Tag Archives: Brent Auger

This 3-length fiberglass Tenkara rod gives you the perfect first taste of short-rod Tenkara fly fishing

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Tenkara, or Japanese fly-fishing borders on pure artistry. You don’t cast a lot of line out from a reel or reel a fish in. You rely purely on physics, mechanics, handwork, and an understanding of your gear. Just a rod, a line, and some artificial flies, and you’re ready to explore what some in the recreational fishing world call ‘the most connected and exhilarating form of fishing’.

Designer: Brent Auger of DRAGONtail Tenkara

Click Here to Buy Now: $116. Hurry, for a limited time only. Raised over $80,000.

Brent Auger is perhaps one of the leading figures in the Tenkara world. A seasoned fly-fisher himself, Idaho-based Brent is more famously the founder of DRAGONtail Tenkara, makers of some of the finest Tenkara gear. He is also co-owner of Moonlit Fly Fishing, known for their great casting fiberglass fly rods at a budget-friendly price. While we’ve covered DRAGONtail’s rods before, the FoxFIRE ZX280 is one of the company’s more interesting offerings since it’s designed to be much shorter than conventional tenkara rods and uses a lot of fiberglass material.

A fly-fishing rod is all about physics and materials. The tenkara rod’s flexible design allows it to bend to an incredible degree without the weight of a line, casting the light line out with ease. The flexibility and recovery also help you bring fish it all while keeping the hook tight and protecting your tippet at the same time. Make the rod shorter, however, and everything changes. Brent’s biggest problem with shorter tenkara rods is that they lose a lot of their flexibility that aids your casting and its strength is commonly decreased as well with less of the rod’s length to balance out the strain of a good-sized fish. So he decided to fix that by building a short Tenkara rod of his own that addresses these issues. The FoxFIRE ZX280 from DRAGONtail is much shorter than their standard rods, but offers just the right level of flexibility and toughness to make tenkara fly fishing easy, fun, and borderline addictive.

It all starts with the right material choice for designing your short Tenkara rod. The FoxFIRE uses a unique fiberglass + graphite composite for the rod, offering a combination of strength and flexibility that’s perfect for all sorts of lines. The problem with current short Tenkara rods, Brent noticed, was that they mainly used carbon fiber – a material that’s perfect for longer rods, but becomes problematic when the rod length is reduced. The carbon-fiber rods are relatively more rigid and flex back much faster than fiberglass, resulting in a brisker casting motion that doesn’t work quite well for weightless shorter lines. Many short rods don’t even have proper handles, causing hand fatigue when used over time. The FoxFIRE ZX280, on the other hand, uses a 3-part telescopic rod made from a composite material that provides the right amount of flex and durability for any sort of Tenkara fishing. The rods come with a wonderful translucent finish, and are tinted with colors to make them look incredibly appealing too. Lastly, the FoxFIRE are outfitted with cork handles, giving your palms the comfort they deserve while casting.

The FoxFIRE’s 3-length rod also offers fly-fishers with the ability to customize their rod-length. The multi-length design gives you the option to fish at 9.3ft, 8ft, or 6.6ft allowing you to fish in some very tight casting quarters of overgrown creeks where the forest canopy does not allow you to use longer Tenkara rods. Brent mentions that the flexible fiberglass rod design also “allows you to perform a perfect bow-n-arrow cast for when there is no casting room”.




The FoxFIRE rods come in 2 colors for now – a vibrant green and a bright blue, along with a carrying case and a sock sleeve. When completely closed, the rods measure 22 inches in length, making them easy to carry around on your person or even in your car as you head out for a fly-fishing trip to your favorite creek or lake. They weigh next to nothing too, clocking in at 79 grams (0.17 lbs). The rods begin shipping as early as November, with a second production run happening in early 2022 and round 2 shipping in March. The rods currently cost $116 a pop and other fly-fishing accessories can be picked up from DRAGONtail’s website. Each rod even comes with a one-time replacement option (for a discounted price) just in case you happen to destroy your rod in an ‘unfortunate fly-fishing incident’. Individual parts are also available for cost-effective repairs for small accidents.

Click Here to Buy Now: $116. Hurry, for a limited time only. Raised over $80,000.

Take your love for fly-fishing anywhere you go with this portable Japanese Tenkara fly fishing rod

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Tenkara, a Japanese method of fly fishing, borders on pure artistry with simple gear. You don’t need to reel and a lot of line out catch fish, Tenkara removes those from the fly fishing equation. All you need is a great long rod, a short light line, and you can present your fly in a natural drift to the fish that is sometimes hard to do with other gear.

A good rod makes Tenkara fly fishing easy and it is incredible amounts of fun. Crafted with the precise amounts of flex, Tenkara rods make casting exceptionally light lines very easy for better presentation. The long length allows you to guide fish and bring them in without all the extra line.

Designed to make fly-fishing more versatile for both novices as well as experts, the MUTANT Tenkara Fly Rod comes with a 3-in-1 design that uses a telescopic mechanism to change sizes. Built on the feedback from a dedicated Tenkara community, the MUTANT Tenkara Fly Rod comes adjustable in three sizes that make it ideal for any sort of light level line casting. The rod also completely telescopes down to 25.5 inches to fit into the hard-case that comes along with it, allowing you to easily carry it along with you on outdoor adventures.

Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned professional, the MUTANT Tenkara Fly Rod allows you to fly-fish with ease. Its deep rod flex action allows it to distribute pressure evenly throughout the entire rod when fighting fish, while excellent tip-dampening allows you to precisely cast your line without any oscillation. The rod even comes highly recommended by experienced Tenkara anglers who have tested it out.

Made from lightweight yet incredibly resilient IM10 carbon fiber, the collapsible, portable Tenkara fishing rod is a pretty handy option for backpackers, bike packers, and many outdoor enthusiasts. The 3-length settings, that can be adjusted in a matter of mere seconds, allow you to have the right length of rod for wherever your adventure takes you.

The MUTANT Tenkara Fly Rod comes with a rod sock and hard case to make transporting it easier. The optional starter kit also includes a spool of DRAGONtail Level Line, 2 line holders, 3 Tenkara flies, and a spool of tippet. Designed for experienced as well as the novice user, the MUTANT Tenkara Fly Rod capitalizes on an incredibly engaging, fun, and rapidly growing trend in modern Tenkara fishing, that’s built on centuries of ancient Japanese tradition and culture!

Designer: Brent Auger of DRAGONtail Tenkara

Click Here to Buy Now: $109 $160 ($51 off). Hurry, only 138/150 left.

MUTANT Tenkara Fly Rod: 3-Lengths, Full-Flex, & Soft Action

The zoom sections of the MUTANT lock to give you 3 adjustable lengths, 380cm (12.5ft), 350cm (11.5ft), and 315cm (10.3ft) in one rod (sometimes called a triple zoom rod) so you can use the same rod for all the different conditions you run into on the water.

Zoom Lengths Diagram

Whether you want long reach, a medium casting length, or need to shorten things up around over hanging trees the MUTANT has you covered with just the zoom of a rod section (or two) mutating into the rod length needed.

Features & Performance Overview

Excellently balanced tip-weight in every length, feels very light in hand when casting and fishing.

Deep rod flex action allows the rod to distribute pressure evenly throughout the entire rod when fighting fish. This deep rod flex also makes for a smooth casting action with little effort to cast light level lines.

Excellent tip dampening so you have very little (IF ANY) oscillation while casting giving you very precise accurate casts with great presentation, even with very light level lines.

This rod is designed for targeting small to medium sized trout on light lines in creeks, streams, or small rivers. That does not mean you can’t use outside of those parameters if you so desire, have fun doing what you like. Although if you want to target big fish then this is probably not the tenkara rod for you.

Check out Tristen’s video review above of the Mutant prototype and Tom Davis (a highly trusted name in Tenkara) when he tested the Mutant here.

New to Tenkara: Why a Tenkara Rod?

Ultra Compact – Tenkara rods telescope out and in so you can have a fly fishing rod that is over 12ft long collapsed down to 2ft and all self contain within its self with very little weight and very little size. No reel is needed and very minimal gear is required: rod, flies, line, and tippet. This makes it perfect for backpackers, day hikers, back country biking, keeping in the car, or anywhere adventure takes you.

Simple To Start – Although there are many Tenkara fishing techniques that you can spend years learning and perfecting, it is easy to get started with the basics and start catching fish. The basic casting motion is simple, the gear is simple, and setup is very quick (see our setup videos). The light line and long rod make for great presentation of your fly as you can keep your line out of the currents so your fly makes a natural drift with very little effort, making your fly more desirable to fish with very little experience on your part.

It’s Fun As Hell – You would be surprise how much you will enjoy this simple form of fly fishing. We get messages all the time telling us “I have been fishing (or fly fishing) for 20-30 years and I just fell in love with fishing all over again using your Tenkara rods”.

How to Use a Multi-length Zoom Tenkara Rod

Click Here to Buy Now: $109 $160 ($51 off). Hurry, only 138/150 left.

This 3-Tenkara-rods-in-1 is perfect for small stream fishing to open water fishing

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Almost every sport that you see, has undergone change and evolution. However, the one that has been resistant to change is fly-fishing. With the introduction of Tenkara rods, a lot has changed for the anglers as well as manufacturers.

A very minimalist rod, the Tenkara rod has no reel and is light in weight. Brought to the West by the Japanese counterparts, Tenkara fishing rods are most sought after and the options within this segment are plenty. The basics for the rod, remain the same – lightweight, collapsible and durable.

The DRAGONtail MIZUCHI Small Stream Tenkara Fly Fishing Rod is designed in collaboration with Tom Davis of the Teton Tenkara fame. The venture has resulted in a superior, small stream rod that comes in three lengths – 8 feet, 9.6 feet and 11f feet, Tenkara Rods.

Tested by Tom Davis for feedback, this rod ticks all the boxes, when it comes to a small stream rod. The MIZUCHI Ultimate Small Stream Tenkara Rod can be used for fishing at very tight spots and at the same time, it can be extended for longer reach when streams open up.

Based on Tom’s goals for the rod, the team addressed the concerns of a rod that is a minimum 240 cm length and with the ability to “zoom” to a longer length for use when the stream opens up. The balance of the rod and the flex action were also refined, when considering Tom’s insights.

The resulting MIZUCHI 340zx Tenkara rod is designed such that it can be used for fishing at three different lengths, and has two locking zoom sections. These three different lengths in one rod give you the advantage of covering many different waters with the same rod.

Designer: Brent Auger of DRAGONtail Tenkara & Tom Davis of Teton Tenkara

Click Here to Buy Now: $100 $160 ($60 off). Hurry, less than 72 hours left!

DRAGONtail MIZUCHI Tenkara Fly Fishing Rod

A collaboration design with Tom Davis of Teton Tenkara to make a superior small stream 3 Length (8ft, 9.6ft, 11ft) Tenkara rod.

The Idea of the MIZUCHI Ultimate Small Stream Tenkara Rod

“This prototype MIZUCHI zx340 small stream Tenkara rod was born from a collaboration rod design we did with Tom Davis (a master of fishing small overgrown rivers that most people pass up) of Teton Tenkara Blog. Tom’s input & testing was key in shaping the outcome of the MIZUCHI rod prototypes, we even let him name the rod,” Auger told Yanko Design.

Tom had a few goals in mind that he wanted in a small stream Tenkara rod that would make him more efficient fishing his creeks and overgrown streams.

It must:

– Be no shorter than 240 cm length.
– Be able to “zoom” to a longer (not just longer, but practical and usable) length for use when the canopy opens up and a longer reach is desired (beaver ponds, meadow sections, an opening in the trees, etc).
– Have excellent balance at all lengths, especially in the fully extended length.
– Have a flex action appropriate for the intended use of the desired length.
– Be dull in finish and non flashy in color scheme.
– Have great sling shot casting abilities (other name is bow and arrow cast).
– Be robust so to handle the unique stresses of a small creek. But it should also have great customer service and be easily and economically repaired if breakage does happen.
– Be able to be completely disassembled for drying and cleaning.

Prototype Demo Addressing the Goals

3-Tenkara-Rods-In-One For Tight Spots and Open Water

The MIZUCHI 340zx Tenkara rod can be fished at 3 different lengths with its two locking zoom sections, making it an excellent choice for small stream fishing to open water fishing.

The 11ft (340cm) long length is excellent for when you have open casting room such as wider sections of the stream, a river, or even on still water. The 11ft length is a great general purpose length for a Tenkara rod that will work great in most types of water where there is room to cast.

The 9.6ft (290cm) middle length is great when the stream or canopy are a bit to tight for a long rod but don’t require a super short rod.

And the short 8ft (240cm) length is perfect for when there is lots of canopy overgrowth. You can also perform an excellent bow-n-arrow cast if things are to tight for this length.

What is Tenkara?

It is basically a form of fixed line fly fishing with origins from the mountains of Japan. Tenkara fishing uses a long (commonly 10-13ft) telescopic rod with NO REEL. A short light weight line (about the length of the rod) is tied to the tip of the rod, with about 3-4ft of tippet and a fly on the end.

The gear is simple and the basics are easy to learn so you can start catching fish early on in the learning process. That being sad, you can spend a lifetime learning different different casting presentations and fly manipulations techniques that go way beyond the basics.

Some of The Big Advantages of Tenkara Fishing Gear

– Simple, light-weight and compact telescopic rod that can be packed with you anywhere (it is very popular for hikers, bike packing). The rod collapses down to about 2ft long with no reel; so the only other gear you need to carry is a small spool with your line, some tippet, and some flies.

– The long rod and short light line allow you to create a triangle keeping the majority of your line off the water so you get a perfect drift with little effort. You can reach over current, guide your fly around obstructions, or guide your fly to drift into the perfect hole.

– Having a tight line to your fly gives you the ability to perform fly manipulation techniques with the slightest twitches, allowing you to temp fish to strike your fly when a dead drift does not work well.

– There is no reel to mess with! This means line management and less fuss and more enjoying what is around you.
It is quick to learn the basics and fun to learn new ways to present and manipulate your flies.

MIZUCHI Rod Specs:

– Collapsed Length: 64cm (25.2in)
– Extended lengths: 240cm (7.88ft), 292cm (9.58ft), 339.5cm (11.14ft)
– Weight (with out tip plug or cap): 79.2 g (2.8 ounces)
– CCS/RFI: 16 pennies/6.6, 17 p/5.8, 18 p/5.3

Kid-Friendly Rod

With its 3 lengths, the MIZUCHI rod will be a great option for kids as well. Little kids can learn on the short lengths of the MIZUCHI Tenkara Rod that is easier for them to handle. As they get older or more experienced, they can graduate up to using the longer lengths of the MIZUCHI Tenkara rod. It is like a rod that grows with them.

Click Here to Buy Now: $100 $160 ($60 off). Hurry, less than 72 hours left!