Hi Guys, Just discovered this site (and joined) and see various posts about CTS Affinity X blanks for Euro nymphing. I guess most folk live in the States or Canada? I live in New Zealand. Haven’t made rods for many years but now have a specific fishing situation that has drawn me in.

I have been working on an idea for a beefy Euro rod and visited the CTS factory a few days ago while in Auckland to check out the mainly 10 ft blanks from #2 to #5. I currently use a Primal Zone 10ft 6in #3 but it snaps under load too often and also a Hardy Zephrus 10ft #3 which holds up well but would like something with stiffer butt sections. My son has a 3-weight 9ft Afffinty X blank for dry fly and absolutely loves it. So, I wondered about using a 10ft 6inch 3-weight Affinity X blank as a starting point for a Euro rod with maybe a 4/5 weight lower section. Their 2-weight feels delightful and would be fine here for small to medium size fish in summer flows on our rivers. But Winter and Spring are a different kettle of fish, so to speak.

I fish rivers such as the Tongariro on the winter spawning runs and other North Island rivers that are fairly wide and swift. I am wondering if Euro nymphing for steelhead for you guys in Canada and USA is similar? I mostly Euro nymph and have to use 4mm beads on the point with a 3mm or 3.5mm on the dropper for the higher flows such as Springtime. On the winter sessions in clear water, I have found that high numbers of fish come to a single #14 / 3mm bead Pheasant Tail on a small dropper with a AAA split shot (0.8 grams) on the point. In coloured water, 5mm to 6mm egg flies take over. I use a long tapered mono leader (0.57mm to 0.23mm) with 4X or 3X tippet depending on the current. There are three major issues to consider in developing a custom blank for this.

Firstly, casting from 0.3g to 0.8g in a swift cast on about 30ft to 35ft of line from the rod tip every 3 to 6 seconds becomes tiring. Secondly, cold water fish don’t usually move much for a fly and so takes can be very subtle. Finally most fish are 2lb to 4lb and netting them in areas of fast current puts a huge strain on the rod.

So, I went to CTS to look at their Affinity X blanks and will probably run with a 10ft 8in blank with a #3 tip for the subtle bites, followed by #4 in the mid sections to hold up on the cast with heavy flies and shot, and either a #4 or a #5 butt section – necessarily delicate to brutal in one blank. I’m using the Rec recoil guides and downlocking reel seat for balance and lightness.

How do you guys find Affinity X 4-weight and 5-weight rods lower sections cope with netting big fish like steelhead in fast water? Are the butt sections of the #4 pretty robust compared to other #4 Euro rods, or you think #5 butt sections might hold up better? I noticed with the #5 being heavier in physical weight than the #4, that the dilemma is the trade off bewteen lightness and power. Of course the lighter tip and second sections would help balance the rod better. Any thoughts or experiences with CTS rods would be really welcomed. Thanks.

Paul Gummer

Paul,
I will be the first to admit not being as in-tune to fly fishing as others. That said, your homeland CTS blanks are highly respected within the upper echelon of fly fishing. Your post is the first I have witnessed suggesting mix-matching different WT fly blank SECTIONS is even conceivable let alone practical. Unless built on the same, identical mandrel, with the same shape of the fabric flags, I cannot imagine the tapers between different blanks being identical to produce TOB ferrules which PRECISELY mate; but then, I am unfamiliar with the specialized taper-grinding equipment that may be involved as well. If CTS says they can do it, GO FOR IT!!!

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

Hi Mark, CTS already make up blanks with the ability to request a custom adapted section such as a tip section minus 1 line weight etc. My knowledge of the actual process is minimal but with computer design ability, it's amazing what is possible now and boundaries are there to be pushed. In the days when rods were mostly being made from bamboo, a guy at Hewlett Packard reckoned there would never be a need for more than six computers in the world. Things have come a long way. :)

Paul Gummer

Paul,
Thanks, now I know. I am here to learn.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

Paul,

One thing to keep in mind is that the butt section of euro blanks are typically more powerful than their line rating indicates. For example, I'd say the butt section on my 11' 3wt affinity MX is more like the butt section on a standard 9' 5wt in power. I haven't tried to catch anything like steelhead on mine (I use a 9'6" 7 wt for that), but I can say that I've never had any issues pulling decent sized browns (18-20") through fast water on the 3wt euro rod. I know the fish in NZ tend to run large though, so keep us updated on your findings!

The 11 foot MX sounds a nice rod, Nick. Most anglers use the big yarn indicators and a floating line on 6 to 8 weight rods on the winter rivers. Kiwis have generally been resistant to Euro style but taking off more in last few years. I agree that pulling fish away from the faster water in the middle of a river can be done with a 3wt - that's what I have been doing where possible. This isn't possible in certain situations. As the rivers are very busy in winter due to back country rivers being closed, there are often very few spots available to fish, certainly for conventional casting methods. However, I find gaps in brambles etc to crawl through and wade up the edges of fast water. Trouble is that once a fish is hooked, you can't walk back as it can be like an assault course even without a fish on the line and there is no slower water. The 3wt can eventually bring fish to the net but under huge strain. The other scenario is when fish move upstream through a rapid and sit at the tail of the pool above. Most anglers won't fish there so these spots are usually available but it is rather fashionable for hooked fish to head straight back down the rapid. I have found that by just holding a fish, it will generally slowly move upstream eventually - I think they are conditioned to keep moving up on their spawning runs. So, the heavier butt section will hopefully make things a tad easier.

Paul Gummer