Editor’s Note: The rod review corresponds with the pre-sale launch of the brand new Nirvana Kokoro 360 tenkara rod. It’s bound to be a very popular model, plus there’s an early bird discount, so head over to DRAGONtail Tenkara to reserve yours now!
Last autumn I had the opportunity to fish a prototype tenkara rod from team DRAGONtail, and I was impressed. The rod, temporarily named the Falcon 360 for the winter trade shows, was lightweight, responsive, had excellent balance, and if I was blind folded I’m not sure I would have been able to tell its action apart from some top Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) tenkara rods. To be released under the Nirvana On The Fly label, this rod carried the promise of a new generation of domestically available tenkara rods that can compete head to head with JDM rods.
Nirvana On The Fly is a subsidiary company of DRAGONtail Tenkara, and its products are designed to be of a higher overall quality and performance. The rods have top quality components and materials, more advanced design engineering, and have a fit and finish better than the DRAGONtail line of tenkara rods. Also, Nirvana tenkara rods are made exclusively for DRAGONtail in their Korean rod factory, a factory that has vast experience designing and manufacturing top label carbon fiber fly rods. If you are familiar with Asian history, you are aware that there is an environment of competitiveness between Korean and Japanese business and culture, each trying to out do and better the other. This comes into focus with the new Nirvana tenkara rods, as the DRAGONtail Korean rod factory aims to make rods that will match or eclipse JDM tenkara rods. Labeled the Nirvana Kokoro 360, this new tenkara rod has these aims and goals.
As far as the name, Kokoro [koˈkoɾo] is an important term in Japanese religion, philosophy and aesthetics often translated as ‘heart’, but whose range of meanings includes mind, soul, wisdom, essence, sincerity and spirit. As the rod is to be released, here is my evaluation of the final prototype rod. While not the actual production product, this evaluation should still be accurate.
Description
The Kokoro 360 (prototype named the Falcon 360) is a handsome rod, keeping with the design aesthetics of other DRAGONtail and Nirvana rods. The overall coloration is black and the finish is glossy. The rod designation is handsomely done, with both a metallic aquamarine blue color band and visible carbon fiber weave.
The handle is high quality cork, and has a classic double hump or hyotan gourd shape. It is similar in shape to the Nissin Zerosum line of tenkara rods, only slightly longer. The winding check is black anodized metal.
The tip plug is black anodized knurled metal with a plastic insertion post. It’s similar in shape to those of the Nissin Zerosum line of tenkara rods. It fits snugly and is unlikely to fall out spontaneously. The butt cap is black nylon plastic. It is rounded, which makes it a little difficult to grasp, but it has slight knurling to aid in its removal. There is a rubber bumper to silence the collapsed section’s chatter, but there is an absence of a decompression hole.
The lillian is dark brown and is attached to the T1 section via a perfectly executed glue joint. The entire rod can be disassembled for cleaning and drying.
Measurements
| Characteristic | Measurement |
|---|---|
| Sections | 8 |
| Nested (w/ tip plug) | 55.5 cm (21.9 in.) |
| Extended | 366 cm (12 ft.) |
| Handle Length | 26 cm (10.2 in.) |
| Weight (w/o tip plug) | 68.8 g (2.4 oz.) |
| CCS | 17 pennies |
| RFI | 4.6 / Moderately Fast, Upper Mid Flex |
Performance
The Kokoro has a pleasing mid-range action. With an RFI of 4.6 and appropriately stiff lower sections, the rod casts a light level line well, yet has a positive hookset and good fighting control. From the 10 Penny Bend Profile, we can see that the T1 and T2 sections are soft, but not overly so, while the T3 and lower sections stiffen up quickly. This overall design accounts for its level line casting acumen and fish fighting abilities.
I cast the rod using a #3 fluorocarbon level line (my standard line) of equal to the length of the rod. To this length of line I added 80 cm (32 in.) of tippet. The casting stroke is smooth and balanced. Startup inertia is minimal, making swinging the Kokoro through its casting arc effortless. There is no end of cast tip oscillation and tip recovery is spot on. Rotational deformation is absent, which is important when aerial mending. The fly landed first on every cast.
Fishing with the rod is excellent. I fished the rod both with cold weather nymphing techniques and warmer weather kebari presentations. The rod handled both styles without any complaints. Line control is outstanding. Because of the rod’s taper, high line speeds can be generated, which translates to top level casting accuracy. The last time I fished the Kokoro, I fished a small creek with a tight tunnel-like canopy. The rod allowed me to control the line in some very challenging situations and make casts where a slower action rod would fail (at least in my hands). Hooks sets are quick and decisive. And fish fighting and control are second to none. All in all, the Kokoro is an outstanding rod.
I caught trout from 6-16 inches (15-41 cm) in various creeks and streams. Stream flows varied from low gradient slow to high gradient fast flowing. I had no trouble controlling any of the fish around rocks, snags and other obstacles.
Conclusion
The Nirvana Kokoro 360 is an outstanding tenkara rod. If you didn’t know it was designed by a US domestic rod company, you’d think it was made by a Japanese one! It has excellent balance, flex action, dampening and tip recovery. It has a positive hook set and commanding fish control. It’s in a league of its own as far as 360 cm US domestic rods are concerned.
With release of the Kokoro 360 tenkara rod, I feel that we are starting to see tenkara rods that truly challenge Japanese designed and manufactured rods. Nirvana On The Fly is now offering Japanese-like quality with reliable product availability, and domestic shipping of replacement parts (if ever needed). With there now being a greater number of tenkara anglers in the US, and larger, more challenging and varied salmonid species than in Japan, top quality domestically produced tenkara rods are needed. We just might be seeing the beginning of the end of the US demand for the frustratingly small production run, high cost, and difficult-to-obtain-parts-for Japanese tenkara rods. I’m excited for the future!
Disclaimer: My opinion regarding this rod is just that, my opinion. Your opinion may differ. Also, your rod may not have the same length, issues, 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 was loaned the rod by Brent Auger. I have no formal affiliation with DRAGONtail Tenkara or Nirvana On The Fly and there was no expectation of a positive review.
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