SHADOW II and SHADOW X TIP SECTIONS
You’re likely here because you either heard of, or have experienced a “top section breaking issue” with Shadow II and Shadow X rods. We wanted to take the time to explain how we see these top sections break, and the general nature of competition-style Euro Nymphing rods.
These style of Euro-nymphing rods are built to the specifications of our design team members who are all among the some of most experienced competition anglers that employ these style of Euro Nymphing tactics. In order to get the rods to perform in the manner they require, an extremely sensitive top section is required. These ultra-light top sections have tremendous advantages in detecting strikes & feeling the contour of the river bottom. Where the subtle take of a laid-up feeding trout wouldn’t be felt with a more robust graphite. To contrast this, the lower sections of the rod are “beefed up.”
The unfortunate downside of this high modulus, lightweight graphite on long rods like this is that it can be a bit of a learning curve to get used to landing fish without pointing the rod straight up in the air, where the tip section is taking on nearly all of the load of the flex. If this landing technique is employed, the tip section will break even on small fish, especially if the rod had been nicked or suffered any type of minor injury that would be of no consequence on standard rods. We find that those who are used to landing fish on shorter, standard fly rods with standard-weight top sections often end up breaking multiple sections before dialing-in their landing technique. So if you fall in this category, you’re in good company.
To help your landing technique, we suggest not putting the rod at an angle above 60deg paralell to the ground. By using a combination of side pressure, and by using longer-handled nets, you can get your fish landed without putting fatal levels of stress on your tip section.
We have made, and plan to make more, helpful videos to assist you with common mistakes made with Euro Nymphing rods.