Product Reviews
Joe Goodspeed was extraordinarily helpful in rod selection and responsive to all my questions. Rod shipped fast and the fit and finish is everything you could hope for. Holding the rod it feels very light and powerful. Looking forward to sharing more details after some time on the water!
The differences between these rods and those costing twice as much are these rods are even better in terms of both craftsmanship and design while costing half as much. I own the Tactical Long series fly rods in 7, 8, 9 and 10 weight and they are absolutely amazing. Their tapers are highly refined, extremely user friendly and very powerful without having to wear your arm out to make them work. If you fish big water from the beach, rocks or a boat, these rods are as good as it gets. The 7wt is also possibly the best rod ever made for "mousing" after dark for Brown Trout here in Northern Michigan...
Very fast service at a good price. Comes with a nice tube case. Money well spent.
I have a lot of time in fishing the 10’10 2wt and I have to say I’ve been very pleased with the performance of the rod, I can fish 6-7x tippet with ease and I still have the backbone to land the bigger fish! Highly recommend
Too soon to comment on "use", but optically and how it "feels" in the kitchen is all a plus. TBD. Value also appears positive. No flaws.
I enjoyed my old 7/8 wt Diamondback Western rod for almost 30 years, catching fish from Alaska to Belize. Then this week I lost the tip section somewhere in the Oregon Coast Range. Joe Goodspeed explained that particular rod and sections are no longer available. Now I'm looking forward to shipment of my new Tactical Long 8 wt rod, at a generous replacement discount. Old school customer service still exists. Hopefully another review soon with steelhead.
The 10’10 2w allows tippet protection to 7x and gives extra reach needed for medium to large rivers for me.
The rod recovery is great and allows the sighter to stabilise very quickly after casting.
This rod fishes more like a 2.5w which helps fighting fish in larger water.
I find it a little hard to cast a couple of 2mm beads so maybe the 1w is a better choice for small beads.
My collection of Diamondback Ideal nymph rods has grown to every rod in there set. My favorites are the 10' 2wt, 10'10" 2wt, 10'10" 4wt and the 10'10" 6wt. I have recently fished the 6wt in the Erie Tribs for steelhead and have to say that it handles them better than any other rod I have fished. Joe has hit it out of the park with these rods. They are now my go to Euro rods. My Sage Esn's sit in the closet collecting dust, my T&T Contact 2's have been sold. For me these rods have helped my fishing and I really enjoy fishing them. Fit and finish is amazing, no detail has been left out. For the price they are a real bargain, you are getting much more than you paid for. If you want a top of the line Euro Rod look no further and do yourself a favor and pair it with the Ideal nymph reel, they are well worth the price and balances there rods exceptionally! Thanks Joe you've changed Euro nymphing for me forever!!
I took these out on a trip to PA and what a perfect feel and casting ability they gave me over rods I used before I bought these. I'm hooked!!!! Wish I could get 6wt for brown trout, will have to finesse them with the 5wt. Which I figure will do just fine. A professional guide recommended your rods and I'm glad he did. Paired them with Lamson Guru S. Balance was perfect rods loaded very well. Thanks Diamondback for a high quality American product.
Got the 1,2's, 4 and 6wt ideal rods. Phenomenal sticks. Very sensitive and powerful. Have landed small wild trout to a LMB in my local river (on the 10ft 10 inch 2wt) and have tussle a few 20+ inch stocked rainbows in high flows and have been blown away at the performance to cost comparison. I own a contact 2 and am esn also and these still get the grab on most trips. Just lacking the 3wt for the whole lineup. Buy confidently. You won't be disappointed.
Today I took my new 10' 1wt Ideal Nymph Rod to a nearby creek located in my home state of NC and battled some 12 to 14 inch browns and bows. My first thoughts on the rod is that it casts my 2.5mm tungsten perdigons with little effort and the rod's recovery after every cast was surprisingly quick. Even though I landed every trout I caught today, this rod is not built to "horse" trout in like I do with my 3wt T&T ... then again I had to remind myself that this is a 1wt in my hand. The main reason why I bought this rod in the first place was to have a "light" nymphing rod to go after all the wild trout here in NC with the lightest of tippets. Even though I'm a big fan of T&T's Contact rod line, they definitely don't have one of these sticks for us to play wth! So in closing, Joe Goodspeed knocks it out of the park again by delivering to us yet another excellent nymphing rod line that will continue to put smiles on our faces with every hook set, great job Joe!
This rod is exceptionally light, responsive, and durable providing effortless and accurate casting with less fatigue…
You’re buying a $1100 rod for half the money!
Awesome rod with spectacular finishes. Perfect length and weight for my type of waters. Can’t wait to fish it.
Good rod. Great performance price ratio.Used only a couple of times with dry flies on trout and creek chub