The Otaki from Discover Tenkara & Tenkara Centre

The latest addition appears the be the “Otaki,” a collaboration between Tenkara Centre & Discover Tenkara. While I’ve never fished a Tenkara Centre rod before, if any of the prior content created by the guys at Discover Tenkara is an indication of how this rod may perform, anglers are likely going to be in for a treat.

Some info additional information from the Discover Tenkara website:

…Through our investigations and the kind teachings of many top Japanese anglers, we realised that the early western-produced tenkara rods tended to suffer from poor “recovery” of the rod tip. In other words, they would wobble a lot at the end of a casting stroke. Even now, many Japanese and non-Japanese tenkara rods either have poor recovery – or they go to the other extreme and “over-recover”… 

We use the term “Over-recovery” to describe when the rod returns smartly to a straight position when it “unloads” at the end of a casting stroke – but then does an extra “rebound” before settling to a straight position…With the Otaki, the recovery is just right. It neither continues wobbling uncontrollably – nor does it rebound and move your hand when you give it a firm “stop”… 

…we took all of our existing favourite handle dimensions and shapes and combined them into what we felt was the optimum in terms of comfort and versatility. The handle is also relatively long (so that you can alter the “fishing length” of the rod just by moving your hand to different parts of the grip). It is also made of very firm EVA – with a durable cork/resin composite at the front end (which stands up to wear and tear – as well as taking the hook point of a fly/kebari very well with minimal ill effects!)

There’s a lot going on here, but as silly as this may sound, the foam pommel at the butt end of the rod was the first thing that caught my attention. When I fish with tenkara rods, I tend to hold them as far down the grip as possible, cradling the butt end in my palm. I never thought the flat ends of most tenkara rods were incredibly ergonomic, so I’m “all in” when it comes to this minor improvement.

As far as full specs, pricing, & a release date, well they are still to come, but based on the fact that the Discover Tenkara team is behind the development of this rod, it’s definitely one that I can’t wait to learn more about.