Daiwa Stream Twitcher 38UL

Summer Sale - 15% off

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The Daiwa Stream Twitcher 38UL may be the most fun spinning rod you'll ever use. It's a headwaters / little blue line rod that will let you fish where no one else can!

(Actually, the rod is the Daiwa Silver Creek Stream Twitcher 38UL, but that name is longer than the rod!)

The feedback I've gotten over the last ten years clearly shows that lots of tenkara anglers are interested in little headwaters streams. The feedback I got over the last few years clearly showed that a lot more tenkara anglers are interested in ultralight spin fishing than I had expected or even imagined.

I had thought that tenkara anglers and spin fishermen would be two fairly distinct and separate populations. They're not. The attraction seems to be ultralight - but whether it is ultralight fly fishing (tenkara) or ultralight spin fishing may not matter that much to a lot of people - certainly to a lot more people than I had expected.

And that is why this spinning rod is on the TenkaraBum site. I've known for a long time that a lot of tenkara anglers fish headwaters, and I know now that a lot of tenkara anglers fish with ultralight spinning rods. I am betting, though, that almost no one knows they can fish the headwaters with a spinning rod, or that a spinning rod specifically designed for headwaters streams even exists.

The Daiwa Stream Twitcher 38UL is just 3'8" long - which is very short for a spinning rod. However, it was made that short specifically for fishing in narrow, overgrown headwaters streams. Streams where you can't easily cast a 5' rod. Streams where not only is there no room for an overhand cast, in places there's no room for a sidearm cast. A lot of your casts will be underhand. Point the rod tip at your toes and then flick it forward.

You are not casting for distance, you are casting for accuracy.  And as often as not, you are casting under low branches. (Some of the nicest fish I have ever caught were right under branches, making casting to them extremely difficult.)

Even though the Daiwa Stream Twitcher 38UL is a short little rod, it is not a toy. When matched with a reel that has a good drag, it can handle much larger fish than you will ever hook in the headwaters!

I am not trying to position this as a rod for the main stream. You should understand, though, that if you want to fish the little feeder streams and the main stream both, you can do it with one rod (and if you happen to hook a bruiser, the rod can handle it).

Catching big fish, though, is not what a headwaters rod is all about. Mostly, you will catch 5-7 inchers and you'll want it to be fun. With the Daiwa Stream Twitcher 38UL it will be fun to catch the 5 inchers. It is a fast rod with a relatively soft tip, so it doesn't take a big fish to put a bend in it.

One of the best things about the rod - certainly from a tenkara angler's point of view - is that it's a two piece rod and is under 23" long when broken down. That's shorter than the Suntech Kurenai. The rod fits in the Medium Rod Case!

I have had more than one person ask for a backpack spinning rod, and one guy said he wanted to carry two rods, a tenkara rod for the little streams and a spinning rod for the lakes. It would be very reasonable to pack a tenkara rod and the Stream Twitcher 38UL! For that matter, though, the Daiwa Stream Twitcher 38UL can do double duty. You can cast far enough to catch fish in the alpine lakes and cast light lures accurately enough to catch fish the little streams that flow out of the alpine lakes.

Daiwa rates the rod for lines ranging from 2 lb to 6lb, and for lures ranging from 1.5g to 7g. In small streams, I have done very well with the Shimano Slim Swimmer 1.5g spoons and Smith AR-S 1.5g spinners. That said, I've also done surprisingly well catching small trout with 4g spinners. It is nice to know the rod can handle a wide range of lures and lines.

I can't imagine wanting to use line stronger than 6 lb in a stream so small I'd want to use a 3'8" rod. Similarly, I can't imagine wanting to use lures heavier than 7g. On the other hand, the rod's action is soft enough that I am sure it could cast the Daiwa Presso Eve 1.2 gram spoons very well indeed.

My favorite lures for small streams are small spoons. Because of their action and flash, they definitely attract fish better than a fly like a Killer Bugger, and spoons cause much less line twist than spinners. Plus, all the small spoons on the Finesse-Fishing.com site come with single hooks (and most are barbless).

There are a number of small spoons on the Finesse-Fishing site that weigh from 1.2 to 2.2 grams and will work well in the headwaters. Heavier lures will cast further, but they'll make more disturbance when they hit the water and in most cases you don't have to cast very far.

Daiwa Stream Twitcher 38UL  Specs

If you have ever wanted to do a little spin fishing in really tiny streams - tiny enough that no one else fishes them, consider the Daiwa Stream Twitcher 38UL. It will be an eye opener!

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Shimano Soare CI4+ 500S

For a rod as light and short as the Daiwa Stream Twitcher 38UL it will feel best to pair it with a light reel. If you are going to fish the main stream as well as the feeder streams, you will want a reel with a very good drag (you could hook a 20" fish, but with a good drag you could land it).

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Shipping

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International purchases may be subject to import duties and taxes. I cannot keep track of all import regulations in all countries written in all languages. Understanding and paying import duties and taxes is the responsibility of the buyer.

EU

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Russia

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UK

TenkaraBum.com no longer ships to the UK. The new VAT regulations are too onerous for a one-man shop that rarely ships anything to the UK anyway. I apologize. 

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