12' Iwana Rod Review12' Iwana rod review: The two Iwana rods may be brothers, but they're certainly not identical twins. The 12' Iwana is no willowy kid. It's grown up and gotten some muscle. Initially I didn't buy the longer Iwana because I had somehow gotten the impression that it was pretty much the same rod as the 11 footer, just a little bit longer. That view was first shaken when a friend reported that he regularly casts panfish poppers and woolly buggers on his 12' Iwana. With only the 11' rod for reference, both the poppers and the buggers seemed a bit too heavy to me. When a UK angler caught a salmon that he and his wife both estimated to be at least 10 pounds on his 12' Iwana, that view was shattered. I couldn't imagine catching a fish like that on my 11 foot Iwana. They had to be very different rods.
Simon Hayes caught this nice grayling on his 12' Iwana
In it's description of the Iwana, Tenkara USA says "If you are going to streams where 12" trout are trophies, this is the rod." That clearly and accurately describes the 11' Iwana but the 12' Iwana can do a lot more. It's quite a bit stiffer than the 11' Iwana and has proven itself against substantially bigger fish. For a long time I had thought that the Ebisu was the "all around" rod. After having recently gotten the 12' Iwana and fished with it for a while, I've changed my mind. I compared the 12' Iwana and the Ebisu side by side, first casting one and then casting the other with identical lines, and then casting a range of lines on the Iwana. 
Iwana tenkara rod
The 12' Iwana is noticeably stiffer than the Ebisu and I now think that the 12' Iwana deserves the title of being Tenkara USA's "all around" tenkara rod. The Iwana is a bit better at casting a slightly heavier line than the Ebisu, and that makes it a bit better for casting bigger, bushier or heavier flies, and also for fishing if there is a bit of a breeze. The extra stiffness should also allow you to put just a little bit more pressure on a fish, so the 12' Iwana would be a better choice for modest sized largemouth and smallmouth bass (particularly smallies in streams where they'll use the current against you). The difference between the 12' Iwana and the Ebisu is not just a matter of what line they'll cast. The Iwana is certainly capable of casting a light line. It's just that a fairly quick casting stroke is required to do so. That quicker casting stroke (and tighter loop) will be seen by many as giving you better accuracy for pinpoint casts to tiny targets in pocket water. It really comes down to whether you prefer a quicker, snappier casting stroke or a slower, smoother casting stroke. Both get the job done. I generally fish a level line (when I'm not fishing horsehair) and I prefer the size 3 TenkaraBum Hi-Vis Fluorocarbon line because it is easier to hold off the water's surface. I suspect many anglers would prefer the size 4 line. I generally don't fish weighted nymphs, bushy dries, poppers or buggers. If you do, or if you have to cast into a breeze, the size 4 line would likely be a better choice. More than a few tenkara anglers have told me that the medium weight Hi-Vis hand tied line is their favorite line for this rod. Although my friend does well with his panfish poppers, the Iwana would not be my first choice for a panfish rod (I like the extra length of the Amago for that). And actually, poppers would not be my first choice either. My initial attempts at pesca alla Valsesiana have convinced me that a team of Sakasa Kebari are extremely effective for bluegills, and my small stream pesca alla Valsesiana excursion proved that the 12' Iwana could certainly handle a cast of three flies. October 2011 UpdateIt has been a while since I wrote this page, and I have had email exchanges with quite a few people who bought the rod based on this review. Most chose the 12' Iwana to get the "all around" rod, but in learning more about the type of fishing they actually do, it is becoming clear that my idea of "all around" and their idea of "all around" may not be the same.When I was a just learning to fly fish many years ago, the best "all around" fly rod was thought to be a 6 weight. It probably still is, but you rarely hear it described that way, and for that matter, you rarely hear a 6 weight even mentioned. It was the "all arounder" because you could fish anything from midges to bass bugs with it, from dead calm to half a gale, and from "step-over" creeks to lakes for which you couldn't even see the opposite shore. Of course, back then, most people only bought one fly rod. I am beginning to think that a lot of the people buying an "all around" tenkara rod never use it for some of the conditions that were factored into my "all around" pick. If you are never going to fish for bass with deer hair bugs or big ugly woolly buggers, or have to fight the wind, you will never need the heavier line that caused me to pick the Iwana over the Ebisu. If you are never going to fish streams that are so narrow or have overhead tree limbs that make a 13' rod impossible to use, you may never need the shorter length that caused me to pick the Iwana over the Ayu (or now the Amago and Ito). Don't get me wrong, it's still a nice rod, but unless you really are going to use it for everything from 4" brookies to 14" smallies to 24" rainbows, from rivers to rivulets, you might not really need an "all around" rod. What prompted this was a question from a guy who said he is going to fish a 30' wide river for trout, and asked if the 12' Iwana is still the "all around" rod. My answer was yes, it's still the "all around" rod, but no, it's not the rod I would recommend for that purpose.
Tenkara for panfish? Sure!
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