Tenkara Forum

[rvrgzr]

Okay, gents, you know I'm fortunate to fish almost daily at my pond. This morning, a fellow fly fisherman came over and we had some fun (see photos). I caught a couple of nice bluegills. I also caught another fair sized bass that previously would've popped off the 5x using my Yamame rod. I know this because it's happened often. With the new, longer, and more flexible Amago rod, I've been able to wear the fish down and bring them in. So, is it because I've become more skillful? Which I doubt, since I do what I've been doing, or do you think the the more flexible, longer rod is better for catching larger fish? Feel free to chime in here, Daniel and company.









The flies were unweighted black #14 stonefly nymph and a #16 soft hackle brown hare's ear. You don't need large flies to catch good fish in ponds. At least not in the spring when nymphs are emerging from the pond bottom and adults are falling to the surface

[solocanoe]

rvrgzr - as always, your posts are filled with awe-inspiring sized 'gills. I actually have a hatpin of a bluegill on my jeeps sunvisor and have toyed with a vanity plate "breamfly"...that's how much i enjoy catching panfish.

While I only have the Yamame now - and have only fished it once quickly last friday....I DO think that constantly playing fish on light line and tippets leads to added skills and "muscle memory" if you will...

about a month ago, we were suppossed to be crappie fishing - it was a 'spot' my son's friend and dad knew of...had 4 in their bassboat, so no flyrod for me, I had a tiny telescopic spincast set up and 2lb line....I really just went to drive my son..fished out of the back of boat, etc... I ended up catching 4 nice "couple lb bass" on that tiny rig...lucky we were sitting still and the guys gave me timeto play 'em out...lol... also, that tiny telecopic rod had a full parabolic bend to it - really whippy - so maybe the rod helped me - and you - a lot too.

[wrknapp]

I think it is the rod and now I have to have an Amago as soon as I can justify it to the my accountant wife!

Randy

[fishcranium]

rvrgzr,

While the bass is impressive on a tenkara rod, that gill is amazing for any gear. Congrats and keep up the great work. If I can find some time, I cannot wait to get out and explore the boundaries of this technique. Please keep posting.

Scott

[CM_Stewart]

Although I have no doubt that you're getting better at playing large fish on a tenkara rod, I do think the longer, more flexible rod helps a lot.

I wish I had a workshop or even a garage where I could do carefully controlled flex curves of the various rods. The best I've been able to do is a quick and dirty Common Cents analysis http://www.common-cents.info/. The Common Cents system was developed to compare fly rods, and is not ideal for tenkara rods (the extremely soft tip sections of tenkara rods give nearly uniform readings for all the rods - which are nearly off the charts compared to fly rods).

One of the biggest limitations of the Common Cents system, though, is that it uses what appears to be a completely arbitrary (and completely static) calculation to compare rods. Under the system, all the rods are stressed to the point that they bend by an amount equal to 1/3 their length. When I did that with the Yamame and Amago, the reading was nearly identical - virtually the same amount of weight hanging from the tip of a horizontally fixed rod produced the 1/3 deflection in each rod (30 cents with the Yamame and 31 with the Amago).

I think in your real world tests, the large bass put a greater bend in the rod. I also suspect that the Yamame progressively gets a lot stiffer than the Amago when bent much further than the Common Cents 1/3 deflection. I haven't caught fish on either rod that come close to what you've caught. You know more about how the Yamame and Amago compare when stressed to the point of tippet failure than anyone. If you think the Amago is better for catching larger fish, I'm not going to disagree.

[Daniel @ Tenkara USA]

If you think the Amago is better for catching larger fish, I'm not going to disagree.

Rvgzr, I won't disagree with you either. You're the one having a lot of experience with the big guys, and I haven't seen your Amago being sent back yet...so I guess it's working well for the big fish.

While the Amago was not quite designed for the big fish, it's longer length and relatively fast action probably translate into a very strong lever to tire fish quickly. I have caught some small but very strong fish in fast waters on it and had an absolute blast, and also knew it would hold large fish too, mostly, I think because of its leverage. It's a fun rod even for the smaller fish I normally catch, and I'm glad to read your reports on it for your fish. It's not as robust as the Yamame, but it's nonetheless a strong rod.

Consider that the twelve-kara you've been asking for!

[rvrgzr]

Consider that the twelve-kara you've been asking for!

Hai, Daniel-san.