A testament to tenkara’s continuing growth in the West, another new gear company has just entered the market. Online retailer Three Rivers Tenkara officially opened their e-doors on July 19th, 2014. The company was started by renowned blogger and avid tenkara angler Anthony Naples of Casting Around. Anthony was one of the earliest adopters of tenkara in the U.S. and is one of the most creative, insightful, and knowledgable tenkara anglers I know.
Three Rivers’ flagship products are a series of rods produced by the Czech-based company Tenkara Times. These are high-performance rods built on Japanese blanks with high-quality components. I’ve had the opportunity to field test several of them and can tell you they’re some of the best rods I’ve ever fished–very lightweight with an action that is highly accurate and just a joy to cast. Read a couple of my reviews here and here.
I’m glad to see these rods finally being offered in the U.S. free of the hassle of VAT refunds and slower, more expensive shipping. I think Anthony is doing a great service to the American tenkara community by making these rods more accessible.
But beyond high-quality rods, Three Rivers is also pretty much a one-stop shop, offering tenkara lines, line spools, fly boxes, and more.
Right now, the company’s selection is pretty simple (like tenkara itself). But if I know Anthony, he’ll find a way to gradually add some cool new products while maintaining the balance between simplicity and saturation. He’s got good taste and a good eye for what works and what doesn’t so I’ll be interested to see how he refines his product line to further benefit the western hemisphere of the tenkaraverse.
Check out the full product lineup on the Three Rivers Tenkara website here.
Yup, just what we really needed, ANOTHER “cookie-cutter” tenkara products web-store, WTF?! I say go USA!!!!!
Hi Tim,
I know it seems that way, but these are anything but cookie-cutter rods. I’ve fished and tested them (read my reviews) and I personally know Oleg, the guy who designs them. He’s an amazing designer who is constantly putting a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into refining the tapers to get the actions just right. These aren’t rods that are just cranked out in China and sold on Alibaba with someone else’s logo. Plus, the blanks are manufactured by one of the most respected Japanese rod companies and finished off with very high quality components.
Do we really need another online store? I’d say it depends. Do we need another store with “cookie cutter” rods like you point out? Nope. There are already plenty of choices for those. Do we need Three Rivers Tenkara? Yes. Here’s why…
These are outstanding rods but were hard to get. Since Tenkara Times is based in the Czech Republic, if you buy a rod from the U.S., they legally have to charge you VAT, which then has to be refunded. That combined with the shipping charges and longer wait times kind of made it a headache so I think a lot of people in the U.S. were giving up on an opportunity to get one of these great rods. Anthony solved that problem by making it easy.
I think if you fished one of these rods, you’d see what I’m talking about. I have several models and can send you one if you want to TRY (get it?) one out. Just send me your address and I’ll send you a loaner.
On a side note…while I’m usually the first person to point out “cookie cutter” tenkara companies, I was struck by a strange irony when I read your comment. As a tenkara community, many of us (myself included) prize uniqueness and berate copycats. Yet, many of us come from a fly fishing background where homogeneity is not only the norm, but is rampant. There are probably hundreds (maybe thousands) of fly fishing retailers all selling exactly the same gear: Sage, Loomis, Simms, etc. Yet I never hear anyone complain when a new store selling more of the same pops up.
I wonder if it’s just because we’re a smaller community or if there’s just something about tenkara anglers’ values that makes us more sensitive to these things. At any rate, while I disagree with your comment, it gave me something to think about so thanks!
Anthony has some interesting stuff lined up. Good luck to him and Oleg in their joint venture with the Tenkara Times Try rods. I found ordering direct from Oleg very easy, straight forward and quick but, having a distributor here in the USA might give them more of the attention they deserve and make others more willing to Try one of Oleg’s Try rods.
I’ve had a Try 390 7:3 rod since last December and I think it comes close to rivaling rods that cost twice as much. It is on my short list of favorite tenkara cookies. What I call the Joy of Tenkara Casting. It is a light and well balanced rod that is fun to cast. If you give a Try a try, I think you will be pleased. When looking at pictures on Fuji Hiromichi’s web site recently I noticed one of the Tenkara Guides guys took a Try rod to Japan as his rod of choice for the trip. It will be interesting to see what Oleg designs for an encore and if Antony will expand to the other Tenkara Times models.