My New Hera Rod

[cycler68]

After I got my tenkara rod from TenkaraUSA I started thinking that I would like something longer and more powerful. The tenkara rod is great, very compact when collapsed, light and easy to handle but has a rather limited range & I kept on wondering what would happen if I hooked a really large fish like a 10 lb carp with it. http://www.allfishingbuy.com/ has a line of hera rods and pictures of carp over 20 lbs. that people have caught using these rods. These rods come in lengths much longer than the tenkara rods, collapse down to reasonable lengths and are light enough to use all day without getting tired. So I ordered one and this week it showed up in the mail. I took it out yesterday evening and fished a small bead head copper john beneath a small strike indicator. It handled that setup very well. It has a much softer tip than most fishing poles and is nice and slim like a tenkara rod. Is this fly fishing? No, but it is fishing with flies. I think I'm going to have lots of fun with this rod in the coming months.

I forgot to say I ordered an 18 foot rod.

[cycler68]

I took my hera rod out tonight to further test it's potential as a fly fishing tool. I wanted to see if it could cast a fly without any weight other than the line, and as the hour was getting late, I chose a yellow bluegill popper as the test fly just so I could see something, perhaps the ripples in the water where I crash landed the fly. Casting the fly with just a level line setup was work. I tried modifying my stroke, making it faster or slower, shorter or longer to get as much distance as I could, resulted in a few casts that I would call decent. I couldn't see that well but the casts seemed to land far enough out to be useful. A long stroke with increasing speed and and abrupt stop at the end like a standard fly fishing stroke seemed to be about the best but not as easy as it would be with a real fly rod. It seems to me in order to fish lightweight flies with this rod I'll need to add a length of fly line to the setup to give me the weight I need.
In short I think this rod has the potential to be a good rod for fishing flies, especially flies a little too heavy for a tenkara rod, and will let me tackle large fish.
As a bonus I caught a bluegill. I tried to take a picture with the cell phone but no flash made for a really lousy pic.

[cycler68]

I fished with the hera rod tonight as it was so windy I was afraid if I fished with the shorter tenkara rod the fly would be blown too close to shore. With the 18 ft. long hera rod I was able to keep my micro jig/strike indicator rig out in the strike zone. I was rewarded with a nice rainbow, two crappies and a bluegill in about an hour or so of fishing. I think I was lucky to catch that much as the conditions were so miserable; cold, windy and spitting snow.

[cycler68]

I went fishing again last night and, as it was getting late, decided to use the tenkara rod instead of the hera rod. With the hera rod the strike indicator would have been out of sight but with the shorter tenkara rod I could just barely see it. I ended up catching three trout on exactly the same setup I had been using with the hera rod. The hera rod and tenkara rod handled the rig just about the same. The moves and casts that work with one work with the other with little modification other than allowing for the differences in length.

[JohnScott]

Now that you have a number of outings under your belt with both rods, I am curious about your impression on one thing I keep wondering about.

Do you think that the line ( plus whatever terminal gear you have on ) is actually loading the rod the way a fly line loads a regular fly rod, or do you think the rod loads itself through the casting motion and just takes the line, and fly, along for the ride ??

Do you notice any difference in this aspect of casting ( rod loading ) between the Tenkara rod and the Hera rod ??

John

P.S. With my 6:4 12" Iwana, it seems to me that the line is actually loading the rod, regardless of what kind of fly I am using. With the 5:5 13' Ayu, it seems that the rod loads itself through the casting motion and carries the line and fly along, requiring something of a big lob for a heavy stonefly nymph.

[cycler68]

Well John, you gave me a tough question to answer accurately. I'd have to say the Yamame is getting loaded from the line much more than the Hera as it is a much lighter and less powerful rod than the Hera. Just how much the Hera relies on the line to cast the fly is open to question. I'm using the same level tenkara line on both and the Hera rod could probably use a heavier fly line to improve it's casting. The Yamame is a much higher quality rod than the Hera but both are useful fly fishing tools. The fish don't care one way or the other, as long as I show them a good fly they bite!

[CM_Stewart]

If I may ask, what level line are you using? A heavier line could certainly be made for the Hera rod.

[cycler68]

I am using the tenkara USA 4.5 level line on both rods. On neither rod does the weight seem to be adequate to cast very light flies with no additional weight. Last night I had the yamame 7:3 out and, as fish were feeding on the surface, decided to switch from the micro jig/ large strike indicator to a hare's ear with a black soft hackle dropper & small strike indicator rig. It was difficult to cast this setup with the yamame so I switched from the small strike indicator to the large one thus making the flies much easier to cast. For both the hera and the tenkara rod I need heavier line if I want to fish flies without additional weight. In the case of the tenkara rod I think I'll need minimal weight, perhaps a furled tenkara line will do. In the case of the hera rod I think I'll need a section of actual fly line or a heavy furled leader. I'm thinking of using the tips from a multi-tipped fly lines fro this purpose. The tips may prove too heavy but I won't know until I try. It would be nice to be able to fish at least the smaller bass poppers with the hera rod.
On a different note using the tenkara or hera rod at night is nice. I don't have to deal with loose loops of fly line always getting caught on grass, sticks and weeds in the dark. I also can fish in areas without much room for back casting as a quick and short stroke is all that is needed for the cast. Last night I caught a couple of bluegills in a spot I couldn't fish with my conventional fly tackle.

[CM_Stewart]

The 4.5 line is more than heavy enough for the Yamame. Without watching your cast, I would bet that you are extending the forward cast too far (trying for every inch of distance) which prevents you from ending with an abrupt stop. The casting stroke with a Yamame is fairly quick, with abrupt stops on both the back cast and forward cast. Try to stop your back cast at 12 or 12:30 and your forward cast at 10:00 (then raise your rod tip to 10:30 as your line turns over). Practice with just the soft hackle, no weight and no strike indicator. With a short, quick forward cast and a hard stop, you can cast a size 3 line with a Yamame. Not sure about the Hera rod - I've never used one, but the principle will be the same, quicker casting stroke with hard stops and the 4.5 line might be sufficient. I have a taper for a twisted fluorocarbon line that I thought was too heavy for a tenkara rod - send me PM. I'm curious to see if it would work on a Hera rod.

[cycler68]

I think you hit the nail on the head. Because the tenkara rod & line are short and the perceived need to get every inch of distance I do extend my arm at the end of the casting stroke.
I'm not sure if I can make a nice abrupt stop with the Hera rod as it's 18 ft. long and has quite a bit of leverage on my arm & hand. But then if I can't do it one handed two might do.