Patagonia Tenkara Rods

[K C]

Anyone check out the new Patagonia Tenkara rods? Glad to see Tenkara is becoming more mainstream.

KC

[Greg Mihalik]

The Patagonia system is a far cry from traditional tenkara –

Short stiff rod, floating line, leader, etc.

HYOH and all of that, it's fishing, but IMHO it ain't tenkara.

[Glenn S]

Well, after ordering an el cheapo $5 7' knock off rod to play with, I stopped by Thorne Brothers a few weeks back to see if they had any level line. They bill themselves as

"…the largest specialty fly fishing store in Minnesota"

and they "heard" of Tenkara, and that was as far as it went. So I went home and ordered myself up a spool of 3.5 level line, tippet and a full selection of flies from TenkaraUSA. I'll probably order an official rod sometime in the future, but I want to convince myself that I "earned" it first lol

After all, we don't exactly have stony mountain streams here. I here there's good trout streams in the southeast of the state, but not much for trails like up north.

[Stephen Barber]

Glenn, Tenkara works just fine with panfish and even bass. With a short heavy mono leader, I'd bet it would be fine for pickerel and small pike as well. A decent northern on Tenkara would be quite a hoot!

You do realize, I hope, that your $5 el cheapo won't have very good action for Tenkara fishing (casting), right? Yeah, I know, cuz I tried it too! It's just not the same thing at all.

Good luck!

[Glenn S]

Oh I'm not expecting a whole lot from this toy pole. It was more just to get one in my hands and see what they were all about. Even if it is just a poor facsimile. I mean it was delivered to my door for under six bucks, who could say no? lol Besides, it'll make a great cat toy when I do get a real pole.

Maybe I'll bring it along out on the boat for starters, catch a few surface sunnies for fun.

[Casey Greene]

I'm going to have to agree with Greg on this one. I've had my hand on about 6 various tenkara models, from various manufacturers, over the past 2 years, and the Temple Creek Patagonia rod is – by far – the worst. It has no action at all. The only advantage the thing has over a stick, is that it is collapsable.

[Pete Staehling]

That is a pretty harsh review. Given that they start at $200, I'd have expected more.

I own a Fountainhead Caddis Tenkara. It is fine with me, but prefer to use my cheapo 4wt Wind River combo from Cabelas. I think I paid about $70 on sale. I caught scores of trout with it on my last trip in the Sierras. It was heavier than my Tenkara, but I thought it was more fun and I was still packed lighter than anyone I met other than a couple speed hikers going for a JMT record.

[Jim H]

I'm doing an 8-day hike between Agnew Meadows and Yosemite Valley in September, leaving myself plenty of time for photography and fishing. What I haven't decided yet is what setup to bring. I've got a tenkara and western kit. Has anyone wished they had their western kit up there? I imagine on some of the larger lakes a breeze might make tenkara difficult except near the outlet? It's great that UL fishing gear is getting some exposure. Competition is always good.

[Pete Staehling]

"Has anyone wished they had their western kit up there?"

No but at the last minute and on a whim, I left my Tenkara in the car and took my fly rod and reel on the JMT and was happy with the choice. If I was more into fishing the lakes my preference would have been even more toward a western style rig, but I fished mostly little streams and still was happy with the choice.

I say, take whichever you think will be more fun. I go pretty light on everything else so taking a few extra ounces for a special interest like fly fishing is not too bad. Also I think I was able to carry enough less protein that the weight of the fishing stuff was offset by that.

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