Cabelas CZN Czech Nymph Rods.
Review and Photos by Jeremy Kurtz

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The Czech nymphing technique isn't really all that new to some fly fishers here in the United States. Most of us have at least heard of the this nymphing method, if we haven't tried it already. Maybe the technique should really be called Polish nymphing; since it was the Poles that put the method in the spotlight in the first place. The Polish Fly Fishing team used short line nymphing in 1984 during an International Fly Fishing competition, and won the event. The Czech team quickly took notice, and the following year, also, used the short line methods of the Poles and came in second place behind the Polish team. In 1986, the Czech team won the World Championship and the short line technique has since been dubbed Czech Nymphing.

The Polish team was using short line nymphing due to the fact that they lacked most fly fishing resources during the Cold War era that we in the U.S.A have always taken for granted. They didn't have access to fly lines, so they used mono and fished a short line method which isn't much different than using the fixed line techniques of old. Long rods are an added benefit to put more distance between the fish and the fisherman. European nymphing rods are 9 feet to 12 feet in length, with an average length of about 10 feet. This helps tremendously for mending line in difficult currents. Other European nymphing styles like Spanish and French nymphing, which uses a longer line than the Czech style, still benefit with the use of longer rods. Another trend in Europe with these rods are to go lighter. More fishermen are using these long rods designed for 3wt and even 2wt lines.

These types of longer rods are useful for other types of fishing, not just nymphing. Dry fly, wet fly, and streamer fishing can benefit, as well. Loch fisherman in the UK have been using longer rods for ages. Of course, the usual nymphing techniques that we typically use here in the U.S., like indicator nymphing and high sticking, will also benefit from the added mending capabilities of these newer Euro style rods. When Cabelas announced their new line of CZN Czech Nymph rods, I got excited. Here is a series of long rods that are affordable! Me being an Ultralight fly fishing fanatic, I was happy to see the inclusion of a 9'6” 3wt.

There are three rods in the lineup. The CZN 963-4 (9'6” 3wt), CZN 1004-4 (10' 4wt), and CZN 1005-4 (10' 5wt).
For this review we have procured the 963-4, and the 1005-4. All are four piece rods and retail for $199.99. The rod is a nice olive color with dark olive wraps, and metallic green trim wraps. The trim is subtle so as to not be gaudy and overbearing. Thread and epoxy work are good for this price range. The cork is what I consider to be Super Grade, which means good quality, but not Flor grade. The reel seat features a nice olive carbon fiber insert, and the hardware is a beautiful titanium anodize to match the titanium plated snake and stripping guides. There are two stripping guides on these rods, and this aids in better line shooting, in my opinion. One small caveat I have is that the rods lack alignment marks on the ferrules, but that has no bearing on the rod's performance. The rod case is cordura and has a carry handle. The rod bag is well made. Cosmetically, this rod doesn't disappoint. It looks like rods costing much more, and in some cases, the workmanship is better than on some premium rods I've seen of late.

These rods are very light weight for their length. The 3wt is listed at 3.16oz, and the 5wt is 3.47oz. Cabelas describes the rods as having supple tips with stiff butt sections, which is ideal for tossing heavy nymphs and indicator rigs. Yes, these rods are fast, but not poker stiff. The rods also feature a blend of IM6, IM7, and IM8 carbon fiber in order to achieve the proper action for each model.

So how do these two rods perform? In a word, excellent. In my opinion, they perform much better than the $199.99 price tag would suggest. While these rods are marketed for Euro nymphing, and do that job fabulously, they can do much more than just nymph. The rods handled all tasks that I demanded of them. From down stream wet flies, to streamers, to dry flies, I had no issues with either rod.

I tested both examples using the Common Cents System. This determines the rods power (to a large degree it's line weight) and the action of the rod with a static flex measurement. Custom rod builders have been using this system for a number of years, now, in order to help with blank selection for their customers. The Effective Rod Number (ERN) is the power rating, and the Action Angle (AA), is the deflection angle.

The 9' 6” 3wt rod has an ERN of 3.27. This puts the rod in the 3wt range and I agree with the number. The rod is a real 3wt. The AA is 68, which tells us that the rod is on the bottom end of fast action. For instance, a AA of 65 is medium fast. I used two Hook & Hackle branded lines on this rod, a WF3F, and a DT3F. The WF3 was the best all around performer. The rod cast this line very well in close by working off the tip. A double haul easily got me out to 70 plus feet. The DT3 line worked fine in close out to medium distance, but after that I felt that it was overloading the rod.

The 10' 5wt rod has an ERN of 6.35, which puts it in the 6wt class. Some may agree with that finding, others may not. The AA on this rod is also 68, making it fast action, as well. I tested the rod with a Scientific Anglers Mastery Trout WF5F. I found this line to be spot on with this rod for me. Since I took all the Common Cents measurements after testing the rods on the water, I didn't try a 6wt line. The casting characteristics with the WF5 were the same as those that I observed with the 3wt rod. Short casting was easy by working off the tip of the rod. Gunning out a long line with a haul was a piece of cake. Both rods would have cast a whole line and some backing if I would have had the back casting room, no doubt about it. As stated, both rods are fast. They exhibit a nice progressive flex, while somewhat stiff, are very smooth casting rods.

Roll casting was good with both rods. I was also able to do some simple single handed spey type casts and the rod did well with this, too. I have to admit that I'm not into single handed spey casting at all, and my spey skills are limited in that regard, so I wasn't able to fully test the capability of these rods using those methods. I was able to roll cast both rods out to about 40 feet. I'm not the very best roll caster, so those folks with good roll casting skills could certainly do better than me with these rods.

Using the Czech method of nymphing, both rods performed very well. They were able to flick heavy Czech nymphs on a very short line easily. I, also, used indicator rigs and had no issues with that tactic either. The 3wt, obviously, won't handle indicators as large as the 5wt will nor is it intended to use very large and extremely heavy nymphs like a size 8 Czech nymph with 3 layers of lead for an under body. It does handle heavy size 12 nymphs, and bead head #10s just fine though. The 5wt (or the 10' 4wt) are the ones to handle the very large and heavy nymphs.

These rods really are capable of more than just short line nymphing, though. I was more interested in the other techniques I was able to use them for. High sticking streamers or crayfish patterns is a breeze for both rods. That extra length gives you more control and line mending ability. Since you can get some good distance with both rods, you can still use them for conventional streamer tactics. I was fishing everything from Clouser minnows to more classic streamers. Obviously, the 5wt is the more logical choice for streamer use, but I was casting size 10 Clousers and even a size 6 Clouser (with mini lead eyes) without any real hassle with the 3wt!

These rods are great with dry flies, as well. The extra length helps mend and keep line off the water for a drag free drift. I fished rubber spiders for bluegills and more conventional dries, like the Renegade and Haystack. These fast action rods offer pin point accuracy with dry flies. On water where you are able to maneuver long rods like these, the benefits of the extra length are obvious.

On a 5 star scale, I give these rods a solid 4.5 stars. I consider them a best “Bang for the Buck” in this class of rods since the price tag is only $199.99, and they use multi modulus technology just like many “Premium” rods. You don't have to be a trout fisherman to appreciate or enjoy using one of these rods either. The 3wt is a killer panfish stick. I'd certainly love to use the 5wt on Ohio's smallmouth streams. Alas I wasn't able to test the 5wt on smallmouth as my trip was canceled due to weather, but I know that it will perform just fine in that roll. It handled the carp in the accompanying photo just fine.