Primal Zone 9’6” 3–weight

The New Primal Zone 9’6” 3-weight kind of fell into my lap when visiting Rick Dobson at Aussie Angler in Melbourne. Rick knows my style of fishing and he mentioned that I might like this stick. Dobbo knows his stuff, so he threw on a reel and line and out I went for a cast in Dobbo’s concrete casting pond.

The rod felt quite nice in hand, and even with the 4-weight line he gave me, the rod’s recovery rate was impressive. But more homework needed to be done, so I sang out to the team at Manic Tackle Project to see if I could field test one of these bad boys for an extended period. 

When setting up for Spanish Style dry fly fishing I like to underline the rod. I chose a 2-weight delicate presentation line to be the perfect counterpart for the day’s fishing. On the water the rod felt beautiful to cast and handled the underlining well. The action was fast, but the tip soft enough to run tiny TroutHunter 0.09mm or 8X tippet. The tippet protection was evident and with a smooth transition through the blank whilst playing the fish, it all combined to make the rod a breeze to use. 

The other thing to mention is the cosmetics of the rod. Being a competition angler, we can be a fussy bunch when it comes to looks, and I believe there’s a myriad of things that can scare fish. When it comes to added advantage, the Primal Zone is the perfect weapon with its stealthy matte black finish. For me, looking for an edge over the rest of the pack, this is something you should consider when picking out your next rod. 

Being a gearhead, I love keeping up with the latest and greatest, but I only want gear that works and lands trophies. For me, the selection process for a rod hinges on its suitability for a specific technique and application. For competitions, and just for catching lots of fish, the Primal Zone rod has rocketed up the ladder. I’ll pick it first whenever I’m competing or whenever I get on the river. I’d fish this rod anywhere. Small or big rivers, here in Australia or over the ditch in New Zealand.

There’s also the Primal Zone 9’6” 2-weight to consider. I’ve had a decent play with it and it would be my choice to use as a single nymph rod on small shallow rivers and for small fish. It’s ideal for using 2mm–3mm beaded nymphs on very light tippet. 

These two new rods from Primal complete their Euro Nymph rod range, which includes a: 

10’ 2-weight

10’6” 3-weight

10’ 4-weight 

The suite will cover everything you’ll need for competition style angling.