The Advance Guide On Rod Blanks and a Rod Designer's Fishing Memoirs

Afterword

Preface

I have been living and breathing all things piscatorial since the earliest of my memories. Fishing to me is not just a sport; rather, it is of a beautiful and breathtaking journey. It is a journey that is spiritual and one that spans across generations. It is a journey my father first led me onto and one that I will introduce my two little boys to when they come of age. Fishing has also brought me to many amazing places, made me lifelong friends and changed my perspective of life. Instilled in me now is the great respect and appreciation for nature. In short, it runs through my blood and is part of who I am.

It is with this fervent passion that I first jumped into a career in the fishing tackle industry. I distinctly remember the time when I was a fresh out of university and was working for a hospitality supplies company. I was doing exceptionally well in the job and was even offered an opportunity to open and manage a store for myself…and that was when I was offered an opportunity in the role of a R&D Engineer of fishing rods in Shimano. I immediately tendered my resignation much to the chagrin of the boss, but he had to grudgingly accept my decision after I told him that I had to follow my heart!

I have been fishing since I was six and I started building fishing rods when I was around twelve, so when I joined Shimano as a rod engineer, you can imagine it was really akin to being in a giant playground and given access rights to all the technological bells and whistles! Of course it was not all just play; the first six months of every engineers training was actually spent on the production floor monotonously studying the various processes and actually working as part of the production force itself. We cut the pre-pregs, rolled the blanks and did the machining work ourselves; and as such, at the end of the training, all the engineers were expected to be able to fully build a rod completely from scratch. As I had joined the company with much prior background knowledge on rod building, I completed the training in less than two months and then got fast tracked to study under my design Sinsehs.

I was fortunate enough to be trained under three different Japanese Sinsehs that were experts in the various categories of Japanese fishing styles as well as in the rod development for these specific styles. As there was an unwritten rule that the names and pictures of all rod designers should be kept strictly confidential, I shall refer to and express my gratitude to them only via their initials.

T.T.-San was an expert in the category of Fune or boat fishing. He exuded a certain charismatic style and certainly looked more like a Japanese movie star than a designer. He was exceptionally detailed in his work beyond belief and had an immense knowledge of his sport. He was able to anticipate problems in a rod even before it was prototyped out.

Next was M.A.-San. M.A.-San was always quiet but the occasions he did open up, he spoke most passionately about ISO rock fishing. He was an expert in this field and was always willing to share the know-how of ISO rods, which typically consisted of high performance and extremely technical telescopic rods that covered an extensive range of rock fishing from bream to the muscle packed demonic looking Ishidai.(Knife-Jaw)

Lastly and most memorably, was K.M.-San who was my main mentor. KM-San was the most entertaining Sinseh I ever had. He was quirkily funny and never failed to bring a smile to our faces. He was the expert in Saltwater, Keiryu and Bass rods. Despite his easy going and unassuming nature, he had an immense knowledge of his craft and was like a walking material database. On more than several occasions, he surprised me by being able to recommend different materials with their corresponding modulus and density without referring to any notes…. he just had it at the back of his head.

These three Sinsehs were instrumental in guiding me through my days as a rod designer. I was given various projects to develop rods mainly for the Japanese domestic market as well as a small number of rods requested for by our European and South East Asian counterparts. I was also rotated through the development of the different categories of fishing rods to ensure that I had gained an all-round knowledge and skillset which would see me in good stead later in my piscatorial career. During this stint and once I had gained the necessary expertise, I was also given the privilege to mentor the next generation of junior designers who have also performed admirably in their current roles.

Three years later, an opportunity knocked when the Singapore office wanted to develop more rods for the South East Asian market. As I had been fishing in the region for the greater part of my life, I was tasked with the role of a Product Manager for South East Asia. It was here whereby I planned and developed a portfolio of rods that ranged from Surf to Game and Jigging to Popping. These were radically cutting edge and were very well received not just in S.E.Asia but in later parts, in the international markets as well.

So in short, this is a brief story of a part of my life that I would like to share in the book. But for now, probably the most important point from this preface is for me to offer my sincerest gratitude to all of whom I had mentioned above as well as those who I had inadvertently left out but met, worked with and befriended in this great piscatorial adventure. I would also like to dedicate this book to my dad who Showed me the way, my mum who supported the two crazy fishermen in the family, my always encouraging wife and my lovely albeit mischievous kids Seth & Tristan.

I have since moved on in my career to another line; but as all fishermen know, and as already evident from me penning this book, you can never quite be really that far from what’s true to your heart.

So what is this book about you might ask? Frankly I can’t say for sure myself. It is part an informative guide and part my fishing memoirs with some bitter sweet misadventures thrown in for good measure. This book is to some extent inspired by Hemingway’s dedicated life of fishing and fuelled by a more than healthy dose of mid-life crisis on my part. It is a book that I hope to also be able to someday publish a hardcopy for my kids to help them understand and see their Papa in another light; not just the milk bottle toting, diaper changing Papa that they would otherwise likely remember me by.

That being said, it’s my first attempt at writing a book and I do sincerely hope you would enjoy the read as much as I had the pleasure in penning it.

Introduction

For clarity and ease of referencing, I have structured this book into 5 key areas.

Chapter 1: Introduction To The Various Fishing Categories of Japan

This chapter takes us briefly through different fishing categories that are prevalent in Japan for both fresh and saltwater fishing. It also details the tackle requirements for each category and more specifically, talks about the type of rods that are needed and why they were designed as such.

Chapters 2: The Blank Workshop

The following chapter would focus on the subject of the actual rod blank making. This would begin with an introduction on the various types of raw materials and progress through to the completion of the rod blank itself.

Chapter 3: Understanding Blank Terminology & Quality

In understanding blank terminology & quality, I would run through the various common blank terminologies and also detail specifically on the quality of both the blank as well as that of the completed rod. This would help you to understand your rods features and limitations better. For those wishing to purchase a new blank or rod, this chapter should also be able to assist you in making a more educated purchase decision in the blank and/or rod selection process.

Chapter 4: Maximizing The Performance Of Your Rod

Once we completed the above chapters on the understanding of the mechanics behind a rod, it would be beneficial to reap the maximum performance out of it. This chapter addresses the issues on how to fully optimize the performance of your rod while in use.

Chapters 5-21: Fishing Memoirs

The final chapters in the book would be of some of my more interesting fishing memoirs. I have had some pretty great adventures with equally wonderful mates or kakis as we call them over here. I trust that some of these little personal experiences would keep you entertained on your favorite couch if for some reason, you are not out on the water. With these personal memories that I am sharing with you, I sincerely hope that you would be inspired enough to spread the love of fishing, of nature and of life especially to the ones who are important to you.

Chapter 1:

Introduction to the various fishing categories

In this chapter, due to page constraints, I will only cover the fishing categories found in Japan as many an angler might not be so familiar with these categories and may find them useful or interesting to understand. In addition, quite a few of these styles have their roots from the fishing styles found internationally or vice versa, hence, this list would already be relatively comprehensive as it is.

Ayu Fishing (Domestic to Japan)

Ayu fishing is a unique form of fishing found in Japan in the mountainous rivers. The Ayu is a type of small but highly prized fish that is also known as sweet fish as it exudes a pleasant fragrance. It is a tenacious and very territorial fish that fights other Ayu fishes when they encroached on its territory.

The fisherman wades in the river, uses an extremely long reel-less telescopic pole rod and bridles a pre-caught Ayu fish with a ring through its nose. This ring is attached via a leader to another small inline hook that is hooked at the tail end of the fish. At the end of the leader trails a specialized Ayu treble or quadruple hook and the angler’s Ayu is used to fight other wild fish. When the treble hook snares onto a wild fish during a fight, the angler then smoothly swings both the fishes into a specialized Ayu net.

It is considered poor style if the angler misses or takes multiple attempts to swing the fishes into the net. It is also poor etiquette to use the net like a racquet to swipe at the fish; it should be done in one steady fluid movement. In Japan, Ayu fishing is considered an aristocratic sport with very specialized fishing equipment and accessories. The rods typically start upwards of a thousand dollars even for an entry level model.

Bass Fishing (Domestic to Japan, International)

Bass fishing originated from Largemouth Bass fishing in America. Largemouth Bass were introduced to Japan in the past and these promptly created a big boom in the recreational fishing tackle industry even in spite of the potential and debated environmental damage to the native ecosystem.

The bass rods are similar to those used in America/worldwide and are usually relatively short in length and used to target bass with the use of lures. They come in both baitcasting and spinning versions and the key differences between the various different bass rods would be largely dependent on the style, terrain and type of lures and lure presentation being used. The hallmark of the rods would be their extremely light weight, quick response/recovery and great sensitivity that is needed when casting repeatedly for hours on end.

Fly Fishing (Domestic to Japan, International)

Fly fishing rods follow the universal AFTMA standard of classifying the weight class. These rods are usually multi piece with great focus placed on having a neutral joint system. This is essential to ensure that there are no flat spots in the curve for the casting. Female ferrules are reinforced with carbon so no excessive thread wrapping is needed on top to stiffen the joint areas.

Fune Fishing (Domestic to Japan, International)

Fune fishing actually covers a very broad range of fishing from boats. These are usually designed for fishing with manual or electric reels. As the range is so diverse, they come in telescopic as well as multi sectioned rods and feature either an inner guide concept whereby the line runs inside the blank or standard guided rods.

The key difference between international styled boat rods vs. that of most of the Japanese boat rods is the length of the rods. The Japanese boat rods are significantly longer and usually have a softer tip section to flex so that the fish can take the bait without spooking, as well as to act as a visual bite indicator to the angler. The length also allows the user to control the leader and rig more easily when fully wound up.

Most of the Fune rods are handheld or affixed to the boat via specialized rod holders when fishing. These holders essentially clamp onto the rod butt and as such, the butt end of Fune rods are usually made of glass/carbon which is additionally reinforced to be able to take the heavy rod holder clamping loads.

Hera Fishing (Domestic to Japan)

Hera rods are reel-less pole rods for catching Hera, which is Crucian carp. It is a very traditional and specialized form of fishing with dedicated rod rests and other complex paraphernalia. Rods are either very old school and made traditionally of different types of bamboo to achieve different actions, or can be modern using carbon/glass but are painted and decorated to replicate bamboo. The grips are often very conventional looking as well and consist of fabric or thick cord wrapping. These rods are multi piece and are either telescopic or multi jointed.

Eging (Domestic to