the "My Fair Lady of Tenkara Rods" Project - PART ONE

I have one of those brains that likes to wander at times and with that wandering there is a "wondering" that pops up. I am also the kind of person who makes time to explore and bring to life curious ideas. This is what is going on right now with me these days. A project idea has invaded my mind and there is but one way to exercise the demon. I have to experiment and tinker.

As I start out on this project, I am reminded of the movie "My Fair Lady". In that classic musical "Henry Higgins" (Rex Harrison) a well to do speech expert, takes on a project to convert a Cockney, working class wonan, Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn), and transform her into a "refined lady of society." You may be familiar with the story or even seen the movie or one of the many remakes of the play.

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Meet my "Eliza Doolittle" for this project.  Here she is, a Goture Red Fox 360. Let's call her "Eliza" going forward shall we? I found her wallowing around on the corner of a discount goods website, based out of China. You probably know the one I am talking about. She is a fishing rod but not a tenkara rod. To look at her you would say "looks like a carp rod" and you wouldn't be wrong.

While Eliza's initial features aren't actually unattractive, the closer we look the more we see her unrefined elements. When we ask her to cast, she reveals a stiffness in backbone that hides any element of grace or delicateness required for trout.

As the Henry Higgins of this tale, I have examined her and wondered... How much separates this somewhat vile creature from becoming a refined and elegant enough rod to use for trout species? To understand that of course we have to look to the core of her. See what she is made of. See what her strengths and weaknesses are and help her transform herself. The hope of course is that in the end, we can we find enough deep down under the surface to make her a passing and worthy rod. Can we move her from the clunky world of carp fishing into the more delicate and precise presentation that will allow us to consider her tenkara trout rod? Join me in this experiment.

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Identifying some issues
Casting
This rod casts very heavy from the handle. The fulcrum point is really not well balanced like a tenkara rod would be. It wasn't designed for delicate presentations that kiss the fly to the water, it was designed to throw a heavier payload than a fly, dare I suggest even.. gulp... (the horror) ...bait.

In driveway casting, I found it to be a very, very stiff. Like a broom handle. I could feel my forearms taking in a lot of tension on each cast.  My muscles tightening with each projection and once again in any retrieval or back cast I did with the rod. The rigidity seems to be ingrained in design at the lower segments.  I am not sure yet if I will be able to spare the first segment and cut it shorter or if I will just create a shorter rod using the 2nd segment as the new "outer segment. Yes, I am going to be ruthless in my surgery process if I have to.

Blanks
Let me start with the outer blank.  It is in my opinion the rod maker's cheat in design with this rod. This first segment is longer than the rest of the blanks  by at least 4- 5 inches.  I think they used the outer segment length to "stretch" the rod length to make it a 360.  The rod has six sections that are all finish painted and glossy sealed. The remaining tip segment is like all other rods, unfinished but smooth.

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Flex
Most of the flex in this rod happens in the last 3 segments. The 4th segment seems to bend only a very slight amount. There is a lot of faith being put upon the very tip of the rod. This is going to be a game of making due with what we have and finding a balance from the handle to accommodate this blanks innate nature.

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Segment Reduction
I noticed visibly that there was a considerable difference in each segment as they dropped down in size towards the tip. In other words the progression of the reduction in diameter is very noticeable and there isn't much we can do about it other than accept that this lady will have to work extra hard to overcome these engineering shortcuts.

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Butt End Cap
This is just  just plastic and is not cushioned. Eventually this could lead to some impact fractures on the bottom ends of the segments creating chips and splits that will eventually jam or potentially not secure the connection and slip out. I am also trying to figure out what purpose the flimsy key ring has for this rod.

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Handle.
Aesthetically the handle is attractive. I am not however a fan of this style of handle on any rod. They seem like a choice to me for novelty over function. Functionally, I hate it. I think a handle needs to fit in your hand better than these do and by design they are telling you that your hand placement has to be low and at the lowest end, which as I pointed out, sets the balance of the rod completely off and is going to result in some serious carpal tunnel syndrome by the end of the day. I like a handle that has some room for placement.

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Tip End Cap
This is really one of the worst end caps I have ever seen. A thin aluminum cap with an soft (like foam earplug) plug glued into it, that is squishy and bends as you put it into the rod end. The foam plug is too soft and too long. I can see this catching on something and then tearing off flush with the end leaving the soft plug inside the tip.

And there she is... the "before" shot.
So for all purposes I hope I was clear to you about the state of Eliza in her Cockney Carp Rod personality.  Now I have to start slowly and meticulously make decisions on how to refine her.

My Plan for the month of April.
The curious side of me wants to know "can I make a crappy rod better if not at least decent? So I am going to be transforming this rod, cutting it up if I need to, turning out a new handle, adjusting it's center of gravity and seeing if this rough and unrefined rod can make a transformation.  I am pretty sure I can make better but you will have to check in next month to see if actually turn Eliza into a passable tenkara fair lady for trout fishing .