Suntech Tenkarakyo 40F

Actually, the full name of the newly introduced Suntech tenkara rod is Tenkarakyo 40F TenkaraBum. It may be a mouthful, but that's OK.
It is one sweet rod.

The rod is their design, not mine, and the difference between the Tenkarakyo 40F and the TenkaraBum 40 is dramatic. As described on the TenkaraBum 36 page, my goal was to create a rod for the way American tenkara anglers fish, which often is very different than the way the Japanese masters fish. My goal for the TenkaraBum 40 was to have a longer rod that felt just like the TenkaraBum 36. Many of my customers specifically asked for a rod that can fish weighted nymphs.

The Suntech Tenkarakyo 40F was designed by Japanese for the way Japanese anglers fish. You can tell that it was intended specifically for the Japanese market by one unambiguous sign. The label on the package (photo to the right) has the Tenkarakyo name written only in Japanese. Very few Americans could read it (even Google Translate can't read it correctly). If that wasn't evidence enough, why else would the "Made in Japan" at the bottom of the label be written in Japanese?

The Tenkarakyo 40F is a full flex rod, a couple pennies softer than the TenkaraBum 40. It is designed for fishing kebari. Japanese tenkara anglers do not fish with weighted nymphs, and even if they did I doubt they would call it tenkara. This rod will absolutely excel at fishing kebari (unweighted, of course), producing whisper-soft entries and gentle rhythmic pulses, the "invitation" that lures fish up from the bottom to take the fly just inches below the surface.

In Tom Davis's review of the rod, just published by Tenkara Angler, he fished a pair of tungsten bead head nymphs and the rod did just fine, although he did say the TenkaraBum 40 is a better nymphing rod and he didn't think the Suntech Tenkarakyo 40F was designed for nymphing. He's absolutely correct on both counts. 

Tenkara is sight fishing, and I don't mean that in the usual sense of casting to fish you can see and watching to see if they take whatever you are offering. Instead, I mean you detect strikes by sight rather than feel. American tenkara anglers have learned to watch the end of their hi-vis line for an indication of a strike, with some even adding a bit of different colored line at the end to focus their attention.

On my trip to Colorado a few years ago, when Adam K gave me a lesson in fishing a longer line, I fished only unweighted flies and gave the line no more than three or four gentle pulses before picking up for a new cast. The gentle rhythmic pulses, begun just after the fly entered the water, kept the fly within a very few inches of the surface.

I found it extremely surprising that I was able to see all the takes (except for one when I wasn't paying attention). What I saw was not the end of the line twitch. I saw the disturbance of the water where the fish, having come up from the bottom, took the fly just under the surface and immediately turned to go back down. The splash from that quick turn or the flash of the trout's white belly made each take as obvious as if it had been a dry fly. I didn't miss one hit.

I am absolutely certain that the Suntech Tenkarakyo 40F Tenkarabum will be perfectly suited to fishing in just that style - a longer line, an unweighted fly, subtle manipulation, visible takes and many fish. It is an exciting way to fish; I would say on par with fishing a dry and much more exciting than fishing a weighted nymph.

Suntech's description of the Tenkarakyo 40F TenkaraBum on their website specifically mentions the slow taper design (think full flex) with power at the tip as being advantageous for long casts and fighting large fish. The "power at the tip" deserves special mention. The tip section is solid as I think are all of Suntech's rod tips. However, it is noticeably thicker than the tips on the TenkaraBum 33, 36 and 40. To me, the thicker tip of the Suntech Tenkarakyo 40F makes it feel like a hollow tip.

I have mentioned a few times (maybe more than a few times) that I really like how hollow-tipped rods cast. The first time I compared casting a hollow-tipped rod back to back with a solid-tipped rod, I felt that the hollow-tipped rod made tight-loop casts almost automatic, while the sold-tipped rod required careful concentration to achieve the same result.

I am pretty sure the reason is because the firmer hollow tip does not bend over as much while you are making your forward casting stroke or after you abruptly halt your forward stroke. The rod tip thus achieves a straighter path, which results in a tighter loop. The photo above clearly shows that the tip sections of the Tenkarakyo 40F do not bend over nearly as much as TenkaraBum 40 tip sections. The Tenkarakyo 40F butt and mid sections are softer than the TenkaraBum 40, but the tip area is much firmer. The firmer tip should give you effortless light-loop casts with an unweighted fly.

What I also found with the first hollow-tipped rod I fished was that the rod performed best with an unweighted fly. Even the minimal weight of a wet Killer Bug affected the cast. With a size 4 level line the rod would cast the Killer Bug, and would certainly cast a Czech nymph or woolly bugger or Dave's hopper. It's just that with an unweighted fly, the cast is a thing of beauty. With a weighted fly the cast works, but the beauty is gone.

I have only just received the Suntech Tenkarakyo 40F TenkaraBum rods, and I have not yet had a chance to fish one. Just wiggling the rod in the apartment strongly reminded me of another hollow-tipped rod, about which I wrote "when you stop the forward motion, the rod really does feel like a spring. You can feel the energy as the rod whips back to straight. It actually felt like the rod had more energy than I put into the cast. It didn't, but that's how it felt. It was a strange feeling, but the casting was amazing."

I cannot wait to get a Suntech Tenkarakyo 40F TenkaraBum out on a stream and do some casting. I won't even mind if some pesky fish interrupt my casting practice.

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