On Mon, 5 Apr 2010 01:38:54 -0700 (PDT), Padishar Creel
wrote:

I rec'd my Tenkara Iwana rod a few weeks ago. I took it out and I am
VERY impressed. It is well made and easy to assembly and take down.
The documentation on how to rig it is clear and easy to follow.

The line is a furled leader (10 ft) with an extra braided loop on the
rod end of the leader to attach it to the braided line (cow hitch)
that is attached to the end of the rod. I added 6 feet of tippet (5x)
and a size 18 hare's ear. I had to shorten my normal stroke but I was
able to master the rod within 20 minutes. It handled differently than
my other rods but I enjoyed learning to use it. If I do my math right;
with a 11 foot rod, 10 foot leader and 6 foot tippet means I can reach
out about 25+ feet. Plenty for the small streams I love so much.

Well this weekend, I took the new Tenkara fly rod out to a little
steam and strapped on two flies (a hare's ear trailer and a foam elk
hair thingee I tend to have success with) and worked a small stream
that wasn't clouded up by lots of rain we have been getting lately.
Anyway, I caught and released five cutthroat trout - four small but
one was 16" +/- and boy howdy was it a challenge to land with an
eleven foot rod. I didn't bring a net but I am thinking that I should
bring one next time. I had to close up the rod a half dozen times to
move through brush to a new hole and it was easy and quick...I think I
am going to like this type of fly fishing - especially right after
work on a moments notice type of thing.

Padishar Creel who doesn't have any financial interest in the Tenkara
fly rod company or any company since I lost my ass in the stock market.

Glad you enjoyed the fishing. I had to google to see what an "Iwana rod" was,
and it turns out it is a model of rod made by a company who calls it
"TenkaraUSA." Weird. I was wondering what you meant by "no interest in the
Tenkara company." Do you have any idea if the company was started by
"Americans" or Japanese?

I gotta say, that $150USD "Iwana" looks suspiciously like what a lot of folks
would call a "crappie pole" (albeit I've never seen a crappie pole with a cork
handle, and no "KPOS" jokes intended), which can be had for about $15-20USD.

And FWIW, a whole lot of fish are caught on that type of setup, and many around
here use a traditional modern "western" style fly rod setup (reel, rod with
guides) about like that, essentially "dapping," which was the original "western"
way to FF as well.

TC,
R