The long Indian summer has translated into some of the best late fall fishing I can remember. On that note, an Oni Honryu 450 showed up direct from Japan Friday and I got it out on the water Saturday morning. The first hookup was certainly auspicious - the good old two for one. Great rod - responsive and not as heavy as I thought it might be - and it sort of feels like cheating the drifts I can get with it.
Cheers,
John
How do you like that rod?
Love it! Its a great replacement for the Nirvana, which is a rod that I also love. Its very comfortable to use. I’ll let you check it out in the spring!
I had read some reviews on that rod, but
I wasn’t sure. Im glad you like it. Sounds good!! Im bringing some more rods this time as well and a fly tying kit. It will be great to see everyone this Spring. I just picked up the Talon Mini. Excited to try it out this winter on the small streams around here.
Wild Tiger, congrats to your friend.
Aren’t Tiger Trout sterile? By wild I am assuming you mean hatched in the wild. If you meant crazy-wild, forget I said anything.
I often find Red Shiners that size in one stream are super aggressive to the point that I can’t get my fly to known Sea Run Cutthroat trout lies because the Shiners hit them before they get to where the trout are holding. I believe missed hook sets on the dinks put down the big boys.
I agreed with @Lkn4trout and thought that “Wild” & “Tiger Trout” was an oxymoron until I researched it for a few minutes…
“May occur naturally wherever the two species coexist. Wild tiger trout, which can be quite colorful, are found sporadically throughout Connecticut, but are never common… Tiger trout are sterile, so cannot successfully reproduce (backcross) with either parent species or among themselves. As with hybrids between many fish species, tiger trout tend to be more aggressive and faster-growing than either parent species. This makes them easier to catch by angling. This and the odd markings make them popular among anglers.”
Ok well that makes sense. Both brookies and browns in the Driftless. Leaned something new.
-John
Welcome! A nice rainbow, and an very nice rod. Lookin’ good.
Beauties!!!
Wow nice !!!
I always get a kick out of the guides at Fly Shops who say you can’t land big trout with a Tenkara rod. They are so wrong.
I really dig the color on the fish you are into. Just beautiful.
It is funny how folk willl often put limits on techniques they know nothing about. The guides you note probably never cast a tenkara rod on the water.
Tenkara has a wonderful way of teaching us how to throttle pressure and read fish behavior during the fight and landing.
There is a term “bow to the cow” taken from other disciplines, which basically means dropping the rod tip and reducing pressure at key momments. I often feel this is critical when fighting fish out of scope of the tackle we are using no matter what it is. On big fish with tenkara i will bow a bit once I establish fish size, then more agressively if i feel the fish rise with intent to breach. The last thing we want is for the full or partial weight of a big fish out of the water.
Tenkara is the perfect tool for this throttling. I often imagine that at the start of a fight, big fish dont even know they are hooked as I will often only have gentle pressure.
