I was sternly told by my grown children not to open any boxes that might appear on my front doorstep until Christmas Day. I was a good girl--the only thing I opened was a shipment of Hysson's food that I had ordered myself. However, one of the arriving boxes had a Tenkara USA label on it, so I had a pretty good idea of what was inside!

Sure enough, I am now the proud owner of a Tenkara Iwana 11-foot fly rod. 2.5 ounces, and truly a thing of beauty! However, practicing has not yet been possible. 11-foot rods and 8-foot ceilings don't mix, and outside the wind has been gusting to 50 mph for most of the week.

I'm looking forward scaring off the local trout populations this summer as well as catching streamside bushes. Included were enough line and tippet to last for years. There were also some Japanese dry flies. I'll be interested to see if they will lure American trout!