As a follow-up to my earlier post on the ins & outs of the making of Tenryu rods, here is another interesting article written by the big man himself Yannick Cordier back in 2013. MD and owner of Ultimate Fishing, Yannick is a personmal friend of mine and an absolute gentleman. The original post can be found here
The Tenryu brand bears the traces of a long history written over the course of the evolution of fishing rods. The brand has known and worked with all the materials that have made it possible to manufacture fishing rods, and today, buying a Tenryu rod means benefiting from this long experience.
The Tenryu specificity "You're not just buying a carbon fishing rod"
You may be one of those who are wondering about the opportunity to acquire a Tenryu rod. Your questions are legitimate because the price of these rods can give food for thought. It is because we are aware of this that we feel it is necessary to explain to you here the real reasons that make red rods the best technical solutions at the moment. Buying a Tenryu rod is a very special moment. For you, this purchase means one thing first: acquiring a fishing instrument that has been designed for a very specific use. You are not just buying a carbon fishing rod. You are about to use a carefully thought-out product, designed down to the smallest detail and capable of providing you with all the technical ingredients expected for the fishing you practice.
At Tenryu, there are no half measures. We design each of our rods with a specific goal in mind. The Japanese brand demands the greatest rigor from us in terms of development. It is not enough to decline a model in several lengths to be able to talk about a "range". It is also not enough to simply offer different powers to justify the notion of "development".
At Ultimate Fishing, we have the expertise of true professionals. From the technical staff to the guide staff, including sea or freshwater competitors, our development panel is wide. Each participant poses the problems related to the practice of their fishing, and as you can imagine, "their" fishing is also yours. Whether you fish with big bait for large freshwater predators or for trevally in the tropics, your needs are very clearly identified before the development of a product.
While many brands select rods from Asian catalogues and then try to classify them in a particular technique used in Europe, we have chosen to start from the opposite of the technique to establish precise specifications of the needs and then, only then, to proceed with the creation of the rod. Several prototypes, numerous adjustments and long months are systematically necessary to finalize a project and the arrival of a new rod on the market. This approach is essential to obtain a rod perfectly adapted to the technique for which it is intended. The particular quality of our design work which leads us today to offer you the most complete and technical range in Europe in terms of lure fishing.
Every detail counts "the best technologies to obtain the desired reactions"
To fish effectively, the precision of the rod is an essential factor. A Tenryu rod, such as the Super Distance (remember this article was written back in 2013, so models have vastly changed since then), adds an undeniable plus: perception. The name of this rod clearly evokes the distance potential that we were looking for. Casting lures long distance to feeding fish requires countering the problem of the terrible aerodynamics of diving minnows and the general un-aerodynamic shapes of many lures. You need a fast rod, capable of propelling the lure at high speed. The taper of the Super Distance allows this propulsion speed, ensuring better distances. You perceive the dynamics of the rod with each cast, you feel it "slap" the lure!
In addition to this necessary power, it is also necessary to adapt to the specificity of swimming fish. The vibrations of these lures are very clear indications that the fisherman must exploit during fishing. A swimming fish is managed throughout the recovery. It is necessary to work on the vibrations by accentuating them or calming them. This management is done with the reel crank (by slowing down or accelerating), but also thanks to the action of the rod.
This is where all of Tenryu's experience comes into play. The resonance level of Tenryu rods is always at the top of the current technical possibilities. The Japanese manufacturer systematically implements the best technologies to obtain the desired reactions. The resonance of a rod is in fact the conduction produced by the carbon. The vibrations of the lures, the shocks of the lure or the pressure of the water on the line are perceived by the carbon and sent back to the handle of the rod. This resonance is important because its precision increases that what is offered to the fisherman's handling of the lure/rod in that situation. A rod can cast correctly, it can send back vibrations, but if the perception does not spread over a wide spectrum, we do not obtain the same precision. (Translating this last paragraph was tricky from French to English, but I hope you understand what it means.. basically having the rod/carbon tuned to send feedback back to you is very impostant and this is taken in to account with the designers of these rods.)
In other words, our rods can perceive a small jerkbait as well as a large minnow. The sensitivity of carbon is such that the entire power range is affected by the same level of perception. Let us specify that this technical characteristic does not involve a reduction in carbon loads. Our rods, regardless of their power, are designed to withstand the constraints imposed by the end use. You can have total confidence in the product you are going to choose.
Manufacturing secrets? "Carbon is just a raw material"
We don't need to give ourselves unhelpful terms like "X Carbon", "UDF", "Ultra high modulus" to give you confidence. We have been creating and deploying the Tenryu brand in Europe for over ten years. The development of the brand is the fruit of your trust, and it did not need to rely on such psychedelic technology names.
Our carbons are not the same as use throughout the fishing industy, they are made by Tenryu to in-house to achieve exactly what we need the carbon to do. Of course, Tenryu chooses the most suitable for the rod in hand, and therefore often the best, but the quality of our rods does not depend only on these carbons. Carbon is only a raw material. Anyone can put paint on a canvas, but not everyone knows how to master it to the point of creating a work of art.
Tenryu's very long experience is the only secret that cannot be passed on. This experience allows the material to be worked according to criteria that are as numerous as they are complex. The orientation of the carbon fibers, the percentages of resins, the cooking temperatures, the regularity in the rolling process of the carbon sheets are all technical points that the brand masters to perfection.
It is thanks to this mastery that we can be proud of one thing: each Tenryu rod is identical to its sister of the same name. We have no difference in action between the units of several manufacturing series. If you buy a Super Shoot today, your friend will buy the same one in a year. The action will be the same, the weight will be the same, the qualities will be identical.
What may seem like a detail is not one, believe it! This regularity in manufacturing is the sign of mastered work. This is precisely what differentiates a quality production from a chain production.
All Tenryu rods are individually manufactured, painted and assembled by hand using a perfectly respected process and by expert hands.
This care taken in manufacturing not only has the advantage of respecting the wishes initially put forward by the fishermen, but also of ensuring an optimal lifespan for the product.
It is not uncommon to find Tenryu rods sold ten years ago and still in use today. The action has not lost any power or nervousness, the blank is perfectly functional after many years of use. This is also why you will buy a Tenryu. For safety and peace of mind!
User experience "The difference between a low-end rod and a world-class rod is also present in the emotions they provide... or not!"
User experience is an important parameter and yet sadly neglected in the world we live in. This term evokes everything that the user can feel when handling the object. The user experience is studied for vehicles, for computers, for mobile phones, so why not for fishing rods?
A Tenryu rod is, as we have already said, very expressive in the hands. The responsiveness of carbon, both when casting and handling lures, is almost instinctive. The difference between a low-end rod and a world-class rod is also present in the emotions they provide... or not!
A Tenryu rod is optimized from a technical point of view, but also in terms of comfort of use. The user experience is therefore really worked on.
The balance of the rod is designed so that it is quickly forgotten in the fishing action. It is also very rare to hear fishermen complain of any fatigue when using it. The balance is designed according to the final use of the rod. If it must be used with the tip close to the water, the tip up, wedged under the forearm or in the groin, an adapted balance is put in place for each use.
The reactions of the rod to the different requests of the fisherman are also highly perceptible. We feel the rod react, both by the fisherman's hand and by the fish or the environment (pressure of the currents). You know what? We get used to these reactions very quickly. We take pleasure in it, we experience moments of intense emotion with our rod. The result is a real habituation which leads to better working our lures. Because the rod always reacts in the same way, because it is impossible to be surprised, because the rod returns all the reactions of the lure and the line in the hand, for all these reasons you will quickly become "addicted" to your Tenryu rod!
Each to his own job "Tenryu's science is the mastery of composite materials"
Tenryu's historical business is to manufacture fishing rods. Before being a brand, Tenryu is above all a major rod manufacturer (they are 5anu Japan) to which other world-renowned brands also entrust the production of their most technical rods.
From bamboo to current carbons, Tenryu's science is the mastery of composite materials. Tenryu does not have a vocation to design rings, and the brand prefers to refer to the world number one in the field: Fuji.
If we had to make an analogy, let's say that the blank would be the engine of a car, and the rings the chassis. Both must be coordinated in order to work together. The rings are therefore very important for a rod.
The legendary Fuji rings bring undeniable added value to Tenryu rods. Not only are they the only ones to ensure a lifespan equivalent to that of the rod, but they are also the only ones to respect the work of the blank.
A line of Fuji rings is the result of numerous studies carried out by the Japanese manufacturer. You should know that a Fuji ring is not just a metal part with a ceramic ring. Fuji is constantly working to improve the passage of the line in its rings. It also strives to create shapes adapted to the developments in current composites. The metals used are also calibrated so as not to be too hard. In reality, the Fuji rings work with the rod. They are flexible and do not constrain the rod. Naturally, you have to use the right sizes, and above all arrange them correctly on the blank of the rod.
This work is essential and often neglected by manufacturers. The number of rings, their arrangement and their size significantly influence the final action of the rod, which implies that their effect must be integrated into the design process.
It is quite common to find an obvious imbalance between the rings and the blank of a rod. We pay all the necessary attention to the calibration of our rings. This is also why our range receives the various evolutions of Fuji over the seasons, with for each restyled model an update of the initial action. Most of our rods are now equipped with the new "K" rings ensuring both greater lightness, a livelier action of the blanks and solid gains in distance. It is the entire Tenryu range that is evolving.
A Tenryu rod, an object of desire: "Each rod is the culmination of a passionate and exciting process"
With a collection of 58 models (as of 2013, many many more these days!!), the Tenryu brand reaches all fishermen, from trout to large bluefin tuna or other extreme predators.
A Tenryu rod is a piece of history with which you will build your own experience. Each rod is the culmination of a passionate and exciting process. It takes passion to operate this complex chain that stretches over several thousand kilometers. From France to Japan, ideas abound, they collide, oppose or come together to come to fruition in the Tenryu factory.
You are a part of each Tenryu rod. Through your practice, your passion, your personal development, you are all at the heart of the Tenryu range.
We are fishermen and driven by the same flame as you. We think "fishing" every day, we live for it. We design rods, thanks to you and for you. Believe it, we are also seized by desire when we see these rods "becoming" what they will be acquired for by fishermen. As development progresses, the carbon comes to life, the rod is born little by little before our eyes and in our hands. By purchasing a Tenryu rod, you take possession of a part of history, a history made of passion, experience and technical competence.
