Big clunky rod

by Jimi Fly
(MO)

Been fishing my local pond in Sedalia Mo for winter trout (stocked) I brought my Iwana since I thought I might hook a lunker by accident. I have been fishing my little Kiyotaki for better than a year now and I love the non cork handle. Tied on a weighted Wollie bugger so I could get deep and started casting. I hate to say it but I missed a ton of fish because I'm not used to cork handles anymore. When I finally realized I was getting takes which were very hard to feel I started picking up some nice fish all over 14 inches 8 total in 2 hours. It was fun fishing the old clunky Iwana but I'm dead set on picking up a longer rod without a cork grip. When I first started fishing tenkara I thought the cork grips were the cats meow but I have to say non cork grips trump cork hands down. I'm even thinking about shaving off the grip on my Iwana till I can afford a nice Airstage or similar rod. In a nutshell Boo Cork Horray non cork grips, still fun fishing though. The photo is one I caught last year on the same Iwana rod, don't worry I kept this one as it was the end of the catch a release season otherwise I would never handle a fish like this.

“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.

We've all had situations where seriously chewed up flies kept catching fish after fish after fish. It is no sin to tie flies that come off the vise looking seriously chewed up.