Tenkara Rod Reviews

Sato Review

The Sato is a compact and lightweight tenkara rod, and it is a an adjustable length “zoom” tenkara rod.

At its shorter length it is perfect for tighter streams, and at its full length it will be ideal when the stream opens up again or when you find a bigger pool to cast your fly. With several years of design experience under our belt and feedback from our users, we feel we have achieved what we set out to do: give you a rod that is super light-weight, durable, versatile and feels very precise. Plus, we wanted to design a rod that would make it easy to answer “which tenkara rod should I get?”

The Sato has two patent-pending features

(1) Triple-zoom, which  allows you to use the rod at three different lengths – 8’10”/ 9’9”/10’6” = 270/297/320cm. Short when you need it, long when you want it!

(2) Keep your Plug ™ system:  allows you to remove the top plug from the rod and store it in the rod itself.

   5 out of 5 flies

Tvdavis says, “A Very Nice Rod with Great Potential. The Sato is a highly versitile rod owning to its multi-length configuration. The action is excellent; the rod loads well with a #3.5 level line. The rod is very lightweight and has very little tip heaviness, and this only in the 390 configuration. Materials are excellent. Fit and finish are excellent. If you are looking for one rod to fish on moderate mountain streams for tenkara sized fish (6-16 inches) then this just might be the rod for you! Highly Recommended!!”

Read all  reviews for this tenkara rod here

Rhodo Review

The Tenkara USA Rhodo™ is our lightest rod and easiest choice for most people.

Author Dave Hughes and Fly Rod & Reel magazine gave the Tenkara USA Rhodo the Kudos Award, Dave says in an email to us: “I held my fingers on each side of the +/- 3″ section that has the extension ferrules, and said, ‘This three inches of rod deserves the Kudo.’ Then I caught a fish on it.”
This is an adjustable tenkara rod, which means its length can be adjusted to fit your fishing conditions. With several years of design experience under our belt and feedback from our users, we feel we have achieved what we set out to do: give you a rod that is super light-weight, durable, versatile and feels very precise. Plus, we wanted to design a rod that would make it easy to answer “which tenkara rod should I get?”.

The Rhodo has two patent pending features:

(1) Triple-zoom, which  allows you to use the rod at three different lengths – 8’10”/ 9’9”/10’6” = 270/297/320cm. Short when you need it, long when you want it!

(2) Keep your Plug ™ system:  allows you to remove the top plug from the rod and store it in the rod itself.

Paul Gaskell says, “Would have given it 6 out of 5 if it was an option  Terrific casting rod at all lengths; great tip recovery and no “wobble” after the stop has been made on each casting stroke. This is first and foremost a superb casting and fishing rod. THEN, you have got all the other patented features and the triple zoom functionality…

Read all  reviews for this tenkara rod here

Yamame review

The Yamame tenkara rod is ideal if you are consistently catching good sized fish in not so open areas.

The Yamame is named after one of the most prevalent fish in the mountain streams of Japan. It is a rod with a lot of power, and the rod with most backbone we currently offer.
It has enough tip action and sensitivity that even small fish feel great with it, but it shines if you frequently catch larger fish (>16″). This is the rod we recommend. Since less of the rod flexes when casting, casting feels very precise.

These rods have a subdued matte finish. We took most of the gloss out of these rods to reduce reflection.

Tim Harris says, “Perfect for small river, larger trout. I had been using my 11′ Iwana on mountain streams and rivers but wasn’t too sure about it handling fish up to 20″ in a small lowland river so I got the Yamame. This rod is perfect for the water I’m fishing and I’ve landed many trout in the 12-14″ range now, a few in the 15-16″ range and had one 18+” fish on which I lost trying to net. The rod has enough backbone to handle these bigger fish which seem to be some of the stronger trout around thanks to the heavy currents of the river. Can’t wait to try the rod on a spring creek where the fish can get really big.”

Ito review

The Ito has an adjustable length and is our longest tenkara rod, providing tremendous reach for the best presentations. One of our favorites.

We love recommending, and while it takes a while to get used to the long length most people upgrade to the Ito eventually.

The Ito can be fished at 13ft or 14ft 7inches (390/450cm) We strived to achieve a very long rod, with the lightest possible feel. A true delight to fish any mountain stream, the Ito will be most at home in wider streams, larger rivers and ponds. It is the main rod we like to recommend for those who fish more open streams. The Ito feels lightest at 13ft, as the balance is brought closer to the handle.  It feels a bit heavier than our other rods at the full length, so we recommend using it at 13ft for the most part and 14ft7inches when you want it.

   5 out of 5 flies

Statikpunk says, ” You will learn to love it. Coming from the much stiffer feeling Iwanas, This rod was a stretch and to be totally honest at first I didn’t like it very much because of its slow action. But now that I have gotten used to it I much prefer it to any of my other rods, the zoom function for me doesn’t get used much but on the rare occasions when I need it I’m glad its there. also I have found that when the wind is blowing hard that extending the rod out to its full length gives just enough power to cast fairly well. this will not be a rod that I give up any time soon. I did on one very large fish (larger than is recommended for this rod) have my rod break. the guys here got me my replacement parts with no hassle in less than 4 days! I was back on the water the very next weekend. I couldn’t be happier with the rod or the service.”

Iwana review

The Iwana is considered an all-time classic tenkara rod and a great value.

It’s one of the first models put out by Tenkara USA and has consistently earned great reviews. It has also gone through several improvement rounds over the years.

TroutAiza, Yosemite, CA, says: “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!”

$170

Amago review

The Amago™ is our big fish/big river rod. It has earned kudos from anglers who are frequently targeting larger trout (say over 17″ on a regular basis) as well as those targeting bass and other species. Even pink salmon have been successfully landed with the Tenkara USA Amago.

Read all  reviews for this tenkara rod here.

Pfabian, Eastern Connecticut Small Streams: “The Amago is an amazing fishing tool. … I am so happy with this product for its durability and for all the work that Tenkara USA has done to revolutionize fishing!”

Read more about the Amago in other sites:

Pink Salmon caught on tenkara in Alaska using the Amago.

Photo by Kirk Deeter, original post here