MaxCatch 13 foot review

[patrick62]

This is my third Tenkara rod, along with a Temple Fork OUtfitters Soft Hackle (10'6", pretty substantial) and a Nissin Airstream 240 ( 8 feet, very light).

I wanted another, bigger one but money is tight. I've had good luck with this Chinese company before — with a wading staff, a perfectly serviceable 8.5 foot 4 weight I bought for the young cousins to use for panfish — and out of the blue they sent me a chest pack/day pack combo that was supposedly damaged in shipping (nothing wrong with it at all).

S0 at $67 I decided to take a shot.

This rod is longer at 13 feet and noticeably heavier than the TFO. I had to give my casting arm a rest a couple of times. Fishing with it is like going from a long nymphing rod to a heavier switch or spey rod. Nothing to be alarmed about, just be aware this is a big stick.

I fished the Housatonic River with it last night. The river is very low and warm, so smallmouth bass were the target.

It is also the start of the annual white fly hatch, a period of about a week or 10 days in which everything with fins goes nuts in the evenings.

So after throwing some Wooly Buggers and Dahlberg Divers around, with some success, I changed to a tandem of a Haystack and White Wulff dry flies for the evening.

When the white flies get going the action is fast and furious. The rod handled big fish with ease. The biggest problem was my net, frankly — the handle is too short, and I had to grab the line itself to hoist the fish in.

I am not a fan of "official" Tenkara lines, never mind the guys who use fly line backing. I use furled leaders with tippet rings, which I attach to the lillians with braided line. The 13 foot rod turned over the 11' 6" furled leader (from Cuttthroat Leaders) with no trouble, and I added about two feet of 1X mono for the basic "line."

I then added flurocarbon tippet. droppers etc.

It's just one night, but I am betting this rod will be good for largemouth bass from a pontoon boat in a lake, for chucking streamers in high water for trout, and for a fixed-line version of Euro-nymphing.

It comes with a tube, which a lot of these rods do not, for some reason.

 

[patrick62]

The Housatonic is so low, it is being compared to an ornamental garden that happens to have a little stream in it.

excerpt from a fishing column I'm working on for next week's paper

At one point yesterday I got bored and decided to pioneer Tenkara Euro Bassing.
Start with a 13 foot Tenkara rod, with a 12 foot line. Add tippet for two droppers and a point fly, for a total of about 20 feet of line. Top to bottom, a small popper, and two nymphs. Stand close to whatever flow there is in your local featureless rock garden, and heave. Check for snakes. Repeat.
It worked on the dinker bass, but then again so did the live minnows and tennis ball sized bobbers I saw some fellows using.

 

[petyot]

I received mine today! 13 feet 7:3. My first Tenkara rod! I bought a "set" from Maxcatch with the rod, the flies, the line and a few extra.

I bought a fishing vest from him a few month ago and I was pleased with the product. So, after I read your review, I decided to order a Tenkara rod from him.

Now, I need to try the rod on the water

 

[patrick62]

Like I said, it's a big rod.

I like it and the price was certainly right. I hope you enjoy it.

If it turns out you like the fixed-line style I recommend you get in touch with Christopher Stewart aka Tenkara Bum (at the website of the same name). He sells all sorts of fixed-line rods and knows a great deal about the subject. My little Nissin Air Stage 240 is a delight, and is to the Maxcatch 13 footer what my 5-foot 5-weight "Li'l STreamer" is to my 11-foot 5-weight nymphing rod. Both useful items, but hardly interchangeable.

 

[petyot]

Like I said, it's a big rod.

I like it and the price was certainly right. I hope you enjoy it.

If it turns out you like the fixed-line style I recommend you get in touch with Christopher Stewart aka Tenkara Bum (at the website of the same name). He sells all sorts of fixed-line rods and knows a great deal about the subject. My little Nissin Air Stage 240 is a delight, and is to the Maxcatch 13 footer what my 5-foot 5-weight "Li'l STreamer" is to my 11-foot 5-weight nymphing rod. Both useful items, but hardly interchangeable.

This is my first but I am almost sure this is not going to be my last Tenkara rod... I wanted to start with something cheap just in case I wouldn't like it. But, if i like it as I suppoe I will, my next rod will be a better one from someone local. We have someone here in Quebec who started is own site for Tenkara stuff. She (as it is a lady that started it) is selling mostly Nissin rod.