Which Tenkara rod for backpacking in PA?

[Philosofish]

In my last thread, you guys had some great suggestions on rods for backpacking. Now that I've done some research (and nearly killed myself carrying 35 lbs on an 8 mile day last weekend), I've decided that getting a Tenkara rod is going to be the way to go.

Reasons:

1) It is telescoping with no reel, so no need to assemble a 7 piece rod if I run across a stream. I'm fishing in no time.

2) The rods are light, almost unrealistically light. For instance, under handle length it says the 11ft IWANA 6:4 is 2.5 ounces. Does that mean the whole telescoping rod is 2.5 ounces or just the handle?

3) No reel means less stuff to pack and less weight.

So, basically it comes down to weight, volume, and accessibility.

Which Tenkara rod should I get, though? I don't want to buy the most expensive one if it is unnecessary. Which would you want on a backpacking trip?

 

[Heritage-Angler]

The weight listed is for the whole rod - yes, they are very light.

All the rods collapse down to around 20". They also come with a really cool rod tube that has screw on caps on both ends. Best rod tube I've ever seen, and it's made from aluminum. The rods also come with a rod sock that is made from a velour type material - this keeps the rod from banging around inside the case, but would make a good cover for a rod in a backpack.

Once collapsed, the rods are pretty tough. There's a plug that fits into the top of the butt section - that keeps the telescoping sections from coming out of the butt section while transporting it. The handle has an aluminum screw in cap that keeps the sections from falling out the bottom. You can unscrew the bottom cap and remove the individual sections for cleaning and drying.

As far as which one would be best - that's a tough question. While the Iwana is best suited to small or medium size streams, it is a tough little rod, and will land some pretty large fish with good technique.

I've only ever fished the Iwana and the Ebisu, and they're not all that much different except for a little extra reach. The Ebisu has a pine handle instead of cork, and would be my choice for backpacking - it's a bit more durable due to the handle material, and it's a good all around rod if you're only gonna have one rod. Plus, it's the prettiest of the Tenkara rods. YMMV.

 

[gentleshepherd]

I would agree that the Ebisu is probbaly the sturdiest and the nicest of the Tenkara roads available throught TenkaraUSA. Check out that website also for additional info from the forum there.

I have both a Yamame and and Ebisu and like to use them both.

I think it is more of a personal decision on which ones you will purchase.

 

[gemiller]

Are you getting a tenkara rod only because of the weight? I backpack rather frequently with my fishing stuff and never had a weight issue with my small fly rod.

I normally have on me my sleeping bag, bed roll, 2 man tent(I let my wife take that part easy and i carry it) my micro stove and other essential backpacking gear), clothes(amount based on time in woods) and my fly rod(2-3 weight, with a small arbor aluminum reel) and necessary equipment.

If you're having a backpacking weight issue when it comes to this I think you might want to start by reducing the weight of other stuff you carry as I really doubt the rod is adding all that much weight that it's the maker/breaker of your gearset.

 

[Philosofish]

Hey gemiller,

I'm thinking of getting one for the three reasons I listed in my original post. I am trying to move all my backpacking gear in the direction of ultralight, one piece at a time. Hopefully I can get my pack under 20 lbs for a 3 day trip within a year or so. It is an expensive process but worthwhile to me. Heavy packs suck. I do solo backpacking so I can't always shift weight to other people.

How much does your whole fly fishing setup weigh and how far do you backpack? What is the overall weight of your pack for say a 3 day trip?

I guess it comes down to this: Are you backpacking with fly fishing as an aside. Or are you backpacking in order to fly fish? I am in the former camp. I am going on a backpacking trip and if I run across a few good trout spots I'd like to have the ability to toss a fly to them. I'd be interested in hearing about your setup if you'd like to share.

Thanks for your feedback!

 

[gemiller]

I backpack to backpack normally. My longest jaunt to date is a 150ish mile trip(I am planning in a few years to move and change jobs, at that point I plan to do the pacific crest trails or the appalachian from start to finish). I've never actually weighed my gearset, but it's always packed up just minus the clothes. I can take a deer scale and see what it's rough estimate is some point this week.

A rough list of my gear:
http://www.kelty.com/p-23-red-cloud-5000-st.aspx

http://www.brunton.com/product.php?id=299 i carry fuel based on how long I am out

http://store.eurekatent.com/products/364825/Silver_City_30

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0037783517226a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Product_liberal&QueryText=bed+roll&sort=all&Go.y=0&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&Go.x=0

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0067097518942a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntt=bruntun&Ntk=Products&sort=all&Go.y=0&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form1&Go.x=0

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?type=product&cmCat=Related_IPL_519688&id=0019849516800a

http://cgi.ebay.com/REI-Quarter-Dome-T2-Backpacking-Tent-/180546686824?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0
(i don't think this is the exact one i have from rei, but its close enough and the weight looks about right)

misc accessories:
titanium silverwear set
minimaglite
headlamp
compass
trail maps(as needed)
magnesium block
some basic first aid stuff(weight negligible)

food varies based on trip

fishing gear i carry
2-3 weight mid arbor aluminum reel (dissassembled and strapped to side straps in a rod bag/tube thing)
fly box
forceps

i might be me missing some stuff because i just did that out of memory

As a sidenote: packing the bag and fitting the bag to you properly is WAY WAY WAY more important than some extra weight in your bag.

 

[FarmerDave]

Philofish, here is the way I would look at it.

The difference in weight when including rod, reel and line is less than a full can of beer, so it wouldn’t even enter into the equation.

But… If I wanted to get into back packing on a fairly regular basis, and if I didn't have a travel rod already, then I would probably go with the tenkara over a travel rod for back packing because I’m sure all my back packing would be along small streams anyway.

Tenkara probably does work extremely well in small streams, but a fly rod is still more versatile overall. So, it boils down to the cost, and how much I would plan to use it.

Then again, they would also make a good backup for a travel rod.

If you think you would like tenkara, go for it. That’s all I would need for justification. If I get back heavy into the small streams I might get one myself. Relatively speaking they aren't all that expensive.

I’m hoping someone will bring their tenkara rod to the steelhead jam and let me try it out.

Seriously though, it probably would even work for that... if you can run fast.;-)

 

[jdaddy]

Tenkara looks like a real blast. Steve Holgate from this forum did a nice presentation at our TU general meeting this week and brought a few rods along. It seems to me that hiking and remote camping is a "getting back to nature/simplicity" type event and Tenkara would go hand in hand with that mind set.

 

[pszy22]

One of the primary advantages I see to fishing Tenkara style is the ability to precisely manipulate your fly. I find this allows one to fish a few generic flies with a variety of presentations, greatly simplifying your fly box.

That's not to say the same philosophy couldn't be applied to western fly fishing, it just seems more historically prevalent eastern vs western. From my own observation, the Tenkara fishers I know tend to fish with a small chest pack vs. the vest many of my rod and reel fisher friends lug.

 

[JakesLeakyWaders]

I was actually thinking about getting the lightest version of the tenkara rod for backpacking but recently bought a 4 peice two weight TfO, and fitted a small light reel on it, so no Tenkara this year.

Get the Tenkara and lets know what you think. I couldn't see myself using the larger longer models, as if 11 ft. isn't already long enough. I don't care how lightweight it is, if you have an eleven foot pole I'm sure you could land anything under 15".

I have been doing some hiking lately here and there including an 18 mile hike on the AT the other week. My camera bag, which has only one strap was killin' me loaded with gear and a tripod.

I recently purchased a Cabela's XPG ultralight 2 man tent and a Thermarest Pro 1.5 inch sleeping pad, I plan on doing some overnighters as its been a long time since I've done any serious hike-in fishing.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/horizontal-pod.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/pod-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20075-cat20103&rid=&indexId=cat20103&navAction=push&masterpathid=&navCount=2&parentType=index&parentId=cat20103&id=0031780

Another consideration, buy a fishing shirt like this,
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20431-cat400018&id=0044033900732a&navCount=11&podId=0044033&parentId=cat400018&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=IA&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat400018
and wear cargo pants/shorts and limit what you bring to what you can fit in your pockets.

I have three shirts similar to this with multiple pockets and loops for your forceps even a sleeve for your cigar.

The shirts are vented in the back and keep you nice and cool. Sage is a good color for fishing.

 

[gfen]

One of the best things I ever did when I took alot of pictures was learned how to use a monopod.

With a ball head on top, you oculd lean it against things to make an effective tripod, jam it into rocks or the earth to make a tripod, or simply pile the whole thing onto your shirt or pack and let that on a rock/etc, as your tripod. To say nothing of simply using the monopod and your two legs to form the whole tripod, which is how it was meant to be used.

Bogen also used to sell an adapter that would act like two little legs to come off the head and give you a small tripod (not the ones with the legs that blossom out of the bottom).

Furthermore, I know there's places that sells an adapter to put your ballhead on top of their hiking staff (something with goat in its name, I think?).

Unless your camera is so giant as to require a tripod (btdt), then ditch it.

 

[JakesLeakyWaders]

Sometimes I can't resist taking the big camera and heavy lenses along with me. And the tripod is necessary if you want video of yourself fishing and no one within ten miles to hold the camera for you.

I usually carry this little point & shoot for my stream outings.