I’m seriously considering getting an X54. Mainly I like the longer rod lengths for their versatility on larger rivers. There’s two in particular close to where I live, Lower Mountain Fork and the Blue River. I’ve caught fish using my “shorter” 4 meter rods but I think the 5.4 meter rod would be much better. The fish that are in these rivers are considerably larger than the typical headwaters streams I fish. The X54 would handle those fish quite well I believe. The X54 weighs 3.4 ounces which is very manageable one handed if one wanted to fish it that way. Just wondering if anyone has experience with the 5.4 meter rod and what their opinion is of it.
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Rob, I am curious as well. That is a pretty good price for a 54.
I assume you read TB’s description.
My suntech gm 53 is a little tip heavy at full length, but I fish it at that length anyway. I would suspect any rod that is over 3 oz and 5m will contribute to some fatigue fished single handed.
It really is amazing how much easier it is to fight fish with these longer rods. You will not be sorry.
I sometimes will carry my 53 on smaller water. If space allows it is handy for stealth. You can be further off the bank and get nice drifts around all kinds of brush and boulders.
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That’s exactly my rationale for the rod. Length, weight, price. There’s some water I fish in New Mexico in which I could vastly increase my stealth using this rod not to mention being able to use is on larger water. The 17 penny rating puts it in the range of all of my tenkara rods.
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I don’t think I could use this rod nor one similar to it.
However, today looking around the internet I just noticed that U-Nissin has a rod that is marked “new” , though I can’t determine how long it has been up on their website. An image on the page shows an upload date of Oct. 2017, but the page shows modified Feb 25, 2018. Maybe that’s just because I looked at the page info today.
The U-Nissin 3Way Keiran, (3WAY 渓・蘭).
River Orchid is the literal translation, but that might be incorrect when the words are combined
It would be more expensive, ~ $65 - $75, depending on which of the three models chosen in their line up.
The Daiwa Seiryu X 54 list for 12,800 yen. The 3Way Keiran 5.4 m rod list for 18,000 yen - 19,000 yen.
They are all tip tone ( 先・調子) rods.
In three tone scales. Medium, hard medium & high contrast. (中硬、硬中硬、硬調).
But also a bit heavier, .4 oz ~ .8oz.
But it would give the option of 3 lengths: 5.4 (54-49-43) meters. So you could swing a shorter rod when you didn’t need the longer length. The penny rating is a unknown.
U-Nissin has done one nice thing, added built in language translation option.
Seems like that is happening more and more recently on other commercial websites and even some tenkara blogs. It works fairly well on some sites, not very well on others. I suspect that is due to the writing style of the author.
fwiw.
The zoom option isn’t critical for my use in this instance but it is interesting. The penny rating on the other hand is critical. Always seems to be endless choices about the direction to go.
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Isn’t that the truth!
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No matter the choice, they are all great rods. I had narrowed down to three and just leaned to one even though others had made valid arguements for other options. I do not regret my choice.
I really believe that most rods can and will fish great once you get to know them. The fact that this one has so many positive attrs that you like combined with its cost, makes it a no brainer.
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I suppose if I get and for some reason don’t like it, I can sell it off like I’ve done with others. Problem is with that length, the customer base shrinks.
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I suppose it might be a fatigue thing, but those longer rods are magical. I suspect peeps do not know what they are missing out on. Here in the Northeast there is quiet a bit of canopy, Yet I still dig the utility of the 5m+ rod.
Please do a write up when you put it through its paces. The mid flex aspect has my interest.
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I’ve caught 16" spotted bass in strong current with my SX45 and never felt outgunned.
I think the 54 on big water where you have room to work the fish will be just fine. Lots of leverage.
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I don’t for one second doubt it’s capability. If your X45 is anything like my Sagiri 45MC, it can handle some decent fish. They are probably very similar if not identical in action. I’m thinking I could use the X54 on even small to medium sized waters where the fish might be easily spooked, if the tree canopy allows it. The length would give me an even more stealthy approach.
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I may be remembering this incorrectly, but, I thought you really like your Sagiri. So why not get the Sagiri 54MC? Especially, since you know how it will perform.
Edit: I’ve actually been considering one myself for the past couple of months.
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I was looking at a non zoom option. I didn’t know there was a Sagiri 54!
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I can understand that.
Yes, Keiichi of Tenkaraya says that he can get either a 54 or a 63, just contact him through his custom order form. Don’t know the price, but he says they’re available.
I contacted him as soon as you mentioned the 54.
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Already got a reply back from Keiichi. $143.50 for the Sagiri 54.
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Wow! That’s pretty a damn good price (obviously I know it didn’t include shipping),I may consider one at that. I was thinking about the 45, but there are several places I fish where that would be useful. Hmm, can I convince my wife that I “need” another rod?
Just joking, she won’t actually care.
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Ha ha! I’m in that area of “do I need another rod” in my own mind!
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Man, I hear you there. I know others have considerably more than me, but last year I narrowed it down to 5 (though one is currently broken and the cost for new sections is only $25 less than a whole new rod) rods. Now I’m considering 3-4 different new ones. Certainly won’t get them all, but am seriously debating 2 of them.
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Really I don’t see a reason, other than myself, for not telling Keiichi to place an order. I’ll sleep on it and see how I feel in the morning.
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