Alan Hill takes our Prestige 9′ 6″ #3wt Rod & Thistledown line to the upper Clyde…

Those who know the Clyde will know that it’s a fantastic river with quality Brown Trout & Grayling throughout the system, but particularly so in its upper reaches where the fish do not suffer fools in gin clear water. Sometimes it all come together & the rewards can be exceptional, such that it can make you lose sleep until your back on it…

I know the qualities of the Snowbee Thistledown 2 fly line & keep banging on about it to all who will listen to me but this isn’t about the line this is about the 9ft 6inch 3wt Prestige rod.

 

I have other rods of a similar price as the Prestige but I also have rods (who doesn’t) of the same spec that cost more than double this. Because of the Thistledown I had an epiphany, why not try the rod its meant to be used with. So I did and I have now used it in Poland on the San and on a multitude of rivers in the UK both large and small.

 

The rod has performed brilliantly and has not let me down. It excels as a dry fly rod, where it handles long casts and light tippets with ease but it is also an incredibly accurate double and single nymphing rod and I’m not talking about sticking on a bung and tracking it down a pool which would be too simple. I’m refering to moving upstream and searching out a river using nymphs of various weights coupled with long tapered or level nylon or flurocarbon leaders.

 

I will spare everyone who reads this an input on nymphing techniques and set-ups but my main point is that this excellent dry fly rod is also an excellent nymph rod & protects light tippets wonderfully well.

 

OK now the photos from the Clyde to show how it also handles big fish.

The fish above was just over 6lbs & the other was just over 4lbs  Both these fish were part of a days catch a few weeks ago with a total of 13 trout landed comfortably on size 16 and 18 nymphs and 0.1mm fluorocarbon.