From Passionable Fishing, our Japanese-language journal.

It might have been too delicate for me, but it seemed to suit my wife perfectly.

On a difficult day, she still landed a shaku-class aji: a fish of around 30 cm.

I had not yet found an absolute favourite of my own. These were the rods I had tried so far.

The rods I had tried

  • Yoihime EX S51FL: short, but crisp, with good sensitivity.
  • Ripple Fisher 611JH Special: tubular tip; slim and soft. Easy to use, though I was less impressed by its sensitivity.
  • BlueCurrent 65TZ: tubular tip. My wife’s backup rod, formerly her main one. My comment by then was that it lacked sensitivity.
  • BlueCurrent 74TZ: tubular tip. A little too long and stiff for my ajing, so I used it for eging—squid fishing with an egi lure.
  • BlueCurrent 82F: tubular tip. Intended for float-rig ajing, but it was not getting used for that, so it too became an eging rod.
  • 34 HSR-610: solid tip. A fairly stiff, well-balanced rod, but its tip broke.
  • 34 HSR-610 Version 2: solid tip. The tip was a little more delicate. The rod overall was thick and stiff, but still had sensitivity. For targeting larger fish.
  • 34 HSR-73: too long for me; I could not quite find its focus.
  • VARIVAS 610S: solid tip, with an exquisite combination of sensitivity and suppleness.

Long, yet remarkably sensitive

The VARIVAS’s ability to match shorter rods for sensitivity at this length was wonderful.

The sections did tend to come apart, though. I polished the joint on both sides with #10,000 abrasive until I had a snug fit.

In my experience, shorter ajing rods certainly offered better sensitivity. At low tide, however, their lack of reach made lifting fish out awkward.

Even so, the next rods I had my eye on were the 34 FER-58 and the SRAM UTR-55-ONE.

In fact, I had already been to handle them. More next time.

First published in November 2020 and updated in June 2021. These are the author’s impressions and his account of a modification to his own rod.

Later in the journal: a third VARIVAS 4S-610S, with a different character.

Originally published on our Japanese-language site, Passionable Fishing, on 2 Nov 2020. Translated for Avantgarde Fishing. These are the author’s personal observations at the time of writing. Product availability and fishing conditions may have changed.
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