When Rod Size Matters -- 270 cm and shorter rods

In February of this year I wrote a little about using unconventional tenkara techniques on small streams. I reviewed some techniques and tools that are useful when pursuing trout in very tightly brushy waters. I entitled that essay The Short Game.

When I started fishing very small waters years ago there were only a couple of short rod choices, but over the last year it seems that every one is introducing their version of short rods. I have used many, but not all. Some are pretty good; some are poorly executed (IMO). The good news is that most all can expand your repertoire of waters.

In this post I would like to show some of the rods that can be used to help you get into the tightest of corners. Just to clarify, the rods I present here are rods I've actually used.  They are in no particular order.

Tenkara USA Rhodo

This rod is Tenkara USA's shortest rod. In its shortest configuration it is 270 cm. It is well made, aesthetically pleasing, light in hand and has a very functional flex profile -- stiff enough for all but the largest fish in the tightest waters but not too stiff. It casts a #3.5 level line beautifully. One advantage is that it can be extended to 297, then 320 cm when fishing more open sections. Another is it's thoroughly thought out design. It is readily available from Tenkara USA. It is expensive compared to other short zoom rods, however.

The CCS values for the Rhodo are 15 pennies at 320 cm, 15.5 pennies at 297 cm, and 15 pennies at 270 cm. This gives it a RFI of 4.3, 5.2, and 5.6 for 320, 297, and 270 cm respectively.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nissin Pro Spec 2-way 320

This rod is very comparable to the TUSA Rhodo. It too is well made, has a very nice flex profile and casts a #3.5 line beautifully. In its short configuration it is 270 cm. It too will fight fish well in tight quarters, but it not too stiff to make casting unpleasant. It can be extended to 320 cm for more open sections. One advantage it has over the Rhodo is that the Pro Spec 2-Way 320 comes in two different flex ratings -- 6:4 and 7:3.  Mine is a 7:3. Nissin rods seem softer in action that what is advertised. The 7:3 casts like a 6:4.  I suspect the 6:4 casts more like a 5:5. Another potential advantage over the Rhodo is that it costs less and is made in Japan.

In the long position (320 cm configuration) the rod has a Common Cents System rating of 14.5 pennies. This gives it a Rod Flex Index rating of 4.6. In the short position the rod is 15.5 pennies, and thus an RFI of 5.6.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DRAGONtail Komodo

This is DRAGONtail's entry into the short rod scene. Like all of DRAGONtail rods, it seems well made with good quality components. It too is 270 cm at its shortest usable length and extends to 315 cm for more open areas. The finish is a pleasing flat graphite but the action is pretty stiff. It works best with a short furled line, but I find a furled line to be problematic when fishing small streams. Here's the argument. When fishing small streams you tend to snag the line a lot: in trees, in bushes, in underwater logs and rocks. If you step forward to retrieve the fly then you scare the fish. If you pull the snag out then the furled line tangles up. With a furled line you can spend a considerable amount of time unraveling the tangles. Besides, furled lines are heavy. I prefer level lines for small streams.

The CCS rating for 270 cm is 24 pennies; an RFI of 8.9.  For its 315 cm it's 26 pennies; RFI of 8.3.  That's pretty stiff.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nissin Yuyuzan 2-Way 290ZX

This is a short keiryu zoom rod that fishes in both 240 and 290 cm lengths, thus giving a tight quarters guy like me some choices. It has quite a flexible tip but it stiffens up pretty fast -- maybe too stiff for some. Being 240 cm, it allows even tighter creeks to be fished. I have a number a small streams that 270 cm is just too long -- you may be able to hook a fish using the sling shot cast but when you try to set the hook you find out you can't, you keep hitting tree branches. In spots like this a 240 cm rod can save the day.

I'm still not sure if I like this rod, as it's pretty stiff, but I really like it's lengths and how well it fights larger trout. At 240 cm it has a 19 penny rating (RFI 7.5).  At 290 cm it is 22 pennies (RFI 7.4). Those numbers don't seem that stiff, but they don't tell you the truth: that the rod is stiff while the tip is very flexible. That's why the RFI numbers are in the mid-7's.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tenkara Rod Company Cascade

This 240 cm rod is really stiff and inflexible. It is so stiff that traditional casting is a challenge.  It does very well with the sling shot cast however.  There are a couple of other things I don't like about it. First, it is bright blue. Maybe I'm fooling myself, but since short rods demand that you get really close to your quarry, you need to be even more stealthy than usual. This rod is anything but stealthy. It is so bright that you might as well have a sign above your head that says PREDATOR. Now, maybe that's not quite fair. After all, when I used the Cascade I caught plenty of fish. But still, I don't like the color.

The second down side is that this is sort of an expensive rod, given it's length. It costs more than some better rods and I'm not quite sure why.

On the Common Cents System it is a stiff 23 pennies. This gives this rod a very stiff Rod Flex Index of 9.6! That puts the rod well into the 8:2 action.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shimotsuke Kiyotaki 24 and 27

These little keiryu rods are far from the prettiest, but they have caught me more fish than all the rods previously mentioned -- combined. I have to say, these little guys are some of my favorites. They are inexpensive yet highly portable and very functional. They have a very useful flex profile and cast a short line well. They also have plenty of lower rod stiffness to fight the "big boys" out of the underwater snags. The walls of these rods are thin and I have broken two of them, both times my fault. The walls are not as thin as the Pocket Mini 270 but as with all rods, be careful pulling back hard.

The CCS rating for the Kiyotaki 24 is 15 pennies. That's a RFI of 6.3.  The Kiyotaki 27 is a 20 penny rod. That's an RFI of 7.4.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nissin Fine Mode Kosansui 270

This keiryu rod is a wonderful short rod for small streams. Of all the rods fore mentioned, I'd have to say this rod is the best balanced. It casts a short level line beautifully and is only 37 g in weight. It has a beautiful finish and top notch design. It is a little long when fully collapsed but hey, I can over look that. This is a great rod. If I didn't already have a Soyokaze I'd buy one of these rods.

It's CCS rating is 19 pennies. It's RFI is 7.0.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All Fishing Buy Wakata 270

Yes, the Wakata.  I don't know how many tenkara rods are sold per year, but I bet Allfishingbuy, the Staten Island internet fishing company with the funny name, sells a lot -- all over the world.  A few years back when tenkara people were saying there was no such thing as a 270 cm tenkara rod, Allfishingbuy was selling them.

The Wakata is a nice rod. I like its flat black carbon finish and its flex profile. It is a little long when collapsed, the longest of all these rods, and the handle is a less than traditional is shape. But I like the rod. It's hard to beat the price and replacement parts are crazy cheap. If you want a short rod that is a workhorse and one that wouldn't make you cry if you broke it tripping over a log jam, then this is the rod. It has a CCS rating of 15 pennies and an RFI of 5.6.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Daiwa Soyokaze 270

Finally we come to the Soyokaze.  This is the most amazing rod.  It was my first 270 cm rod and has to be my overall favorite. It is light in the hand, is well balanced, and casts so beautifully in tight quarters. The tip is very flexible making modified roll casts a cinch, and sling shot casts a piece of cake. It is a little heavier than the Kosansui 270 but it is also a little beefier. Look around on the internet, the Soyokaze 270 has caught some pretty large fish -- into the upper teens. This rod is out of production, and those that own one are not likely to sell theirs. But if you ever see one come up for sale, buy it. Yeah, it's that good.

The Soyokaze 27 has a CCS of 17.5. It's RFI is 6.5.  BTW, the Soyokaze 24 is a pretty great little rod too. It's CCS is 13 pennies, with an RFI of 5.4.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


So there you have it, a few 270 or shorter rods for tight, brushy creeks and streams. Not every body likes this type of fishing since it is really hard and the fish are not usually very big. But I love this stuff. What's your poison: Henry's Fork for 20" browns on a #20 PMD dry or no-name creek, surrounded by willows, for 6-8 inch native cutthroats? I'll take the little creek any day, no questions asked. To me a short rod + a short line = maximum fun!

I'll be reviewing some other short rods soon, so stay tuned!

You can buy the rods I talked about from Tenkara Bum, Tenkara USA, Tenkara Rod Company, Dragontail Tenkara, Allfishingbuy, as well as some direct Japanese importers.

A Quick Outing

This weekend I got out with my son to one of the local rivers that is not overly affected by run off. So many of the streams are in full motion right now and unless they are tail waters they are difficult to fish.

My son came home for a hair cut (his mom is the only one he allows to cut his hair) and so we went out to see what we could catch. All this past week we have had thunderstorms but the weather looked like it would be ok to stand in water with a graphite rod.

The water was 84 cfs. The air temperature was good, the sky was overcast, but the wind was constant at 15-20 mph. Because of this I fished with my 3 wt western gear and he used a RIGS floating line on his tenkara rod. I had him use an indicator and a bead head nymph and cast with the wind.

Fishing was slow, but neither of us got skunked. I hooked the first rainbow and then a few cutthroats. He hooked and landed one, but it was a nice fish.

It was fun getting out -- challenging fishing conditions, but fun none the less.

Thank you!!

I just want to thank all of you who have made donations to the blog over the past year or so.  It is really appreciated! Although Teton Tenkara is not the absolute definitive source of all things tenkara, I do strive to share what I have found out during my own explorations of this simple, yet elegant method of fishing. I hope that it is more than just a blog and that it is of some benefit to the greater tenkara community. So, whether you are from the USA or Russia, Japan or Brazil, UK or Canada, thank you so much for your support and donation.

I'd like to also thank my Youtube channel subscribers. As of today I have 605. Thanks for watching!

If you like what you see on Teton Tenkara and would like to support its ongoing publication, feel free to click the "Donate" tab and help out. I appreciate your support.

Pure Strain Missouri Trout -- who would have thought!

These past few weeks I visited my daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren who live in the Wal-mart state. Usually while I'm there I fish the local streams for warm water species such as panfish, bass and carp. This trip I did this again. That is, until the super cell thunderstorms dropped 3 inches of rain and blew out the streams!

I thought I might fish the White River, since it can be protected against rain accumulation but it even was on the rise. I've never fished the White River system, but I've always wanted to. Its large enough, and complex enough, that I'd probably go with a guide the first time, but I didn't arrange that this trip.

Instead, I drove into southern Missouri to fish a small stream reputed to have the last pure strain of McCloud River rainbows. Even the McCloud itself doesn't have pure rainbows anymore, but this little creek, in this middle of "where the heck am I" Missouri does. The creek is Crane Creek and I was very excited to go.

Here is some narrative I stole from a website regarding Crane Creek: "Acclaimed as one of America's 100 Best Trout Streams, Crane Creek offers a truly unique trout fishing opportunity just forty-five minutes southwest of Springfield, Missouri.
     Crane Creek is one of the few streams in the region with self-sustaining populations of wild trout. These local trout are the descendants of California McCloud River rainbows stocked in the stream in the late 1800s. Opinions vary but there are those that say Crane Creek Rainbows are the only pure-strain McCloud Rainbow trout left in the world!
     Crane Creek Rainbows are often a revelation to anglers who are accustomed to fishing for stocked trout: they are quick and skittish and may be the ultimate trout fishing challenge Missouri has to offer.
     Catch any trout in Crane Creek and you've accomplished something...land a big trout in Crane Creek and you can consider yourself to have a Ph. D. in trout fishing!"


After driving for a while through Missouri (on some days pronounced "Misery"), I came to the little town of Crane. I had previously decided to fish the middle section of this creek, so I parked at the city park. The weather was beautiful -- 62 degrees F and bright blue sky. As mentioned above, Crane Creek trout have the reputation of being very skittish, so I could have done without the bright blue sky, but hey, any summer day in Missouri where the air temp is 62 degrees is a beautiful day!

As I said, I chose to fish the middle section. From the previous website:" There are over four stream miles of public access to Crane Creek. These are detailed in the maps section of this website, but they can be divided into three sections:

1. The Upper Wire Road Conservation Area
2. Crane City Park and Crane City Property
3. The Lower Wire Road Conservation Area

All of these areas hold good numbers of trout, ranging in size from fingerlings to whoppers. Parts of the Upper Wire Road area go dry at certain times of year, but the City Park and Lower Wire Road sections run year-round and there are big trout lurking in the deep pools. "

Borrowed from Ozark Anglers.com. 

I geared up and headed downstream. As I walked, I could see the creek through the trees. The water was very clear and seemingly undisturbed by the recent thunderstorms -- good sign! The creek appeared to have a gravel bottom with some shallow runs interspersed with deep pools. It looked very nice! I had with me one of my favorite rods, my Nissin Pro Spec 2-way 360 7:3. To this I had attached a 10 foot #3 line with 3 feet of 6X fluorocarbon tippet. I had decided that my first fly would be a #10 Utah Killer Bug.

I entered the water and started fishing a likely spot around a log jam. Sure enough, on about the third cast I got a hit, but I missed it because I was looking around at all the pretty scenery. I moved up to a riffle-run that was tight against the bank and "BAM", I had my first fish. It was small, 6 inches, but very pretty and healthy. I took three more from that run.

I fished my way upstream taking fish from all the likely spots. None were very big; the largest might have been 9 inches. All of them were genetically pure wild silver bullets, though! As soon as they were hooked they shot off for any cover -- these fish are great fighters. I would have liked to hook into a 12-14 incher -- that would have been a great challenge.

There are a lot of trees surrounding Crane Creek but they are much less closed in than compared to what I usually fish in the west. A 360 cm rod worked well.

I did find the fish to be very skittish. A combination of the clear, shallow water plus the bright sunny sky made any movement of the rod a warning sign to the fish, and they were gone! It was best to stand in the shadows and cast as stealthily as possible. I even used the sling shot cast on occasion -- not because of low lying tree branches, but because it uses less rod movement in getting the fly to its target.

I fished for my usual couple hours, then headed back to my daughter's house. It was a great trip and I count it as a successful sortie into unknown territory.

I'll be back to Crane Creek, for sure! I'd like to spend some more time exploring the other sections of this surprising spring creek, which is hid in the middle of no-where Missouri.

Tenkara Guides LLC Present the Oni Tenkara School

Most of you have heard by now, but in case you haven't, Tenkara Guides LLC of Salt Lake City, Utah are sponsoring the Oni Tenkara School. They are bringing Masami Sakakibara, "Tenkara No Oni", to Utah for a premier tenkara school. Here is what they say on their website:

TENKARA GUIDES LLC AND TEAM ONI USA ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE FIRST ONI TENKARA SCHOOL IN THE USA!

Master angler Masami “Tenkara No Oni” Sakakibara will travel to the United States for the first time to teach his famous Oni Tenkara in a three day course to a limited number of students.

Day One: Introduction to Oni Tenkara
Day Two: Intermediate Techniques
Day Three: Advanced Techniques

Dates: Saturday, Sunday, and Monday June 13-15, 2015
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Cost: $325.00 per student for all three days.
Registration: email info@tenkaraguides.com to reserve your spot.


This is a wonderful opportunity to interact with a skillful Japanese tenkara fisher who many feel has mastered the various techniques of fishing tenkara. If you are at all interested in learning tenkara from a Japanese source, here is your chance!

This is a great opportunity! Don't let it pass you by!

Tenkara Video Log -- May 1, 2015

Here is a video I put together before I went on a little trip to see one of my daughters. I had gone May 1st to fish a different stream, but the water was too high.  So, I went to this little stream and fished it for its browns and rainbows. The fish aren't very big but they are wild and pretty fun on a small rod.

I also started a fire with flint and steel, boiled water over a Core 4 stove and made lunch. All in all it was a nice outing.

Frogg Toggs® Pilot™ 2 Guide Pants - review

For the past many years I have used Simms waders in both the chest high and waist high models. They're great, I don't have anything bad to say about them other than they are expensive. My chest high Simms are about 5 years old and still going strong, although the gravel guards are breaking down. But recently I decided I needed another pair of waist high waders that compressed down a little more than the Simms.

After some research, I decided to try the Frogg Toggs® Pilot™ 2 Guide Pants. The few reviews I could find were pretty encouraging and the price was very tempting. I've had other Frogg Toggs products, such as a couple of rain jackets and a rain hat and they were quite good for the price (except the hat, it was a bust).

I bought my Frogg Toggs waders pants from WadersUSA, received them in about four days and then  found out they were just a little too small. I have a size 11.5 USA foot and I'm 6 feet tall, and this meant a size L for the wading pants. The neoprene foot fit very well but the waders were a little too tight through the crotch. When I lifted my leg, as if stepping up out of a stream, the crotch seams were very tight and greatly limited my movement. I therefore called WadersUSA and asked for an exchange to size XL. They gave me a RMA number, I mailed the box back and about a week later I had the size XL. These fit better, even though I don't consider myself as an XL guy. So I'm proposing that these wader pants are slightly undersized.

The waders come in a little black bag.

The wading pants are well made. All seams are taped, as would be expected. The places where two or more seems meet are extra taped. The neoprene booties are well made and fit your feet appropriately. Built in gravel/sand guards which have an elastic edge and laces hook work well.

 Here's what WadersUSA says about the pant: The "flagship wading pant is constructed from durable 4 to 6-ply breathable nylon with exclusive DriPore C3 waterproof technology. These pants are so sleek and comfortable, you hardly know you have it on. Adjustable elastic belt with comfort fit waistband make for a perfect fit. Patented swing leg panel design give added protection where you need it most." Here is a video from their product website. It describes some of the features of the waders that are similar to and have been incorporated into these guide pants.




I like the water proof pockets, they are deep and very useful. I like that fact that the waders compress down to a size smaller than my Simms. They fit into my Zimmerbuilt pack much better than the Simms, leaving more room for my lunch. The waist belt is easily adjusted and keep the pant from falling down. I have not felt the need for suspenders, but then again, I don't have a large abdomen. I have been fishing with them for about 6 months. So far they are doing great. Let's hope that they keep it up!