12' Tenkara Rod Hirame-L-3608 Review
Review of the 12' Tenkara Rod Hirame-L-3608 From All Fishing Buy
Ok kids after fishing with this for a bit I feel comfortable writing a review.
The setup I have been using with this rod is as follows
12ft #3 Hi-vis from Chris at Tenkarabum
Tippet is 7X also use 5x about 3.5 or more feet
A few flys used size 18 and 20 sulphur duns cdc, tried a few sekasa kebaris tied on some smaller daichi hooks and a few standard nymphs like hares ear.
The rod casts beautifully and effortlessely. It seems the more effort one trys to put into it (western fly fishing) the poorer the result. Got to relax and cast with less power. ;)
The number 3 hi vis from Chris works great on this rod have not tried anything else because I don't have anything else. Nice tight loops and the 7x follows suit. The 5x works well as well but I have a bit more finnesse with the 7. I detect little to no oscillation that I have heard described with the use of other tenkara rods. So dampening very good.
Hooking up on the Swift river with average fish ranging in size from 15 to 17 inches we bring em in no problem on this rod and boy is it fun.
Went to a small stream that runs through two ponds and caught very small largemouths ranging in size from three to seven inches and pulled a few very small fish I could not ID that were about 4 inches.
Man you can feel every twitch and breath of the fish on this rod very sensitive, amazing.
Handled very well for my narrow vision of what a japanese fly rod can do
The rod is well built but the cork is just OK in my opinion. Lost the dern plug ridding my motorcycle to the swift yesterday. Had it strapped up in front across handlebars. Plug does not seat firmly. Time to make another plug
The rod is beautiful aestheticly and the color is not well represented on the All Fishing Buy sight. The color on the rod is a nice purple in the colored sections of the rod. The graphite in the handle end is a beautiful natural carbon gray and shows a weave pattern underneath the high gloss laquer with a bit of gold thread spun around for a nice touch. For those picky about the handle screw cap it fits tightly and is of the metal variety.
I am convinced this is a re-branded Nissin for All Fishing Buy and at substantial savings. I could be wrong but don't think so
The action feels good and like I said the castability of Chris's light 3 line is superb lays those drys and fishes those drys flawlessly.
Casting upstream and drifting down with no pull on fly whatsoever. Unless of course one wishes to impose action on fly via slight twitches which sends my tiny sulphurs into ecstatic dances on the surface.
My final conclusion is I am damn happy I bought this rod. Not only did I save money but it is very well built and I forsee no issues with it in the near or long term future. Is it a Tenkara rod 150% yes. It even has it written on it in Japanese LOL so it must be right? LOL
Speaking of Japanese I am thrilled to be fishing with a tenkara rod that is produced by a Japanese company as it somehow lends psychologicaly to the whole tenkara thing being that is a Japanese rod
Side note: I have fished sekasa kebaris with this rod and another with no luck what so ever on my primary river The Swift in one particular section. This is because one must match the hatch there. They are as smart a fish as you will ever meet and a real challenge to all including the most seasoned. This is where many go to not only catch wonderful fish but to hone their angling skills. I would love to see someone catch one on a sekasa kebari there so I can copy their damn pattern! LOL I have caught fish on sekasa kebari on less warry trout in other sections however, and other types of fish for that matter like the mighty pumpkinseed and bluegill.
Great Rod
