That’s kind of a provocative title for a post, huh?
Before I start this little article, full credit goes to David Walker for digging up this info. David is a “regular” over at the 10 Colors Tenkara forum, and does an excellent job finding and translating information from foreign language fishing sites.
He recently posted about a new rod which has certainly piqued my interest. The rod is the Daiwa Expert Seiryu Rod, and the most interesting thing about it is probably its intended use. Or should I say intended uses?
In releasing this rod, Daiwa has created an all purpose, or what translates to an “adult play” rod. No, it’s not another tenkara rod. At least not exclusively. Rather, it’s a cork handled, fixed-line rod that can be used for almost anything, from fishing with flies tenkara style, to fishing with bait in the salt, or anywhere in between.
As Google translates it:
A “new sensation almighty rod” that you can play anywhere, anytime, and all year round, from mountain streams and tenkara to rivers, ponds, estuaries, and the sea.
I guess before you get too excited, the rod likely does have some limitations. From what I know about seiryu rods, they are pretty “soft” and are intended for smaller fish. (Think Suntech Kurenai). You’re not going to target salmon or sharks with these rods, even with the longest versions. In fact, in addition to trout and char, Daiwa’s website identifies some other appropriate species for the Expert Seiryu as crucian carp, dace, goby, and horse mackerel.
Five different models are offered ranging from a 6-section 300cm all the way up to a 11-section 550cm, which makes for a pretty wide range of sizes.
It also does not appear to be “cheap.” Based on specifications and pricepoint, (the middle 400cm model runs 240,000 JPY or about $230 USD), I definitely wouldn’t consider this a generic telescopic rod, like those often found on Amazon or Alibaba.
While I don’t know if it would necessarily be my cup of tea, I do think it would be fun to pick one up and see how it compares in weight, feel, and flex to the tenkara and other fixed-line fishing rods we’ve become familiar with in the West.
In any event, I find it interesting that a Japanese company is embracing (and marketing) a rod that is literally a “catch all.” Maybe we’ll see more of this trend in the future, perhaps in even in the United States.
Do you have a story to tell? A photo to share? A fly recipe that’s too good to keep secret? If you would like to contribute content to Tenkara Angler, click HERE for more details.
My guess (at least until I receive the one I ordered) is that the rods are “seiryu in name only.” No other seiryu rods have cork grips. Tenkara is clearly listed as one of the appropriate uses for the rod, but they couldn’t call it a tenkara rod and also market it for multple species everywhere from the headwaters to the ocean. The videos show that the rod does indeed seem to work well for a wide range of species in a wide range of locales (as do tenkara rods, by the way). The rods have a 硬調 tone and the bend profile looks like a 7:3. The tippet rating is up to 5X, which suggesta you can catch anything that won’t break a 5X tippet.
Marketing catch-all rods “even in the US?” US companies have been doing that for a decade now. Maybe they should have been called Adult Play rods from the beginning. More playing, less fighting.