I hit my local rugged, semi-desert canyons early yesterday with what I consider the most versatile small stream tenkara rod out there, our Suzume. This particular creek has deep bend pools, runs of riffles dotted with pocket water, and edges shaded by tall grass, cottonwoods, and willows. The quintessential small trout stream.
What struck me was just how much I could do with the ultralight, compact package the Suzume provides. Triple-zoom length (and flex) adjustment allows nymphing on wide-open pools as well as willow-choked tunnels, done at opposite ends of the rod length spectrum. With enough stiffness for casting and drifting a lightweight weighted nymph rig (seems a misnomer, more on that technique later) and throwing #14 hopper patterns on a floating line, to the delicate delivery of #18 blue-winged olive dries, our little rod can handle all of this on small water.
The particular small creek I fished yesterday can hold some relatively big fish, and the Suzume handled 12-14” browns and rainbows. Feeling the strength of a 14” rainbow surging against the Suzume is the same sensation I felt years ago when fishing this same water with my old Fisher 3 wt.
If you fish complex small streams where a foot-long trout is king, this rod is for you!