We don’t care how seriously you take yourself, you may be an elite comp angler or a casual cat, we’ve created a collection of super dialled euro sticks that are super sensitive so you’ll feel every bump and hesitation your flies make on their drift. The Primal Zone is the stick that will catch you more fish whether you’re wanting to keep count or just add to your smirk as you pick fish out behind your buddy.

David Hemphill is one of Australia's top competition anglers. Having competed in a number of Championships, he was a member of the Australian team in the 39th World Fly Fishing Championships in Tasmania in December 2019. Manic Tackle Project supported this team.
David got his hot little hands on a Primal Zone 1002/4 recently and didn't hesitate putting a bend in it. We think it's pretty exciting to have some of Australia's top competition anglers field-test our gear and give us some solid feedback.

I fished the 10ft #2 Primal Zone nymph rod for a few weeks and what a great little rod it is. I bought this rod as a back-up rod for the 2019 World Fly Fishing Championships. The Primal Zone comes with a cordura rod tube which is fully foam lined to keep the rod safe when not in use. The rod is a 4 piece, stealthy, matt grey blank with black single foot guides down to a lined stripping guide all whipped to the blank with matching grey thread and lighter grey trim wraps. The epoxying of the wraps is minimal and neat to reduce weight and keep the rod lively. Further down is a nice small hook keeper just above a good quality fine taper cork grip, which is essential for getting good feedback from the business end. A pretty good looking down locking reel seat with black aluminium hardware and a nice wooden spacer with Primal printed on the top finishes this little rod off in a non-reflective finish to eliminate any fish scaring flash.
Balance in any fly rod setup is important but with nymphing its critical. I used a Lamson 1.5 Remix with a level nymphing line and backing and the balance is superb. It feels so light in the hand, which is very pleasing to fish with.
On the water is where the Primal shows its true colours. The first thing I noticed was the great feedback I was getting from the nymphs. I knew exactly what was going on down there. Casting accuracy was as good as any rod I’ve used. Some lighter nymphing rods are good until a fish is hooked and you find out there is no power in the lower sections and then the fish dictates the terms of the fight. Not so with the Primal 10ft #2. There is more than enough power in the mid and lower sections to handle fish in excess of 50 cm easily. The first few fish hooked, once their head was above the water, just skipped across the surface to the net. Fighting fish on this rod is enjoyable and you feel in control of the battle nearly all the time. The tip is sensitive but not soft and can quite easily protect light tippet under 0.1 mm. I tried a range of tippet from .14mm down to under 0.1mm problem free. The tip, mid and butt all work together seamlessly into a real pleasing nymphing rod.
It’s amazing how rod technology has come to a point where great performance is quite affordable. Manic Tackle have really thought about the design of this rod and come up with a real winner.
I’ll be more than happy to use this nymphing rod for general river nymphing anywhere!