Hirame -ML-3909 -- Review

For some time now I have thought that I would like to try a 13 foot rod that is stiffer than my Tenkara USA Ayu or my Daiwa Sagiri. Although I do like both of these rods, especially the Sagiri, I wanted to try a rod that had a stiffer action so I could throw tighter loops further. Some of the waters I frequent are wide open and subject to a lot of wind. Also, I am experimenting with long furled lines throwing wind resistant flies such as hopper patterns, Madam X, and the Grumpy Frumpy. Although my 5:5 rods will throw these flies, certainly my 6:4 rods will, I wanted to try something different.

Tenkara USA currently doesn't offer a 13 foot rod in a 7:3 action. Daiwa does, but they are expensive and I worry about replacement parts availability (Chris Stewart, Tenkara Bum can get them from Japan). So with this in mind I decided to try the AllFishingBuy Hirame-ML-3909.

I looked for reviews of this rod on the Internet but I could not find a single one. That made me a little cautious, but then again, I have had a good experience with the Kasugo-4209 and there were no review of this either when I bought it. Taking some risk -- taking one for the tenkara community-- I decided to buy it, try it, and review it.

The rod cost is nice at $128.05 and comes in a plastic carton with a rod sock. The rod is very handsome, much better looking in fit and finish than the Kasugo-4209. The overall color theme is carbon black but with tasteful purple color accents on all of the lower segments. The finish is glossy.

From AllFishingBuy

Carbon weave with designation

Transition from carbon weave to color

Winding check

The handle is a reverse half wells and the cork is of moderate quality, but not excellent by any means. I'll talk more about the handle in a minute. The butt cap is metal (? stainless steel, doubtful) with a center hole and has an aggressively knurled edge. The butt cap has a small foam disc to reduce the collapsed segments from rattling. The tip cap is made of wood and is fluted so you can leave the lilian attached to your line when the rod is capped. It is a little loose fitting so it could be lost pretty easily.  My rod weighs only 84.4 gm without the tip plug. That is pretty light for such a long rod (not a light as the Sagiri, but this rod has a cork handle)!

Butt cap (Ignore the foam wrap for a moment.  I'll tell you about it a little further on.)

Tip cap

The lilian is dark maroon and is attached to the tip section with a metal swivel. This is a feature that is usually seen on higher end rods, such as my Daiwa LL41SF.

Tip on the left -- swivel in middle -- lilian on right

Back to the handle. As I mentioned earlier, it is similar to a reverse half wells. The sizing seems a little small, at least for my hand. This smaller size imparts some hand fatigue after hours of steady use. Because of this, I decided to modify my handle to better fit my palm size and make it more to my liking.  I prefer my longer rods to have a butt bulb -- similar to what is found on the Tenkara USA Amago (second generation) and the Daiwa LL41SF. To achieve this design I used RodWrap Grip Wrap to build up the butt end of the handle. Rod Wrap is very thin foam that is lightweight and has a slightly tacky surface. It made the handle of the Hirame-ML-3909 fit my hand much better.

The handle with RodWrap installed

Comparison: left- Daiwa LL41SF, middle-Hirame-ML-3909, right-Tenkara USA Amago

Fishing the Hirame-ML-3909 is very nice. I used it for 4 hours the other day with a 14 foot, #3.5 fluoro level line and also with a 13 foot Tenkara USA furled line. I cast the level line with a #10 kebari and a #14 beadhead UV Prince nymph. I cast a #8 Grumpy Frumpy with the furled line. I used 24 inches of 4X fluoro tippet with the level line and 4 feet of 5X fluoro with the furled.  The Grumpy Frumpy is a large, wind resistant attractor pattern and even despite that the Hirame threw it perfectly.

Beadhead UV Prince Nymph

Grumpy Frumpy

The fish I caught were 12-14 inches. The cutthroats took the UV Prince and the rainbows took the Grumpy Frumpy. No fish were caught on the sakasa kebari flies.

12 inch Cutthroat

Beautiful color!

Another nice cutthroat

A nice rainbow taken on the Grumpy Frumpy

Another, trying to swallow the fly

Conclusion: I like the AllFishingBuy Hirame-ML-3909 7:3 action tenkara rod. It is lightweight, beautifully finished, and has some nice features mainly seen on higher-end rods even though it is only $128.05. I have some suspicion that this rod may be a chinese copy of a Nissin rod, as it looks an awfully lot like other Nissin rods. Replacement segments are readily available from AllFishingBuy and are inexpensive. I don't like the shape of the handle, at least for such a long rod. The handle would be fine on a 10-12 foot rod but for a 13 foot rod I needed something more to grip near the butt end. It was easily modified though (RodWrap seems to be a nice product, by the way). The cork is not high quality, but still it seems a good rod for the reasonable price.

So if you ever wondered what this rod was like, now you know.

AllFishingBuy Hirame-ML-3909 Overview (* poor, ***** excellent)

Ease of purchase                       ***** 

Quality of materials                   ****'

Fit and Finish                            ****'

Physical Characteristics            ***'

Fishability                                 ****'

Overall                                       ****' (4.4 out of 5 stars)