Asian-Market Travel Rods — In All of Their Quirky Glory

Gear

Jan 22

Fishing rods named after pop culture characters

As I’ve tirelessly researched the foreign travel rod market, I’ve continued to unearth new brands and products – some exceptionally purposeful, some decidedly odd.

I’ve been to Japan twice and Hong Kong Once: both of them as a teenager in the late 1980s, and again back to Japan when my brother and his family lived there in 2007. I really need to find a way back to Asia, as I love the widespread embrace of bass fishing culture and their meaningful contributions to its development. Yes, it would be an expensive shopping trip. Here are a few more samples of the fun that I’ve discovered while I’m still stuck stateside:

Bored

I’m not quite sure why you’d name a tackle company “Bored.” Unless something has been lost in translation, I assume it’s meant to be ironic. Nevertheless, nothing looks boring about their heavy-action four-piece rods, named “Tyson” and rated for ½ to 4 ounce lures. These 7’4” rods could be put into use for light swimbaits, along with other lures on the heavy end of the bass spectrum, as well as for other hard-fighting species like peacock bass or in saltwater.

Through their blog, I also learned that they have rods named after characters from Pulp Fiction.

JDM fishing rods named after characters from Pulp Fiction

What really caught my eye, however, is the Bored Vital Nest, a belt made to hold your hollow-bodied frogs or other lures. How much of a badass gunslinger do you have to be to walk around with a belt full of Kermits?

A belt to hold your hollow bodied fishing frogs

Fragment Factory

Fragment Factory is another company that makes some pretty “out there” rods, including multi-piece sticks

They offer some others with oddball names like Berserker

I also like their apparel selection, including this shirt encouraging us to chill

Hideup

This company makes a lot of great-looking and distinctive soft plastics, and you might think that the quirkiest thing about them is their shirts celebrating “Ramen Music Curry Fishing.”

You’d be wrong, because in addition to their red-accented Macca HUMRC-77MH-5 and 77M-5 five-piece travel rods (which retail for about $500)

They have also developed a folding bicycle specifically marketed to urban anglers. The optional add-on rod holders are a nice touch.

Hideup bicycle for Japanese urban anglers

Kuying

The Freestyle Walker, made in Hong Kong, seems to be a very popular travel series on Asia-based message boards and Facebook groups. Indeed, their four- and five-piece spinning and baitcasting rods in medium and heavy actions, at less than a hundred bucks apiece, seem to be good bargains.

The models that really impressed me, though, were the 604 UL rods, which come in both spinning and bait finesse setups, the latter a rarity in this category.

Office Eucalyptus

This is another company name that makes little sense in translation, but their slogan of “Love Fishing to All the People” is kind of self-explanatory. Their expertise seems to be in the colorful (6 different options) ultralight realm, with a bunch of 4’8” models that pack down to 39cm (less than 16”), for $85 apiece.