Amago - on the water

Last Sunday I was able to take my new Amago from TenkaraUSA for a first spin. I chose the South Platte River downstream of Deckers, around the junction of Pine Creek - a stretch I am most familiar with.

It was another beatiful day in Colorado with blue skies and temps in the 50ies in the morning warming up to mid 80ies in the afternoon and it was fairly windy with some gusts.

Most of what I thought of the Amago casting in my back yard (see previous post) turned out also to be true on the water. I was surprised how much heavier the rod feels compared to my Iwana 12ft. Much of this I am sure is the added lenght, but also the butt sections seems to be a bit wider. The difference in weight is less than one ounce but at the end of the day you might think it's more. My arm was significatly more tired compared to a full day's fishing with the Iwana 12ft, but this is also attributable to the added wind resistance of the longer rod while casting into the wind for most of the day. Also, I fished only with one line, a 13ft tapered furled line. Another line choice would have made a difference and should be tested soon (I hope).

I do like the added reach and ability to fight bigger fish with more confidence than the Iwana, the fish I caught during the day were all in the 13-14 inch range and the Amage was more than able to deal with those spunky trout.

I also tried to be true to Tenkara and fished with an Ishigaki Kebari - Adams

but after noticing huge moth like bugs (October Caddis?) the size of my thumb fluttering around, I switched to a CDC & Elk that proved to be the right choice.

My favorite is still the Iwana, but the go to rod for the big guns in the river is definitively the Amago. I am looking forward to fish it some more, with different line setups and see how it goes.