph is hugely impressive, an extremely sensitive tip results in both great tippet protection but also immediate visual feedback.
Pulling Power
Having great tippet protection is all good and well, and being able to see the take is what gets you into fish, but without decent pulling power, you will be fighting fish a lot longer as well as losing them to structure and snags. From around the middle of the TechNymph, you will notice a much stiffer portion that carries through until the butt section. This is where your pulling power is. Pulling power or fish-turning ability is hugely important when fishing South African rivers and streams due to the nature of our vegetation and substrates.
There is a careful balance between where your pulling power needs to start, where your tippet protecting delicate tip needs to end and where it must all come together, this is what sets a good Euro Nymph rod apart from a bad one.
Finish
While this could be seen as a very subjective area, we tried to think outside the box. Generally speaking, when looking from the ground up to the sky you will notice it’s lighter and not darker. Putting ourselves in the shoes of a would-be fish we applied this thought pattern. A matt finish means no rod flash, whereas the dull grey finish means it’s never too dark but also not too light in colour – similar to that of the sky when viewed in greyscale. Having this extra bit of stealth approach on your side can make all the difference when fishing close quarters on clearer rivers and streams. The finish also encompasses all the dedicated components that we carefully created to enhance TechNymph’s overall performance and purpose-built nature.
Physical Weight
Holding a rod for a full day of fishing will cause muscle fatigue, now add to the mix the nature of “checking” the water with your nymphs. This high cast count means you are working hard while on the water, and a few grams here and there may not sound like much but when you begin looking at it over “x” number of casts the weight quickly adds up over the course of the day. At a mere 82 grams, the TechNymph 3wt 10’6″ is the longest and lightest for its class dedicated Euro fly rod that we have ever created and we are well below any of the nearest local offerings and only around 7g off of high-end international offerings that cost 3 to 6 times the price.
Balance
One of the true defining factors when compared to our Euro Nymph 3.4 10’ that we launched back in 2017, is the balance of the TechNymph. Utilizing lightweight specialized components, hardware, and down-locking reel seats means that our rods balance beautifully when paired with the correct fly reel. Balance also plays a massive role in reducing strain over a day’s Euro Nymphing, having the lightest rod around may sound like that is all you should checkbox, but balance is equally as important.
We have found in our testing that reels in the region of 120-140g work well when paired with a 0.55mm Euro Nymph fly line.
Recovery Rate
Having a very sensitive light weight tip is crucial for detecting the slightest movements and strikes, however without an excellent recovery rate you will ultimately be left wanting. Creating a responsive blank with all these criteria as well as a rapid recovery rate is extremely challenging, but with the experience, we gained from our previous rod, we applied it to our new DNA TechNymph blanks and the results were phenomenal. A rapid recovery rate results in a quick resting blank that keeps you in contestant contact with your flies from when they hit the water all the way through until they bounce on the bottom. The recovery rate also dramatically increases accuracy and overall feedback.
A note must be made for too many sections on a Nymphing rod, the more sections you add the thicker your base section will be and this also has an adverse effect on the rod action, responsiveness, and feedback. We have found in our testing that 4 is ideal for the taper, transporting, and sensitivity.
What Happens When I break A Section Of My TechNymph?
Simple and straightforward, send us a picture as well as which section you had an accident with and we will drop you the cost price for that section. Why pay for a warranty that you may never use, this was our thinking behind not inflating our rod prices to compensate for this. Only pay for what you use, and only pay when it breaks. Simple, easy, and with no fuss. we carry sections on hand and ship immediately.
Fine details and dedicated hardware make the new TechNymph South Africa’s most comprehensive dedicated Euro Nymph Fly rod.