Sakura Kongo Review

by Todd W.
(MN)

I just got a 3.6m Sakura Kongo and fished it for the first time yesterday. I thought I'd give you my impressions of it. I have to say it is a very beautiful rod and Sakura took attention to detail seriously in the finish and design.

What most impressed me though was its performance on the water. I would call it a fairly soft 7:3, it doesn't feel stiff at all in the usual stiff graphite sense. I attribute that to the fact they use quite a bit of fiberglass in the construction and just plain old good taper design. It's quite sensitive and light in the hand; I fished it 8 hours straight on a small spring creek and didn't get casting fatigue at all. Not bad for a 12 piece travel rod. It manages to be light and powerful at the same time. I wouldn't hesitate to tackle big fish with this rod, although my largest that day was a 13in brown.

Something else that stood out for me was the almost instantaneous dampening/recovery after a cast. The tip simply stopped where I placed it at the end of a cast. Very impressive and I think that had a lot to do with me being able to fish it all day without getting tired.

Is it worth 300+ bucks? I think it depends on what you're after. I've decided to have fewer rods and emphasize action and versatility over carrying a larger number of rods; of course that means compromising on the tools I have for each fishing situation. I've proven to myself that this Kongo will fill the small creek 12ft rod spot in my quiver and I have no doubts it will fill the large trout (possible Alaska trip this summer) and warmwater bass slots as well. Another big selling point for me was the travel size. The overall length of my homemade PVC case for the rod is 16 1/2 in. I have no buyer's remorse with this rod.

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten” - Benjamin Franklin

"Be sure in casting, that your fly fall first into the water, for if the line fall first, it scares or frightens the fish..." -
Col. Robert Venables 1662

As age slows my pace, I will become more like the heron.