Hi Rod, we're also starting the wilkins Young curcuit on the 19th november.
Give us a wave if see a group of 5 dorky looking packrafters struggling down the Wilkins.
we originally planned on going up the cascade saddle but apparently there is too much snow there this year so the avalanche risk is too great.
among us, we got a few tenkara's:
iwana 11, iwana12, Ayu and the yamame. Its hard picking just 1 rod because they're all great, but my pick would be the Ayu for its super flexibility action. I am also pairing it with a 7 weight fly rod for NZ because hi heard some of these can get up to 10 pounds.
Jason klass made an ultralight trico pack specifically for tenkara and it fits our little spools perfectly. next stock should come in next month apparently.
http://www.backpackflyfishing.com/store/ I just use a Ribz pack and whilst its great for general fishing, the pockets are quite big so the spools move around everywhere inside.
Brought them tenkaras along to my fishing club, and got frowned upon. haha! oh well, their loss - even tho none of them ever heard of tenkara.. I'm only a junior member there and dont know much about fishing in general so I wasnt in a position to "teach" them about a sport they already knew too well.