A lot of us aren’t fishing as much as we’d like to right now, but at least we can still ogle rods online. What will your next rod be?
I’m still on the hunt for a 400 cm/13 ft rod that really clicks with me, and I’ve got my sights set on the Tanuki XL-1 sometime in the next few months. I’m impressed with how light it is and how glowing Tom’s review was.
How about you?
I think I’m pretty good on rods at the moment. I will admit, I’m kicking myself for not scooping up the Nissin Oni Honryu 395 for $100 in Dragontail’s ongoing Facebook scratch & dent sale.
I’m kind of happy using 2 or 3 rods right now. The Oni Type I, Oni Type III, and DragonTail Hellbender if I want to fish for things not trout. @TenkaraAddict - have you ever fished an Oni Type I? Not sure what you’re looking for in a 400cm class rod, but might be what you’re looking for.
Oh man, I have my own heartbreak story of missing out on one of the Dragontail deal rods this morning. But I did get a Shimotsuke Kiyotaki 270 for $25 
I’ve been eyeing the Oni Type II (I want something capable of handling larger trout) off and on, but when I’ve looked at the Team Oni USA site a couple of times, replacement parts have been out of stock. If I can’t just go online and order replacement parts in a couple of clicks and get the parts in a few days, that’s a dealbreaker for me (I seem to be violent with my 400 cm rods). The parts appear to be in stock now, but seeing them out of stock in the past does not give me confidence that they’ll be there when I need them in the future. By all accounts, they seem to be awesome rods, though. And who knows, maybe I’ll end up there in the end anyway.
I’ve got the 395 Honryu and love it. If I had to order a long rod I would probably go with the Tanuki XL 1.
I recently bought a Nissin Fine Mode 450 to use for bass online at Ebay from a dealer in Japan. This is a stiff Keiryu rod, meaning that it is tip action. Then, attempting to a different rod, some confusion arose and to resolve my selection the dealer sent a copy of the Nissin chart for the Fine Mode.
There are three action for each length of rod and typically what is sold online is the stiffest. The Japanese adverts call this “tone.”
I bought a softer action, listed as a “445” for $62,23 and it’s at the post office, having taken about a week to arrive; but I’m self-sequestered and haven’t picked it up, as yet. You could probably buy spare parts to ship with the rod or, perhaps at this price, even buy a spare rod.
I’ll let you know what I think of it after casting it in the backyard swimming pool.
Hmmm, I am trying to stick with no next rod. Though a few are calling, ‘try me’. If one jumps the blockage it might be some Shimano model, the only major brand I have not yet tried. My motorcycles are angry they have been bumped off the budget for too long. They seem to not understand that I have budgeted money for their needed care only to have the money snatched away for an expensive car repair, a/c repair, new refrigerator or some other unexpected expense.
I have too many rods right now. Most I don’t get the chance to use. I haven’t seen one I’m wanting in awhile. I do like the honryu 395. I’ve been primarily using my Tenryu tf39ta, I’d say that’s my most used rod.
Oni Honryu 395 will be the next rod. I’m hoping to get some time on the Lower Yuba with it later this year along with a Keiryu rod for the same water.
Have you looked at the Dragontail Hellbender rod? I don’t own it but I was considering it for when I fish some of the trophy water here in western Idaho.
I’ve got a Suntech Tenkara Bum 40 on the way.
Because I’ve got a personal strict limit of 4 rods that means my Nissin Royal Stage 7:3 360 is heading to a new home.
I already own the Nirvana 400 and am looking for something lighter in the hand. The Nirvana 400 weighs 3.2 oz. The Hellbender weighs 3.4 oz. The Tanuki XL-1 weighs 2.5 oz, which is lighter than most 400 cm Japanese rods.
Tristan, while rod weights on paper give some indication of how one rod might fish compared to another rod, how a rod balances is a lot more important than how much it weighs in a long day’s fishing. But for sure, light weight rods are much more fun to fish with than heavy Rods are, and almost always less tip heavy. Rod length is the prime indicator of potental tip heaviness, since we hold the rod at one end. More length equals more weight and leverage out there to work against the angler’s fishing pleasure with single-hand casting rods. It would be nice if all rod makers would list a Standard Rod Moment Measurement, but I do not believe it is in their best interests to do that, so that’s not likely to happen any time soon.
Agreed. Again, I’m interested in it because it’s light and because of Tom’s review.
Tristan, after watching Tom’s review, the Tanuki X -1 looks exactly like what you are looking for…Karl.
I have a lot of rods so I probably shouldn’t buy anymore but there are several that I keep eyeballing
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#1 Nissin Royal Tenkara 360 6:4
#2 Oni 4 with the burl wooden handle
#3 Daiwa Master LL36 L
#4 Nissin Buccarui 360 5:5
#5 Nissin Air Stage Furiyru 360 5:5
#6 Tenryu Furaibo T39 SA zoom
I have given 8 rods away to family members and 3 rods to students that I once taught or coached.
At this point I will just keep dreaming and enjoy what I already have purchased. Tristan, thanks for creating this topic.
Tristan and All, I do not know if anyone has seen this yet, but it pretty well shows that the Tanuki XL -1 is a fairly soft tip-casting rod.
The Oni type 3 rod surprised me with how light it is. In fact it seems impossibly light and just feels like such a fun rod to cast and use. It’s hard to explain, I was able to fish with Oni in Little Cottonwood and he loaned me a Type 3 and of course I had to buy it after trying it out.
Oni Type III for the win. I love that rod. It’s probably my favorite.
I know someone else that feels similarly. They feel it’s probably the best rod they’ve ever used. Problem is, it’s hard to get right now…
I hear you. Would imagine anything that comes straight from Japan might be in short supply right now. Meandering slightly off target, if one could find a Nissin Royal Stage 320 6:4, while not exactly the same, I’d think they’d find it compares favorably.