Jun 20, 2020

Sage ESN Reel

There's a lot of great gear on the market today for European style nymphing. Rods, reels, lines, leaders, tippet, tippet rings, and of course flies. We've got a great selection of euro nymphing gear here at the Madison River Fishing Company, and we're growing our offering to a wide selection of rods and reels. The new ESN reel from Sage is a piece of gear we're particularly excited about in the euro nymphing arena.

The new Sage ESN reel, or european style nymphing reel, was purpose built for the technique. It's made to go on the 10', 10'6", and 11' rods used in euro nymphing. This reel gives you the ability to balance your system out (watch the video for how). It also comes in two colors, Stealth and Chipotle, and one size.

One of the first things of note is the ESN reel has a thin width arbor. What that does is allow you to get thin diameter materials, which your whole system is in euro nymphing, onto the spool uniformly.

The ESN reel also has a large diameter spool. This helps you get the fish on the reel quickly. When you pin up and have a fish on, you've got 10 or 12 feet of mended line in the water. The large diameter allows you to get that fish on the reel quickly so you're fighting them off the drag.

The Sage ESN reel also has a full frame. That mitigates the chance for the thin diameter materials to get caught up inside the spooling frame.

One of the coolest features are the three counterbalance weights included with the reel. They come in half ounce, ounce, and ounce and a half weights. The weight goes on super easily (see video for how). Note that the weight is hexagon shaped as is what it sits on, so the weight can go 360 degrees on your reel.

This reel is a true weapon in the Sage euro nymphing lineup and rounds out your setup if you've already got a euro nymphing rod. Give us a call or email with any questions on the reel!