Tenkara/Keiryu fly rod for Euro Nymphing? (Daiwa Kiyose 36S-F)

Hi,

I'm on a limited budget and would like to try Euro nymphing. A friend in Europe said that on medium-sized streams there they use 11' fly rods for that technique, but as I can't afford a full rod setup right now, and as the fly line and reel are hardly used, I thought, why not try tenkara Euro Nymphing instead? After all, in competitions they use reels and line just because they have to!

So I read a little more about it and found out that some folks use the Tenkara USA Amago rod, and others use similar but stiffer bait rods (keiryu).

My question is, what do you folks think of the Daiwa Kiyose 36S-F (or the new Keiryu-X) or the Nissin Fine Mode Kosansui Koucho 360 (or 390)? They are longer (11'08"-almost 13') than the more popular Kiyose 33S-F (10'10"), and more affordable (around $90 on Ebay) than the newer model, the Daiwa Keiryu-X 33 or 36. But will it feel the contour of the bottom, every rock bump and every bite like a high quality "regular" setup?

It's my understanding that one needs a longer Tenkara rod as opposed to a fly rod with line and reel, to make up for its lack of those; I live in Connecticut and think I'd probably use it primarily to fish the Farmington River. Thus my questions whether I should spring for the longer Kiyose 36S-F, or stick to the the "smaller", more popular 33S-F. Or maybe there is another, better, nymphing Tenkara/Kiyose rod that's under ~$100 to 120? (And is the newer Keiryu-X really worth the extra $30? They just have a slightly higher penny rating and fancier wrapping.)

Anyone tried Keiryu rods for Euro nymphing?What setup (leader, etc.) did you use?

I really appreciate your advice.

Thanks!

John

Hi John, seeing that no one more knowledgeable than me about nymph fishing has responded to your questions, I thought I'd give it a go.

I don't know much about it from personal experience. Only what I've read from time to time having been involved with tenkara nine years now. After 4 months and no reply maybe you have already found the answers you seek, and my attempt is to little to late.

From what I've read most tenkara rods have tips that are too soft/flexible for nymphing. With the possible exception of the Suntec Tenkarabum tenkara rods, as Chris Stewart worked with Suntec to design the Tenkarabum rods for the way many people fish in America vs in Japan. Thus he had the rods designed with nymph fishing techniques as one of the goals for the rod. But from what you wrote I'm guessing they cost more than your budget.

Anyway, using a rod with a stiffer tip than most tenkara rods have seems to be more important for nymph fishing techniques than the length of the rod.

Tom Davis appears to find the Keiryu X 33 has adequate length for nymphing, and a good place to start.

http://tetontenkara.blogspot.com/201...heres-rod.html

I am not sure if Chris still has them available because on the Tenkarabum website. If I mouse over or click on the link in his store section fore the Daiwa Keiryu-X rod it actually takes me to the webpage for the daiwa-kiyose rods. But there is no link on that page to order them. I believe they have gone out of production. Though they may possibly be found on some of the Japanese auction websites or ebay, etc.

However, there is a link on the tetontenkara blog post above that will take you to the Tenkarabum daiwa-keiryu-x webpage. Maybe Chris still has them available and just has a messed up link on his store website. Or maybe he no longer has them, intends for the link to no longer work, but it will if you have an old link to the page.

https://www.tenkarabum.com/daiwa-keiryu-x.html

If a 3.3 meter to is an ok length for nymphing - why not just slightly shorter and go with the keiryu-x 30? That is listed as $5 lower in cost, and a little closer to your budget. (I will try to remember to email Chris and ask about / point out the link error on his website.)

Other guys who are not strict Japanese style tenkara anglers are the guys in Utah, at Tenkara Guides.

Here is link a Tenkaratimes article written by one of them, probably Erik. That includes his youtube video explaining his recommended setup (he is using the Amago rod you mentioned) and it includes a drawing showing the set up. However, the video was uploaded 8 years ago. Before some of the other rods you mentioned were available. Maybe better choices are available now. You could also contact the guys at Tenkaraguides or even Tom Davis. I am confident either would be open to giving you more recent thinking about currently available low cost fixed line rods adequate or good for nymph fishing. [ there is also a link at the bottom of the page to a tutorial for Spanish nymphing, also written by one of the Tenkaraguides guys, complete with another drawing of the different setup.]

http://www.tenkaratimes.com/tenkara-...czech-nymphing


Maybe there is something of interest in this post. The rods used is not mentioned, but I am almost certain, from the painting on the rod, the rod used was a Shimano rod (I don't recall what it was called) that was sold to compete with the Daiwa Kiyose rods, and very similar to it.

https://roamads.org/2014/07/11/the-hybrid-fisher/


Good luck,

David

Here is a video uploaded Oct 2018, Small Water Tenkara Nymphing, in which a guy from Royal Gorge Anglers explains and demonstrates their TTN, tactical tenkara nymphing line.

The top link skips ahead to the on-stream part at about 12:19 minutes from the beginning.

Play the video from the beginning to see his more in-depth in shop explanation and drawing of his recommended setup and tactics.
He is using a Zen Tenkara Suzume rod, which is about a $100 over your target, but the part I thought might be useful for you is his set up and recommended nymph fishing method.

https://youtu.be/32LE-x6dhLM?t=739

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32LE-x6dhLM


Here is a recent review of that line by Jason at Tenkara Talk

https://tenkaratalk.com/2019/01/tact...ra-nymph-line/

D