Morning Everyone,

I'd like to start this missive with a little bit of a confession ... I'm a bit of a tackle tart at heart, as you probably know if you've been a part of our community for some time.

This is one of the reasons I started our Pisces Collective (a home for the curious and inventive fly angler) earlier this year.

Last week, we launched our first product.

It's taken just under a year to design and test ...

It was launched to Pisces Collective members last week ... they're already fishing with it (and love it).

It only weighs 72g ... and

We're launching it to our email community today ...

Back in December, and to start the Pisces Collective on the right track, I set out on the process of designing my ultimate nymphing rod. I say 'my' as I wanted to produce a nymph rod that I would personally buy myself, and also be proud for it to be associated with Barbless Flies. I wanted something very similar in feel to my Maxia 9' 2wt (my go-to rod for any sub-surface work), but not with its associated price tag!

I'm no expert in nymphing rod taper designs - but I do know what a good one feels like to fish (and cast) with.

And ... it's finally here:

TL;DR - Too Long; Didn't Read

I know that some of you are pressed for time and save our emails to read later in the day, by this time our fly selections rods are sometimes sold out (I get lots of emails from customers pointing this out to me).

I've put this section at the beginning, so you can grab your flies rod now - and save reading my musings for later, safe in the knowledge that you have already secured your Pisces 1 9'0" 2wt Nymph rod.

Our Pisces 1 - Nymph 9'0" 2wt is now available to buy - for only £345 (which is a bargain for the specification included). You can grab yours by clicking on any button or image within this email. The Pisces Collective members have already had 'first dibs' on the rod; I'm now making the remaining few available to our email community.

As I mentioned above, the Pisces Collective members already have their rods, and are happily using them in anger:

"Thank you so much for my rod it is everything I would have specified myself, the matt finish, the down-locking reel seat, the spare tip just like a split cane rod I own and of course all the other little finishes that make it so special. If that was not enough, I received it in 24 hours, and it was packed and presented beautifully.” David C. - Pisces Collective Member

The whole design & build process has been an absolute labour of love ...

There's been quite a lot of 'behind the scenes' work gone into getting this rod 'in the Goldilocks zone' - It took 3 months of testing just to select the correct blank action!

So ...

I'll start with the specification of the rod - for those of you, like me, who are a little 'geeky' where rods are concerned!

Full Pisces 1 Nymph Rod Specification:

• Length: 9-feet
• Weight: 2-weight
• Sections: 4-piece with 2 matched tip sections - with alignment dots
• Blank: Matt black with 8 single-leg guides, 1 snake guide & tip ring
• Cork: AAAA Slim Tapered Handle
• Reel Seat: Downlocking (for perfect reel balance) with wood insert
• Fly Keeper Ring: Yes!!
• Rod Weight: 72g
• Rod Tube: Carbon (with end caps & branding)
• Rod Bag: 5-section branded rod bag (keeps your spare tip nice and safe)

I want to walk you through a few of the individual specifications which make this rod so special.

Let's start with ...

2 Matched Tip Sections

Each of our Pisces 1 rods comes with two matched tip sections - I don't know of any others, outside of cane, that do this.

As we all know, if a nymph rod is going to break (hopefully it never will, but if it does, it's usually from a weighted nymph hitting it), it will be at the tip - so I wanted to keep you on the water for as long as possible. Which is why I've had these rods built with an extra matched tip section, both rolled from the same mandrel, so they are a perfect match.

Why A Snake Guide At The Tip?

When you are using a specialist nymphing rod, they are built with single-leg guides all the way to the tip - these guides are purposely used as they hold the thin leader/line from sticking to the blank.

But, if you have ever tried nymphing with really thin lines, be it mono or a specialist nymphing line, then you will also know that they get tangled around the tip fairly regularly. Having a snake guide as the final guide allows you to untangle your line by just lowering the rod and waggling it - saving you time from doing it by hand - clever eh?

"Up there for thinking - Down there for dancing ."

Why A Downlocking Reel Seat?

A downlocking reel seat is a smart feature of our Pisces 1 nymphing rod because it shifts the reel slightly further back toward the butt of the rod, improving overall balance and reducing tip-heaviness.

This means the rod feels lighter and more comfortable to hold in the high, forward position used for euro-nymphing, reducing wrist and forearm fatigue over a long day on the water. Better balance also increases sensitivity, allowing you to detect the subtle takes that make the difference between “just fishing” and consistently catching.

Alignment Dots ... It's All In The Fine Details

Alignment dots are a small detail that make a big difference when you’re setting up on the bank. They allow you to quickly and accurately line up each section of the rod, ensuring the guides track perfectly straight without any fiddling or re-adjusting.

This saves time, reduces wear on the ferrules, and helps maintain the rod’s true action exactly as the design intended. It’s a simple convenient feature — not essential — but once you’ve used a rod with alignment dots, you really notice when they’re missing.

Yes, OK, that all looks and sounds great, but how does it actually fish?

I'm glad you asked ...

Pisces 1 - Fishing Report

As you may expect, I've put the rod through its paces over the last couple of weeks - purely for your benefit - not mine, honestly!

When using any nymph rod it is really important to get the balance of the rod right - it needs to be weighted more to the butt section than a regular rod - this is especially important when using any of the tight-line techniques, and it takes alot of the pressure from your outstretched arm and allows you to feel more (and fish for much longer).

This is where the downlocking reel seat comes into its own - I just used a standard reel (in my case a Hardy Ultradisc 3000 - it has a fully enclosed line guard and is perfect when fishing with really thin and long leaders) and the rod balanced perfectly.]

Here are a few of the techniques I tried, and how the rod performed:

'Euro' / Tight-Line Nymphing

As the rod was initially designed for this technique, I was fully expecting it to meet my expectations - after all, I wouldn't be sending you this email if it didn't!

• Technique: 'Euro' / Tight-Line Nymphing
• Leader Setup: 30ft Long level mono leader with built-in bi-coloured indicator section
• Reel: Hardy Ultradisc 3000

The rod performed flawlessly using a range of unweighted and heavy-weighted nymphs in various configurations.

The River Derwent, where I usually fish, has a rule of 'single-fly only', so I tested using variations of hook sizes and weights. I dropped into areas of the river which I knew would hold fish at this time of year and were perfect for this style of fishing (i.e. fast water with a little depth within easy reach).

I could easily feel the nymph when it was ticking along the bottom (even in depths of 5ft-plus). In fact, I could also tell when the nymph was over gravel or sand - it was that sensitive!

It was also quite easy to tell the difference between catching a rock and a fish - which always helps!

As we've not had any frosts yet, the Grayling in our river are pretty spread out, and you have to actively go looking for them. Using a little 'local knowledge', I dropped into a section I knew they frequented at this time of year and within a couple of runs I had one - not massive, only about half a pound - but the rod was in full control at all times.

I felt there was some power in the rod to bully a fish if I really needed to, but as with all Grayling, if you keep them deep, they don't tend to stress too much. The rod was also the perfect length to easily play the fish into the net without all the usual fuss.

So, as I expected, the rod performed really well doing what it was originally intended for.

What about nymphing at a little longer range ...

Longer-Range Nymphing

I initially thought that this style may quite quickly reach the limitation of the rod, especially with it only being 9-feet long, but I was pleasantly surprised.

• Technique: Longer-Range Nymphing
• Leader Setup: Cortland Sylk WF2 fly line + 9ft 4X Tapered Leader
• Indicator: Coloured Putty
• Reel: Hardy Ultradisc 3000

Having removed my 'Euro' style leader from the reel, this left me with my regular Cortland Sylk WF2 fly line, to which I added a regular 9ft tapered leader (4X) and then a size 14 Red-Neck PTN (I know these work well). I used a small pinch of the Loon coloured putty and set it at around 5ft above the nymph.

The line cast beautifully at distances up to 30ft (you cannot really fish any more than that on our rivers as they are pretty overgrown, and your fly box starts to shed flies at an alarming rate!

I found it easy to control the line with just a few flicks and I even picked up a few small out-of-season wild trout. Each of the takes were really easy to spot using the putty and the action of the rod was really gentle when playing the fish to the net.

So, it's a bonus that the rod performed above my expectations at longer ranges.

What about casting a dry fly ...

Dry Fly Fishing

This is the interesting one ...

• Technique: Dry Fly Fishing
• Leader Setup: Spectre Pro Ultra Dry #2 to #5 + 9ft 6X Tapered Leader
• Reel: Hardy Ultradisc 3000

I know this may be a contentious subject, but here goes ... I overlined the rod!

When you’re fishing dries at short range, your fly line never really gets enough length out of the rod to properly load it. Modern rods (even 2-weights) are designed around having 30 feet of fly line outside the tip when casting; that’s the point at which the rated line weight is measured.

If you're only casting 10–25 feet (like on my local streams and rivers), there isn’t enough line mass to flex a rod, so it can feel stiff, unresponsive, and hard to cast delicately. By using this line on the 2-weight rod, you increase the amount of weight in the short section of line actually being cast. This means the rod loads properly even at close range, giving you smoother, more accurate, more controlled casts - exactly what I want when presenting small dry flies (to picky Grayling) with precision on tight streams.

As it has been unseasonably warm in these parts over the last few days, there were a few Olives hatching, so on with a CdC Olive pattern and time for a few drifts - no fish were rising, I was just prospecting - more in hope that any confidence!

As it turns out, I didn't manage to rise any fish, but the casting feel and presentation were perfect - just what I would have expected from one of my specialist Scott dry fly rods (which cost three times as much).

I now can't wait for the regular season to open in March - it's going to be interesting to see how it handles a team of spiders on a bigger river!

But for now, I'm absolutely ecstatic with how the rod performs when nymphing - anything else is a very welcome bonus!

Would You Like One ...

Our Pisces 1 - Nymph 9'0" 2wt is now available to buy. You can grab yours by clicking on any button or image within this email. All Pisces Collective members have already had 'first dibs' on the rod; I'm now making the remaining few available to our email community (minus 1, which I've squirrelled away for myself)!

As I mentioned earlier, the rod is priced at only £345, which, for a specialist nymphing rod of this specification, is a bit of a bargain. We currently have these rods in the office.

If you place an order before 1pm today (and choose 1st Class delivery), you will be fishing with it at the weekend!

As always, should you have any questions on this rod, just reply to this email (or give me a call - 0330 66 00 587) and I'd be more than happy to answer them.

 

Tight 'nymphing' lines.

P.S. If you'd like to find out a little more, you can view more details of the Pisces 1 rod, by clicking the button below: