Tenryu Rayz Integral

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Don't think of the Tenryu Rayz Integral spinning rods as travel rods. How often do you travel? One or twice a year? And don't think of them as backpacking rods. How often do you go backpacking?

These rods are better than that. These are rods you'll want to use all the time. Think of them as convenient rods. Think of them as "go to" rods. If you get one, chances are it will be the rod you reach for wherever you go.

Some anglers (I think mostly bass guys who fish from boats) have a bias against multi-piece rods. Not me. I loved my 4-piece Tenryu Rayz Integral! But I sold it. Sold it? Why?

For one reason and one reason only. Tenryu redesigned the Integral rods in 2023 and mine was the previous model (the RZI50UL-4).  The following is written about the RZI50UL-4. It is a long story, for another time, but I have yet to fish my new RZI484S-UL. The new rod is 4" shorter, with a shorter grip and shorter sections. The line and lure recommendations for the new generation are the same as the previous model.

The RZI50UL-4 is the Rayz Integral Twitchin' model. It is a rod designed for light lines (1-4 lb) and light lures (1-6g) in the headwaters. The action will give you a lively fight with headwaters fish, but there is enough power in the butt section to handle the occasional surprisingly large fish.

The Tenryu Rayz Integral RZI50UL-4 is the softest of Tenryu's rods designed for native (wild) trout.

Being a bit softer does not mean it is less capable of landing nice fish.

What it does mean is that it is more capable of doing flip casts.

Most spin fishermen do a standard overhead cast, or perhaps a sidearm cast when on a small stream with low tree branches. With a flip cast, the rod is held directly in front of you. A sharp (but short!) downward motion with your wrist starts the rod tip downward. When your wrist motion stops abruptly, the momentum of the lure bends the tip further down and back, loading the rod. A very slight forward push with your hand loads the rod a but further. You then release as the rod tip starts to recover. If you have timed your release perfectly, the lure will shoot towards your target with a very flat trajectory.

The big advantages of a flip cast are 1) there is very little movement of the rod and your arm, so you are much less likely to scare the fish you are trying to catch; 2) done well, the cast can deliver the lure under overhanging tree branches; 3) because your rod starts out pointing directly at your target, your cast should always go directly towards your target. Distance and trajectory take practice, but side to side accuracy should be right on almost from the very beginning.

A good flip cast takes practice (timing the release is critical). It takes a lure with a bit of weight (a 4.5g sinking minnow lure is about perfect). Most important, though, it takes a rod that is soft enough to load properly!

I have a friend in Colorado who was raving about his $700+ Anglo&Co rod, which he said was perfect for flip casts. When I went to CO for a business trip I arranged to fish with him for a couple days. He showed me his prized rod and showed me how he did his flip casts. I tried the Anglo&Co rod long enough to get the timing about right, handed it back to him, picked up my Tenryu Rayz Integral RZI50UL-4 and within a few minutes was doing the exact same casts. (The Tenryu can do them easily, I still need to practice my release timing.)

Please understand that the flip casts my friend showed me are not the same as the "wave" casts that Erne St. Claire and Joe Robinson wrote about. To do the wave casts, one would need a rod that is much slower and much softer than the Tenryu Rayz Integral RZI50UL-4.

His Anglo&Co rod is a nice rod, don't get me wrong, but the Tenryu is, too, has a nicer grip (in my opinion) and can execute the same casts. Plus, it's a lot less expensive (about half half as much). Anglo&Co and Tenryu are both small family-owed companies, but Tenryu is large enough to have some economies of scale, which get passed on to their customers.

In 2017 I went to Livingston MT to give a presentation to the International Federation of Fly Fishers. While there I took advantage of some free time after the sessions to do a little spin fishing. I didn't want to pass up the chance to catch fish like the Yellowstone Cutthroat shown above. The Tenryu Rayz Integral 4-piece rod easily fit in my suitcase. Taking a 2-piece rod would have required checking a second bag.

The Tenryu Rayz Integral rods also fit in the rod holders or water bottle holders on the sides of many packs. For that matter, they will fit completely inside even modest daypacks.

A couple years ago a friend hiked the John Muir Trail in the Sierras. He's an avid tenkara angler, so he took a couple tenkara rods with him. The guy he went with also took a tenkara rod, but in addition, he took a multi-piece spinning rod. The spinning rod was the hit of the trip. By far, most of the fish they caught were caught in the lakes. By far, most of the fish they caught in the lakes were caught with the spinning rod. My friend the avid tenkara angler bought a Tenryu Rayz Integral RZI50UL-4 spinning rod right after he got back!

But seriously, don't think of the rod as a travel or backpacking rod. It's a great rod - it just happens to be very convenient to take with you no matter where you're going or how you're getting there.

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Tenryu Rayz Integral Features

The Tenryu Rayz Integral rods have stainless K guides with SiC rings. The dark blue blanks share the Rayz heritage. The four-piece blanks make them excellent choices for backpacking or travel. The action makes them an excellent choice if you want a rod that is just slightly softer than the Rayz or Rayz Spectra rods (and can do flip casts with the best of them).

The rods come with a flat canvas case.

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Home > Finesse Spin Fishing > JDM Spinning Rods > Tenryu Rayz Integral

Header photo: Tenryu Rayz RZ4102B-UL, Shimano Calcutta Conquest BFSHG ('17)

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