I’m looking for a rod, and it seems my Google skills aren’t what they used to be.
I’d like to find something like Tanuki Pocket Ninja that doesn’t come with a $250 price tag. One, that’s a little much for my intended purpose and I don’t think 13" would fit. I need something that would fit in my fly fishing sling (11-12") but extend to 11 or maybe 12’. I’d like to have this with me when I’m out doing other fishy things and the mood or situation strikes me.
I don’t have a budget, but this rod is going to take a beating, if I could find something <$150 I’d be really happy with that.
Has anyone seen something like this or am I dreaming?
Yeah, it’s tough to get a rod that’s that small without paying a premium price. You could go super cheap and try a Maxcatch, which is basically like a generic brand rod. I’ve never fished one, but it’s not exactly cost prohibitive for those that want to dabble…
I ordered the 12’ version of that yesterday from Amazon. I have a 3wt fiberglass fly rod of theirs, but I’m still looking for something else here.
The 3wt rod is actually descent, I’ve landed some pretty good sized fish with it. It’s just never given me the warm fuzzies. As Spartan as the CGR glass rods are, the fit and finish is still better than the Maxcatch.
It’ll probably be good enough for what I want, but I’ll jump on something better if it comes along. I mostly just didn’t want to admit that I bought that.
Hey man, no judgement from me. Fishing is fun, doesn’t matter what you use to get the job done. Good luck with the new mini rod… Would love to read a review once you put a bend in it!
Randy,
Tiny Tenkara Co. has a new rod called the Tiny Ten 2 for $75.00. It is more flexible than the
original rod and it is about 8 feet I think. It is still stiff compared to Japanese pack rods.You might give that a try. Overall, small compact rods come at a premium price. Tenkara Rod Co.use to have some compact rods but I don’t see the rods on the website now. I’m not sure if they are discontinued or sold out. You might want to e-mail them to find out what’s going on. Good Luck.
I did see the Tiny Ten 2, I only passed because of how short it is.
I have that 12’ Maxcatch coming Saturday from Amazon, I’m going to fish that this weekend and see how it does. It should fit in my sling so if it’s halfway descent then that’s the pack rod for me.
Other than being able to carry your rod in the glove compartment of your car (why that’s so much better than under the seat I do not know), I fail to see the great appeal of supper-short many-section (up to 16 pieces now I believe) rods.
Western fly fishers lived with 4-piece 9 Ft. long rods that packed down to about 30 inches (and are still doing so) for many years while backpacking. Most standard Tenkara rods carry considerably shorter than that.
I fail to see any advantages to going significantly shorter than a carry length that will carry vertically inside of a medium to large sized backpack, suitable for over night to week long or longer backpacking trips. Besides providing a super short pack length, all of those extra segments add nothing but added weight, complexity, more possible fail points, and additional action destroying stiff spots, not to mention considerable added cost to the purchase price of your pack rod, and they are too short to carry inside of a normal sized rod quiver, as well. It is your money and your fishing, so do it any way you please. But if you really think about all the pros and cons, there are better and less expensive choices out there to be made…Karl.
@T-stillwater I don’t want rod for my glove box or under my seat, as I said I want it to fit inside of my fly fishing sling bag as an always with me rod.
I get that my use case may be somewhat unique, but I’m not trying to convince anyone of the validity of what I want to do. I just want a Tenkara rod.
Ordering from Japan right now you will be rolling the dice. I have purchased two items from Amazon.jp in the last week and a half and both have arrived quickly. You will better your chances by confirming the product is sold and shipped by Amazon. You should see an estimated delivery date before you commit to your order. Still, international shipping is sort of messed up right now.
I only pointed you to the Amazon.jp link because of your stated budget. If you can spend a little more I would recommend getting it from Chris over at Tenkarabum.com.
You will get much more personal customer service and, assuming he has it in stock, you wont have to worry about international shipping. May be worth considering.
@TenkaraOdyssey ok, I did actually see this rod now that you’ve sent that Tenkara Bum link. I think I stopped reading it initially when he called it a delicate rod.
I would not be comfortable buying that given what I’m going to do with it.
I really do appreciate your input. I think this $60 Maxcatch Ugly Stick is going to be my path forward. I’m almost looking forward to getting it.
Well, Amazon missed the original delivery date and now they’ve missed both of the new delivery dates for this Maxcatch rod so I canceled the order.
I wasn’t in love with the rod and all of these missed delivery dates helped me change my mind. I’m going to go without this pack rod that I want unless or until I find something that I can love.
That’s a bummer about Amazon. I guess they made your decision easy. Amazon has been very unreliable as of late. I understand that there is a lot going on and a lot of people are ordering things. I accept that things are taking longer but I have had several items in the last two months get “lost” in shipping and have had to ask for refunds. Yet at the same time I have ordered two rods from Amazon.jp this month and both came in less than a week. In fact, once they shipped, they came over night.
