Keiryu or Seiryu?

by Nathaniel
(Davenport, Iowa )

The past few days, I've been fortunate enough to go fishing. I received a new rod for Christmas. It's called the Shimotsuke Aomine. It's a 3.9 meter rod with a strange action. The rod only bends in the four feet from the tip, but those sections are the softest I've ever felt. The blank is a dark brown that appears black when it's not in light, but glows in the sun. The ends of the sections are finished in orange and gold. I took it out to a large stream near a river, and the rod handled beautifully with a 5x main line and a 6x tippet, along with a tiny ice fishing float and a split shot, though even a BB sized shot feels like too much weight. I snelled a Gamakatsu Amago hook to the end and fished with a maggot. I've been skunked every time I've gone out, but the rod is so much fun that I enjoyed those fishless days. I plan on using a 6x main line and 7x tippet the next time I go out, with an even smaller float and a strip of lead foil. I don't know if this is Keiryu or Seiryu, but it sure is fun!

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten” - Benjamin Franklin

"Be sure in casting, that your fly fall first into the water, for if the line fall first, it scares or frightens the fish..." -
Col. Robert Venables 1662

As age slows my pace, I will become more like the heron.

We've all had situations where seriously chewed up flies kept catching fish after fish after fish. It is no sin to tie flies that come off the vise looking seriously chewed up.