Fin & Fire Gear Review: Rio Euro Nymph Shorty

Fin & Fire Gear Review: Rio Euro Nymph Shorty

Guest Author: Ron Romeis

Everyone who fishes with me knows I swing soft hackle flies for trout about 95 % of the time. When conditions dictate, I will fish a dry fly, do some indicator nymphing, or nymph without an indicator. I have practiced Euro nymphing and have a reel set up with a small diameter fly line designed for that style of fishing. However, unless I carry an extra rod or reel, I’m committed to that style of fishing when I take that set up. A couple of surgically repaired shoulders tire pretty quickly if I’m exclusively Euro nymphing so I don’t do that very often.

While chatting about Euro nymphing with Chris and Guy in the shop one day, they showed me RIO’s new Euro Nymphing Shorty. Its an ultra thin fly line designed for Euro nymphing. Its deliberately made short (20ft) so it can be added to the front end of a regular fly line with the welded loop provided. It is very similar, if not exactly the same material as RIO’s full length Euro Nymphing fly line. This seemed like a very practical alternative to carrying a complete Euro set up.

My biggest concern was how this addition to my regular fly line would perform. I normally fish with a 10’6” 3wt rod and either a double taper or single spey fly line when swinging flies. Adding the Euro Nymphing Shorty was as easy as removing my leader, adding the Shorty to my existing fly line, and finishing up with an appropriate Euro style leader and tippet. For my first day on the water with the Shorty, I was armed with my usual 3wt nymphing rod, RIO’s 5wt Single Spey Fly line, the Shorty, and a simple section of sighter material and tippet connected to a section of high viz leader.

I was extremely happy with how this combination performed. I could tell very little difference when casting the Shorty compared to casting a full length Euro nymphing fly line. I was able to make casts of any distance that I would normally make tight line nymphing. The ultra thin Shorty has very little sag which helps maintain a tight connection with your fly and is very sensitive. I had no difficulty detecting strikes, whether from feel, or by watching my sighter.

The only drawback is that occasionally you would cast the entire 20 foot Shorty and the the loop to loop connection would contact the rod guides. But, unless you are using a dedicated nymphing line, that minor issue is unavoidable. Since most tight line casts are short, it doesn’t occur that often.

The RIO Euro Nymph Shorty makes it easy to convert any fly line set up to a Euro nymphing line and start nymphing. Its a very affordable alternative to carrying a dedicated Euro style set up. and can easily be stored in your vest for use whenever the opportunity presents it self. It only takes a few minutes to replace your normal leader with the Shorty and add the Euro leader of your choice and your are ready to go, In the future, I’ll be more likely to add the Shorty and include Euro style fishing to my day on the river.