Reviews

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• TroutAiza says     5 out of 5 flies
• Best of the best
• Location/type of places I fish: Carlon Falls, Yosemite
• Here's a lesson on trout.. they are elusive fish with iridescent colors and super good vision. Similar to toddlers, they turn their nose up to most food. They swim upstream cause the best parties are up there.. ok, I made that part up but who knows, it could be true! It is no wonder that I went into my first fly-fishing trip with a lack of confidence. Thankfully, I was armed with an Iwana rod. It's so lightweight yet so strong and flexible that I was able to get into tight spaces and drop my fly. I'm used to bigmouth bass fishing and the set up time to get up and running was surprisingly fast with the Tenkara rod. Even after all my skepticism, I managed to catch four trout. I'm hooked!
• posted July 06, 2012

• alansommerfeld says     5 out of 5 flies
• Perfect for Small Colorado Creeks
• Location/type of places I fish: Flat Tops Wilderness Area, NW Colorado
• Backpacked in to the Flat Tops Wilderness Area to fish Derby Creek in northwest Colorado. Phenomenal day with my new Iwana 12' rod but a quick mountain thunder storm added to the excitement of the 75+ Colorado Cuts and Bookies that topped out at the 12" size. This was the perfect tool for handling the streams that were teaming with fish. I caught 5 fish for every one my son caught with his western style fly rod. When I let him try my Iwana, he loved it. And I used my newly learned Tenkara technique with his rod and did better than expected. But now he must buy his own.
  
  
• posted July 23, 2012

• jtimblin says     5 out of 5 flies
• My first Tenkara Rod and still my favorite
• Location/type of places I fish: Colorado Rocky Mountains
• This was the first Tenkara rod I purchased and still probably my favorite. The 12 foot model is a perfect all around rod and the one I would recommend to anyone new to Tenkara fishing.
• posted February 20, 2013

• JasonSparks says     5 out of 5 flies
• Fantastic in Appalachia
• Location/type of places I fish: High Country North Carolina to the Great Smoky Mountains
• Headwaters on Grandfather Mountain. Stocked waters in open gorges. Delayed harvest areas of our great mountain streams. I have landed 6" wild brookies to 22" rainbows. I'd landed 100+ fish typically ranging in the 10" - 14". I have brought in three dozen fish at 20", both rainbows and browns. I have never lost a fish due to the rod or line. Amazingly Capable. Amazing. I just got the short handle for it and can't wait to get back out on the headwater to chase my wild ones.
• posted February 21, 2013

• 4wt says     5 out of 5 flies
• Its got me hooked!
• Location/type of places I fish: Ithaca, NY/small creeks
• I must say that for the first time in many years, this is a product that comes exactly as advertised. The rod is a beautiful black and dark brown color, great for sneaking up on the fish. I set mine up with the #3.5 yellow level line sold on this site. I ran ~9' of level line and 4' of 5x tippet. Use the suggested slip knots and you will be happy with the simplicity of this style of rod vs. a traditional fly rod/reel setup. The blue plastic Tenkara line holder is a must for $9.95. I have caught one 15" rainbow trout on this rod my first time out and loved the fight. This rod allows you to really stay in tune with exactly what the fly is doing. I plan on trying this rod on small steelhead in the coming weeks in western ,NY. The customer service at Tenkara USA is unmatched and they truly will replace any sections quickly and have you back on the stream by the weekend!
• posted February 23, 2013

• JDReed says     5 out of 5 flies
• I'm a convert
• Location/type of places I fish: Northern Utah Mountains
• My buddy recently let me use his 12ft Iwana and I gotta say, I'm hooked on Tenkara. This rod and this style of fishing is perfect for 90% of the streams that I fish. I'm able to cast into places successfully that I would never have even attempted with my western rod. This rod is light enough to cast all day in comfort, and being able to telescope it down when you're walking through heavily wooded areas is really really nice (I broke the tip off of my western rod doing this once). The Iwana is soft enough allow small fish to feel big, but it seems to have a back bone when you need it as I landed a 15 inch cutthroat and my buddy landed a 17 inch brown on it.
  
  I really can't say enough good things about it. I'd recommend this rod to any of my friends. If you routinely fish smaller technical creeks and rivers you need to get this rod.
  
  Tight lines,
  
  Jason Reed
  Logan Utah
• posted April 14, 2013

• jumsted says     5 out of 5 flies
• Outstanding
• Location/type of places I fish: Nor cal/Sierra /Nevada
• This is my first and only Tenkara rod. After several years dabbling in fly fishing without much success with wet flies, and no luck at all with dry flies, I experienced immediate success with this setup, and catch something more often than not.
• posted April 18, 2012

• Thomis says     5 out of 5 flies
• A GREAT rod for western fly fishers to cross over
• Location/type of places I fish: Easern Wisconsin- Small Inland Trout Streams
• I have both the 11' 6:4 Iwana and the 12' Iwana, and I use the 12' more. I think the 1' foot difference gives me more of an edge for both casting length and landing fish.
  I use to fish a 9 foot 4 weight western rod, and the 12' Iwana has kept that rod put away and collecting dust.
• posted April 18, 2012

• flyfishingprof says     5 out of 5 flies
• Excellent Rod all Around
• Location/type of places I fish: Tight Mountian Streams, low valley streams, lakes
• I purchased this rod initially for it's portability and discovered upon it's use what a great, beautiful piece of technology it is. My first trip with my Iwana rod was to a small mountain stream with large Rhododendron overhanging the water. When casting I'd extend the rod to it's full length and easily pin-point cast to various spots. When moving to the next location I'd quickly collapse the telescoping portion and climb through the bramble. A perfect purchase.
• posted April 18, 2012

• pechelman says     5 out of 5 flies
• I wanna Iwana!
• Location/type of places I fish: rivers and streams
• sorry for the lame joke :)
  
  But if you could have only ONE tenkara rod, I think the Iwana is it, and specifically, the 12'er.
  
  If you're a western fly fisher looking at a Tenkara rod, do yourself a favor and get the longer length. Even on small streams, I'm happy I have the extra reach and length to keep the line off the water.
  
  The iwana has such a great crisp casting stroke. While the rod is definitely a 6:4, it feels faster and stiffer to me than I was expecting. By no means is it a "fast" rod though for you western fly fishers.
  
  I've used this rod from a #3 8' line all the way up to an 18' #4 line and the 10/13' furled lines from tenkara usa. It handles everything and is just so versatile. I've caught trout on it from barely the size of my hand to about ~14" and its really a joy. Has a surprisingly stout butt end with a wonderfully delicate tip to protect light tippets. Let the rod tip do the work for you and gently steer the fish with the butt of the rod where you want him to look\go\swim.
  
  Finishing on the rod is of very good quality.
  I feel like my Sage rods are definitely of a little higher quality when it comes to inspecting the labeling and finishing of thread wraps, but these are things I honestly dont care about in the long run.
  
  Its a great rod, at a great price, and it does everything Ive thrown at it very well.
  
  Add on to that fact, that you can buy a 9'6" handle, which I recommend getting, and you essentially have TWO tenkara rods for a very reasonable price.
• posted April 26, 2012

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