Just received a Nissin Air Stage Honryu 380 today. It looks great and the taper is very smooth/progressive - like a bigger, slightly faster version of my old Flow 320 except it has cork instead of wood. Anyone have one of these?
One of the smoothest casting rods I’ve fished with. John Vetterli of SLC Tenkara Guides has one and loves it. I have four on order but do not know when they will be shipped from Japan ( of which one is spoken for). Only downside is long collapsed length, but not longer than broken down fly rod. – Minor point: Fuji Flow is incorrect translation. Should be read as Fuji Style.
Cast it today. Very smooth. Can’t wait to fish out of my tube. Yes, Chris I followed that thread on another blog about the 380 and longer 450. You should sell quite a few. The 43" collapsed long length does not bother me at all - I still have a Sage SP two piece that is a monster in comparison. I like the simple cosmetics and it has decent cork which, as you know, is important to me. Interesting how the solid .7mm tip is fused to the hollow final section. Precise and seemless. Thanks for the correction. Again I should have consulted with my “kaizen” translating son. Flow is, however, a very appropriate nickname. Incidently I sold my old 320 because the Yoshino cypress grip made me sneeze!
I have the 450 Honryu. It took me some time to warm up to it. It felt just a bit tip heavy, but the more I cast it the less bothered me. Having become more proficient with long line techniques, wonder if I would be happier with a 380. (I also have the Air Stage 390, which is great for setting completely unrealistic expectations about how good a rod should feel.) For the sort of streams I fish, and the fish I catch, the two Honryu rods are probably as good as it gets.