Thanks Chris Stewart!
I really like my TA39, accurate and delicate but tough.
I have caught a lot of big fish on my Zerosum 4.5m 6:4 with a 6m line with 6x. I love this rod.
My Mini (Nissin) V3’s get packed where ever I go and are fantastic opportunity rods that I have caught lots of fish on, from 20" to tiny dinks in headwater streams, this rod is a fantastic travel rod.
I’m hunting for a 5-6m single hand rod…
But not looking for a new primary rod, as a matter of fact opposite, looking to put in more time with the rods that I have. I think chasing new rods is like going backwards in skill. I want to get more and more experienced with what I have and my Ito gets that as well as my Ebisu. The Zerosum and Mini’s are getting wrung out.
I am looking forward to Tenkara USA new rod, really really like the Sato and Rhodo, the Rhodo being a kick ass small stream tight quarters casting rod.
New rod chatter…
I like old rod chatter better, it’s all about experience rather than chasing someone else’s ideas.
Yeah, I had mostly forgotten what they looked like and the specs too. Had to look it up.
http://web.archive.org/web/20110902115221/http://www.tenkarausa.com/product_info.php/products_id/51
Only slightly heavier than the Nissin Air Stage Fujiryu Tenkara rod. But $100 lower in price.
However, only the same 360 length TUSA Iwana that has survived since 2009.
I have an Iwana, never saw first hand an Ebisu.
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David,
Thank you for the picture.
The Tenryu rods look very nice but for the money, I could get 3 rods.
Anyone else see the new Shimano Borderless guideless rods? Fixed line in the Borderless series. Look to be targeting carp/larger fish. Interesting! Check it out on Shimano Japanese web page.
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Yes, you could get three rods but I would rather have the TA39, it is a fantastic example of a accurate, delicate but strong Tenkara rod.
I would have to say that it is one of my top five rods to own, maybe top three.
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http://fishing.shimano.co.jp/product/rod/2748
interesting. Any info on cost or specs?
The realist part of me knows that fixed line fishing just is a poor match for targeting salwater species where I live in the northeast. Mostly because wind is nearly ever present and variable in speed and direction. Light lines just get pushed around. This really reduces options or days that one can play around with it.
That said…as much as I like fishing for trout. There is something magical about the marine environment. There are some weird and whimsical critters out there to be caught. It is so much fun. The variety can be astounding.
Cost: $290 - 400 depending on length, plus $20 shipping.
Weight: just under 3oz to just over 7.5 oz depending on length
Collapsed length 41" or 47" depending on model.
I have not seen one and probably will not order one other than as a special order for someone, but I would expect the shorter rods (3.6m, 3 oz, 41", $290) to be extremely stiff, after all it is a beefy rod designed for big fish, but at that length there will be little inertia to help load the rod.
The longer rods get heavy quickly. The 4.5m rod is 4 1/4 oz - definitely a two hander. The 5.4m rod is 6 oz compared to 5.1 oz for a Nissin Kyogi, and is $330 compared to $260 for the Kyogi.
To dial back to the original query from toutrageous1 for new rods.
I introduced a friend to tenkara who loves it, and he too bought a sato…its his only rod.
We were recently discussing his options for bigger fish…bigger water rods.
Although the sato is not my only rod its the one I use the most. I have had some pretty big fish on that rod, and suspect it can handle much, much, more than its rating.
Recently, I have gotten into the 4.5m to 5.3m sized rods for wider rivers. I would dig seeing a 5.3m zoom rod come from tenkara usa with the same specs as the sato…just longer. There is a huge steath benefit to this length even on a small river if you have the clearance.
Gamakatsu makes 3 tenkara rods. The shorter ones are triple zoom rods. The longest one can be set at 4.25m or 5m. AFAIK that is the only 5m rod marketed as a tenkara rod. However, it has a Rod Moment of 11.8, I assume that is for the 5m length. I don’t think I would like that. But rods that over 5m in length probably all have high moment values.
http://www.gamakatsu.co.jp/products/search.php?md=d1&kd=1&n=20041
On Japanese tenkara web blogs I do occasionally see keiryu rods that are longer than 5m that are used for tenkara fishing. If they become more popular perhaps some company will start making longer rods. that they market as tenkara rods.
In a short clip of Discover Tenkara, Tenkara in Focus (episode 5 I believe, or possibly 4,I frankly don’t remember) Go Ishii and Isaac Tait go to the 2017 Japan Fishing Show. Go Ishii talks (very very briefly) about the Gamakatsu and states that it is indeed the only 5m tenkara rod.
If that is indeed true then perhaps their is opportunity in this opening in the market.
I recently purchased the suntech gm 53…yes it is a keiryu rod but I fish it no differently than the Sato. You can check out the Chris Stewart review…the rod is pretty nice. Casts effortlessly at 4.5 and 4.9. At 5.3 I can cast it fine single handed and would not hesitate to fish it at length if I needed that extra foot.
The question…if it already exists why would one want tUSA to make a similar rod?
I would be curious about their spin on such a rod. I suspect it would be beefier… the gm is rated for a 6x. There are a lot of rivers that I fish the Sato that I would feel comfortable fishing a 4.5 meter rod and some openings where I could fish it full extention.
Maybe he likes Tenkara USA and wants to support them?
No?
I don’t know nearly enough about materials, mechanics, rod moment, inertia, etc etc etc…
But I would think if somebody could design a long zoom rod (4.5-5.2 or something like that), which is well balanced, not stiff as a telephone pole, but will cast bass bugs and other large flies, it would do well in the US market.
Of course, the US market for a big water bass/gar/bowfin/(insert large predatory fish here) tenkara rod is not big, so this would be a large risk and very niche product… but it could corner that market. The Hellbender and Wisco are prob the closest thing to that right now, right?
4.5m seems to be the place where single hand rod lengths stop. It’s a physics reason.
I like longer rods, I could handle a 5.5m rod if they made one.
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