Arcay Kingfisher, 10.6, 3/4 wt: a review by fly fishing guide and competition angler Ian Troup
Christmas came late for me this year as I just got my new Arcay Kingfisher rod this spring. I ordered the 3/4 weight to use in the upcoming World Championships in Tasmania and Commonwealth Championships in New Zealand. These dream fly fishing destinations are both known for big fish and for almost all my nymph fishing I use the Arcay World cup 2/3 weight rod and it's it fantastic, allowing me to fish really light tippets with great sensitivity and while this rod can handle big fish, I wanted something with more 'backbone' to land bigger fish quickly.
For the record I stay away from 3 and 4 weight's for nymphing as I'm concerned they'll be too stiff and break tippets, they're usually too heavy and too fast action. Knowing this rod was designed by a 4 time world champion gave me confidence to buy it 'blind' having never fished it before (I recommend to all my clients not to do this, ever). I fished the rod for some very large fish this spring and I've simply been blown away!!
First off, this rod is light, well balanced and has a soft tip that dampens effectively and the tip flexes perfectly to cast tight line rig or dry dropper. What really impressed me is the balance of backbone and power with tip sensitivity. End result – I was able to land these large fish in half the time and not break any tippets. I know there are a lot of great nymphing rods on the market, but not many I've seen that can do what this rod can do. Did I mention with the nano tech it doesn't break? Yeah, I flexed it to the cork on a 'big boy' and the rod survived to tell the tale. If you're fishing for larger fish on a tight line nymphing rig, I can't think of a better tool for the task.
Ian Troup, May 2019
About Ian:
Ian has been fly fishing for over 30 years. A firm believer that you never stop learning, Ian spends all his free time improving his fly fishing skills and has had the benefit of learning from some of the best anglers across the globe, including World Champions and guiding mentorship from the late Ian Colin James.
Ian has a passion for competitive angling and coached the first all women team to compete in the Canadian National Championships. He is a captain of a fly fishing team and member of Team Canada, having the honour to represent Canada internationally in multiple events, most recently as part of Team Canada’s first ever Gold Medal performance, winning the 2016 Commonwealth championships. Ian earned the individual Silver Medal at the 2017 Canadian Fly Fishing Championships.
He has been guiding for the past 15 years, along with being pro-staff for the Franklin Club fishery. Ian is a certified FFF Fly Casting instructor.
