April 28, 2014

New Water during Run-off -- April 2014

As the streams begin to rise in Southeast Idaho, I have started to look at small streams that I have not previously fished. These streams are, at least in my logic train of thought, less affected by run-off, as they do not drain large water sheds. They are small, some of those so called "thin blue lines". I headed out the other day to two of these. They were both new to me, and I didn't know what to expect.





The first creek is very small, averaging maybe 2 feet across. It has low water flows but the water is clear. As I started lower down I saw not a single fish, but as I worked further upstream I stated seeing little fish here and there. Fishing this water is really tough. There were Red-twig Dogwood branches overhanging all the good lies. I ended up walking upstream more than I fished. I'd stop every so often if there was a lie that I could actually cast to. Most of my casts were "bow and arrow" since even though I was using a 240 cm rod I could not cast traditionally due to all the branches.





I tool a few very small brook trout, the largest being 6 inches. After walking a mile or so I left for the second creek.

The second creek was not too far away from the first. It had better water flow and a wider stream bed, averaging four feet across, but still a fair amount of overhead branches. I started with a 270 cm Kiyotaki but I kept hitting the branches as I cast. Therefore I went back to the Kiyotaki 240 cm rod I had fished earlier in the day.




The water was clear and the flow was nice. On my second cast I took a 12 inch planter rainbow. That was better than the tiny guys I had taken on the previous creek! As I worked my way upstream I took 6 more rainbows. Most of these were just above an irrigation intake where the water was a little deeper. I also took a couple small cut-bows.





Here too I used a "bow and arrow" cast quite a bit, but less so due to gaps in the overhead branches. I have found that the "bow and arrow" cast is preferred at times over traditional casting when you are really close to your target and don't want to risk rod movement overhead scaring the fish. Also, sometimes the lie you are targeting is tight under overhanging branches.  A traditional cast brings the fly down too steeply to get up under or very far back under the branches, whereas a "bow and arrow" cast shoots the line and fly nearly parallel to the water. This allows you to get back under the tight branches better.





I really liked the second creek. I'm sure I'll be back to investigate it further. The first creek -- I'll likely not invest anymore time on!

Here is a video of these two different waters. As you will see, I hook but drop a lot of fish. My hooks are grabbing better, but I still can't set the hook due to all the branches, thus the fish get off.









April 24, 2014

Inexpensive Multi-rod, Multi-length rod case

If you own multiple rods, like I do, and if you like to take more than one with you on your adventures, then you might be interested in a inexpensive protective case that will hold a number of rods of varying lengths. I have a Cabelas case for travel, but it will not hold my longer tenkara rods, such as my Shimano Mainstream ZE or Nissin Air Stage Honryu 380. These rods are long when collapsed.







Enter the Staedtler Telescopic Art Tube. This is a 3 inch diameter black plastic tube that expands from 28 inches to 49 inches in length with 10 different locking positions. The tube has a twist-on cap and adjustable shoulder strap that makes it convenient to load and carry.

Adjustable lengths (in centimeters)

Cap





The easiest way to use the tube is to put your rods in their protective cloth sleeves, adjust the tube length to the longest rod, then put the rods into the tube. It's quick, it's easy, and best of all, it's inexpensive. The Staedtler Telescopic Art Tube costs less than $20 USD.

With the Nissin Air Stage Honryu 380



Sure, this tube is not tough enough to hold up to checked baggage abuse that you get on airlines, but if you're looking for a way to transport multiple rods of varying lengths in a way that won't break the bank, then this tube might just answer.








April 20, 2014

A Little Pause

The rivers are on their way up. One stream that I normally fish at 50 cfs is now nearing 230 cfs, and I expect it to go much higher over the next week. The South Fork of the Snake (a tail water river) jumped from 4500 cfs to 14,500 cfs in just a couple days. What's this mean? It means that I'll have to get a little more creative in finding water to fish for the next couple of months.

The South Fork. It will probably get into the 20,000+ cfs shortly!



But this pause in fishing gives me the opportunity to reflect a little on what I've tried to do with this blog and where I see it going.

I started this blog in January of 2012 and it is mainly a personal journal or diary of my "tenkara adventures in the shadow of the Tetons", as the subtitle says. I've tried to document my investigation of, successes and failures in, and evolution and exploration of tenkara. I've also tried to share my love of gear, particularly rods, in a way that would be of some benefit to not just me but the tenkara community in general. I possibly have been successful in some of this, but I'm sure have failed miserably in other aspects of blogging.



From the blog title



My goal for Teton Tenkara is not to be the "everything tenkara" blog or even the "premier" tenkara blog. For that, I would point you to Jason Klass's Tenkara Talk or Chris Stewart's Tenkara Bum sites. These sites are far more inclusive on all things tenkara (or in the case of Tenkara Bum tenkara, keiryu, seiryu and any other fixed-line method of catching fish of any type or size). My site is just my own, personal experience.

Teton Tenkara is also not designed to be a forum.  It's not that I don't like sharing through forums, but I got too consumed in astroimaging forums in the past and that wasn't good for my health, mental and physical. Therefore I only participate in one forum, Tenkara-Fisher, and I lurk in a few others (Fly Anglers Online and Tenkara USA). If you haven't participated in any of these I'd recommend it. Come join us at Tenkara-Fisher. It's open to everyone. We are pretty open minded and like to share all sorts of experiences. Adam Trahan (he has been to Japan and fished tenkara in their streams) owns the site and does a great job of facilitating the discussions. We may not always agree with each other's views but in general we all respect each other's opinions.

Tenkara Fisher sticker by Adam Trahan -- join Tenkara Fisher and contact Adam to buy one!




Even though Teton Tenkara is not a forum, I still love to hear from you -- especially if any of my tenkara investigations have helped in your personal tenkara adventure. I know I've made it a little hard to contact me directly but there for a while I was getting a lot of spam. Don't be dissuaded, contact me. I'll do my best to answer you back.

Anyway, my goal for the future of Teton Tenkara is more of the same, but with fewer rods reviews. Why? Because I'm running out of rods to review! I'm not interested in reviewing the myriad of "me too -- copy cat" tenkara rods that are flooding eBay; I'm only interested in cutting edge rods or those that have stood the test of time. Also, I can't afford to buy every single tenkara rod out there! If a rod supplier has done a lot of research and design for a new rod, and has come up with an innovative rod then I'm interested, like Oleg Stryapunin's Tenkara Times has done. But the "I made some calls to a Chinese rod company and now I sell tenkara rods with my logo on them" type of a rod is not where my interest lies.

All the rods, so far. More to come.



So there you have it. The future of Teton Tenkara. More reviews, but selective. More fishing reports to journal what I've been up to.  And more of my (hopefully helpful or interesting or marginally entertaining) fishing videos.

Thank you to all of you who read and follow this blog. It's been a fun ride. Let's keep going!

-Tom









April 16, 2014

Mountain Stream Tenkara April 2014 -- fishing before the flood

While I was evaluating the Gamakatsu MultiFlex Suimu 4.0 tenkara rod I fished a number of different types of streams. One of them was a typical Rocky Mountain stream that is a particular favorite of mine, but I wanted to do so before run-off started

We currently have over 120% of normal snow pack our local mountains and that means that if is warms up quickly all of that snow will come racing down the various watersheds. The other thing all that snow means is that you still can't get to the headwaters of the streams unless you walk (snowshoe or ski) a very long way, snow machine in, or fly in! But there is one other way...

I decided to get well into the mountains riding my Rokon Scout. I've written about this amazing all-terrain conveyance before, but this is the first time I've taken it into snow country and challenged snow machines.

My Rokon Scout on a previous trip.


I drove up into the mountains, over snow packed roads and then out across snow covered hillsides. Most of the snow has melted on the south facing slopes and I chose these areas to traverse the hills and finally to park. I then walked the rest of the way in.

I fished most of the early afternoon, picking up a number of cutthroats, rainbows and even a couple brook trout. There was nothing of any significant size, but the sky was bright blue, that water was low and gin clear, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Here is the video of the trip: ride in, hiking, fishing, ride out.  Now the snow has started to melt and the water levels are rising quickly. I hit the stream just before run-off and got to see it in a totally different way and time of year.











April 13, 2014

Gamakatsu MultiFlex Suimu 4.0 tenkara rod -- review

I have fished a number of multi-zoom rods including the Suntech Field Master GM-39, Suntech Suikei GM-39 (soft version) and the Tenkara USA Sato. These rods have made the promise of multi-functionality, all-around versatility in an all inclusive package. Some delivered, some not as much.  I have since sold my Field Master and Sato, but I still have and fish my Suikei 39.

When Tenkara USA released their Sato, every one was very excited to see a rod that could be "multi-zoomed" and fished in three different lengths. Many thought that this was new to the world of tenkara, a so called "game changer", but not realizing that multi-zoom fixed-line rods have existed for a number of years in Japan. The Gamakatsu MultiFlex rods are one of these.

The Gamakatsu MultiFlex Suimu comes in three different versions: 4.0, 4.5, 5.0 meters. The 4.0 and 4.5 versions are bi-zoom, whereas the 5.0 is a uni-zoom. I have only used the 4.0 m version, so this is what I will be reviewing here. This rod can be fished in the 3 m, 3.5 m , and 4 m lengths.



The MultiFlex Suimu 4.0 comes in a plastic carton and has a rod sleeve included. There is not much exciting about this, what can I say.



Rod designation and Title



The rod has an overall beautiful appearance. Like most other Japanese tenkara rods that I have used, the Suimu 4.0 is perfect in aesthetics, design and execution. The overall coloration is black or a very dark charcoal with a glossy finish. There are terra cotta accents on all but the tip section. There is some emerald green wrapping near the winding check and on the lower segment as well. All of this makes a very handsome rod.

The lower sections of the rod are stamped with the number 47 on their friction-fit joint surface. Whether this applies just to my rod, the manufacturing lot, or something else, I don't rightly know.

The zoom sections


The lower section's friction-fit surface stamped with the number 47


The handle has excellent quality cork. It is 31.5 cm long and has a subtle reverse half-wells curvature. It's overall diameter fits the hand well and the handle is long enough to provide numerous hand hold positions. The winding check is silver and fits tightly to the handle.


Winding check and green wrapping




The lilian is red and does not come with a knot. It is attached to the 1st segment via a very well executed micro-swivel.  The connection is small enough to be fully retracted through the second segment to allow for complete rod disassembly and thorough cleaning/drying.


The perfect micro-swivel




The tip plug is rather unusual. It is not a plug at all, but rather, is a long rubber friction fit cap. It slides very snugly over the ends of the lower three segments securing them in place and protecting the tip.  The butt cap screws into the base of the handle easily. It is black plastic and has equally spaced grooves around its circumference to aid in its removal. The post is unusual as well. Instead of O-rings (which can wear out) to hold the zoom sections in place, the post is tapered. This achieves the same goal as the O-ring design and is very effective.  There is a small drainage hole that is too small for effective drying of the rod, but more likely acts as a pressure release hole to allow air movement when extending or collapsing the rod.

Tip cap in place

Tip cap
Tip cap

Butt cap with center post to hold the zoom sections

The handle butt insert and cap (note the drain/pressure release hole)




The physical specifications are as follows. Collapsed length is 61 cm. Weight (without the tip cap) is 85.8 gm. Extended lengths for the 3.0 m configuration is 304 cm, for the 3.5 m configuration is 352 cm, and for the full 4.0 m configuration is 398 cm. BTW, these are clearly marked on the plastic carton as such, therefore you know exactly what you are getting. There is no guessing if your rod meets design specs or will come up short.




At the 3.0 m length

At the 3.5 m length

At the 4.0 m length



The Suimu 4.0 has three different Common Cents (CCS) and Rod Flex Index (RFI) measurements, one for each of its three fishable lengths.  At 3 m the CCS is 21 pennies with an RFI of 6.9. At 3.5 m the CCS is 26 pennies with an RFI of 7.4. And finally, at 4 m the CCS is 28 pennies and RFI of 7. These measurements place this rod squarely in the 7:3 rod action range.

As far as Moment, the rod as low numbers for the 3 and 3.5 m configurations, and slightly high for the 4 m. At 3 m it is 3.7, and at 3.5 m it is 4.8.  This shows that in these two configurations there is no appreciable tip heaviness. In the 4 m configuration the Moment is 6.5, just as suggested on the plastic carton (since they publish the Moment value on the plastic carton you can see that Gamakatsu validates using the rod Moment as a numerical way to show tip heaviness). This number shows that there is some slight tip heaviness felt when fully extended. Still, it's much better than many 4 m rods and even better than many 3.8 m rods!

[Moment equals wt (in kg) times radius (distance in centimeters from the butt end to the center of mass or balance point). It is easier to calculate than Moment of Inertia (MOI). It may be an indication of how tip heavy a rod is and how fatiguing a rod is to fish over time. As noted, it is measured by Gamakatsu for their rods. A rod that has a moment equal to or less than 5.5 seems to feel lightweight and without tip heaviness.  Rod reference data: Iwana 12' moment is 6.14; Ito at 390cm is 7.84 and at 450cm is 10.93; Oni rod is 5.2].



Rod Flex Index comparison chart



Fishing this rod is fun. As with most zoom rods, I generally fished it in its two shorter configurations. I also fished it in the fully extended configuration, but not as much. I used the rod on small creeks and larger mountain streams. It really is a versatile rod.

I mainly used a #3.5 line and varied its length from 9 feet to 13 feet, depending on what water I was fishing. The rod casts this weight of line really well. It also casts a #4 line well, but that should not be a surprise since it is a 7:3 rod. I did not use a furled or PVC line, so I can not render an opinion of the rod using these lines. I used flies ranging from unweighted kebari to tungsten beadheads. I did not use dry flies.

The Suimu 4.0 is a tip flex rod, and as such it generates a fast line speed and tight loops. Casting accuracy is excellent. Still, when I used the beadhead I could easily open the casting loop and still place the fly where I wanted it to go. I have fished with one other Gamakatsu rod, a Ryokei 360 cm, that I feel was one of the best casting rods I have ever used.  This rod comes close to, but not exactly matches, the Ryokei. The Suimu 4.0 is heavier and more robust.

I have mostly caught 8-12 inch trout so far using the Suimu 4.0.  From it's characteristics I'm sure it would handle larger fish, say in the 14-18 inch range. But like all tenkara rods, the size of the fish is not the only thing that matters when judging the capability of a rod. The current speed and current dynamics play a huge role in how large a fish that the rod can handle. If this rod was used in still waters I'm pretty sure it could handle a 18+ inch trout. In slow to modest current, maybe up to 18 inches would be safe. But in moderately fast to fast currents, without any pockets or eddies to take pressure off the rod, I'd guess up to 16 inches is as much as I'd venture. I'm probably being conservative in these guesses, but for the price of this rod it's likely best not to try to risk breaking it. Remember, this is a Japanese rod; there is no warranty. I use 5X tippet with most of my rods, this one included.











Conclusion: I like this rod. If you are looking for a premium Japanese multi-zoom tenkara rod, then here is another option. It is a little heavier than the other multi-zoom tenkara rod available, but it has wonderful balance in both the shorter configurations, with only a hint of tip heaviness in its fully extended length. Also, unlike the other available multi-zoom tenkara rod, this rod is true to its advertised lengths -- you get what you are expecting to get. The materials, fit and finish, and design appear to be of the highest quality. Be aware, however, that this rod is a tip flex 7:3 rod and may not be for those of you who like soft, full flex rods.  Still, if you like a faster rod, want to throw wind resistance flies or beadheads, or are just looking for a truly all-around rod with a 4 m reach, then this rod might answer very well.

I'll post a video of one of my trips with this rod at a later blog entry.

Disclaimer: My opinion regarding this rod is just that, my opinion. Your opinion may differ.  Also, your rod may not have the same characteristics or functionality as my rod. There are variations between rods, even in the same production run. No description can fully tell you how a rod feels or fishes. For this, you must personally hold, cast, and fish the rod then make up your own mind. 

I purchased this rod and have no formal affiliation with Gamakatsu.