Today I was testing the 6wt Diamondback Ideal Nymph rod, doing a little tight lining/euro nymphing. It was a lot more sensitive than my redington path rod, and using a mono rig for the first time made me see that these rods are made for loading via the weight of the flies vs a traditional fly line.
This rod can handle some seriously big fish, I landed 2 river redhorses in the 10-15 lb range. Although they aren't super hard fighters, you know at the least this rod can handle the weight of those fish.
SETUP INFO:
Rod: 6wt Diamondback Ideal Nymph, 10 ft 10 in
Reel: Orvis Clearwater Large Arbor Reel, Size IV (7-9 WT)
Fly Line: 25lb Rio Slick shooter as the main line
Leader: 2-3 feet of 12lb colored mono in yellow (Stren Hi-Vis Gold) and red (Sufix Superior Neon Fire) for the sighter material with a tippet ring at the end. Tippet attaches to the tippet ring, anywhere from 6-8lb fluorocarbon.
Flies: I tie my own flies!