Okay I know there has been discusion here on how to land a big fish, but how big is to big? There is a spot by where I live that can be fished seasonally for some big fish like 25+in. Again how big is to big?
Tight line
Brandon
Depends on the water:D
Depends on you skills - how about 7 pounds on 4x in still water?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlE9aRdxu5s
I agree that the dynamics of a big fish in moving water is the wild card.
Keep the fish on the butt of your rod.
Let the tippet do it’s job.
Haul 'em in.
This is a custom rod, but it will give you an idea of what is possible in terms of brute force -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT0wsMWLpSg
Notice that the top 2/3 of the rod is straight - the force applied with the last 1/3 of the rod.
If you try a “high stick” landing you Will break your rod.
Brandon,
Lady Fisher isn’t wrong. It depends. If you were to use a beefier rod (read: a rod with serious backbone, rating in the so-called 7:3 “stiff” range), you could play and land a fish of 20+". The Tenkara Guides have shown some rods capable of handling medium-large sized carp. It would be a workout (and a whole lotta fun!), but it can be done with some practice. Some rods capable of handling bigger fish include: TUSA Amago, TUSA Yamame, and the Daiwa Kiyose series, and a number of others.
Check out the YouTube video of Tenkara Carp here.
Best,
Clod
A TenkaraUSA Ito, which is a “5:5” rod has nearly as much backbone as an Amago. It will land big fish just fine. Tip-flex is just that. The Tenkara Guides LLC group is developing a better nomenclature to describe rod characteristics, including backbone, tip-flex, and more.
The Common Cents “penny weight” numbers are also very useful.
This thread offers some perspective -
http://www.tenkara-fisher.com/showthread.php?589-Shimotsuke-Ten/page2