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MUTANT zx380 Zoom Tenkara Rod

MUTANT zx380 Zoom Tenkara Rod

$144.99 - $186.99
$144.99
$144.99
$144.99 - $186.99
$144.99

The Ultimate 3-Length Full-Flex Action ZOOM Tenkara Rod

380cm (12.5ft), 350cm (11.5ft), and 315cm (10.3ft)
Covering 3 of the most popular lengths in one Tenkara Rod

Features/Performance Overview:

Zoom sections lock to give you 3 adjustable lengths in one rod (sometimes called a triple zoom rod) so you can use the same rod for all the different conditions you run into on the water. Whether you want long reach, a medium casting length, or need to shorten things up around over hanging trees this MUTANT zx380 Tenkara Rod has you covered with just the zoom of a rod section (or two) mutating into the rod length needed.

Excellent soft 6:4 Full-Flex casting action in every length, perfect for Light Level Lines to medium weight furled or tapered lines.

Excellently balanced tip-weight in every length, feels very light in hand when casting and fishing.

You’ll most likely love the rod action in every zoom length, not just 1 or maybe 2 like many other triple zoom rods.

Deep rod flex action allows the rod to distribute pressure evenly throughout the entire rod when fighting fish. This deep rod flex also makes for a smooth casting action with little effort to cast light level lines.

Excellent tip dampening so you have very little (IF ANY) oscillation while casting giving you very precise accurate casts with great presentation, even with very light level lines.

This rod is designed for targeting small to medium sized trout on light lines in creeks, streams, or small rivers. That does not mean you can’t use outside of those parameters if you so desire, have fun doing what you like. Although if you want to target big fish then this is probably not the tenkara rod for you.

Review From Tom Davis

We let Tom Davis (of Teton Tenkara Blog) take the prototype for a test drive, check out his review here >>

Tom’s Spec Measurements of the MUTANT Rod

Fully collapsed (with tip plug): 65 cm (25.5 inches)
Extended: 314, 351, 381 cm (10.3, 11.5, 12.5 feet)
Weight (without tip cap or plug): 81.5 g (2.87 oz)
CCS: 13 pennies (380cm), 12.5 pennies (350cm), 12 pennies (315cm)
RFI: 3.4 (380cm), 3.6 (350cm), 3.8 (315cm).
Rotational Moment: 6.1 (in the 380cm length)

 

Review From Tenkara Addict

The MUTANT Design Story

DRAGONtail has listened to people in the tenkara community over the years through comments, messages, conversations, and even reading though peoples rant posts. From paying attention to the tenkara community we have learned many things about what people want, like, and don’t like.

We decided to we needed a rod more focused on premium level line casting in our DRAGONtail lineup. But I didn’t just want a nice level line rod, I also wanted to do a 3-length zoom level line casting rod that covered the most popular rod lengths and that felt excellent in each zoom length. Many people don’t believe that is possible to achieve in a 3-length tenkara rod but we went for it anyway, and I feel like we have actually succeeded in that with the current MUTANT Tenkara rod design.

We have been working on this rod design for quite some time and finally made a lot of progress getting it the to performance level we wanted it to be late last year. After finishing our co-creation project of the MIZUCHI Tenkara Rod with Tom Davis (of Teton Tenkara) for tight fishing quarters last summer we learned many design elements that helped move the MUTANT rod design to a whole new level of performance.

(By the way, conversations with Tom Davis through out the years and reading through his blog posts has been very enlightening us and an influence in many in many things we do here at DRAGONtail. We thank him for always sharing his thoughts and experiences.)

The current MUTANT Rod Design is more than we could have hoped for, we are very pleased. We are so excited to finally be offering the MUTANT rod now in our rod lineup.

Our MIZUCHI Tenkara Rod has been very popular since it’s launch last September and people seem to be loving the rod for fishing tight quarters on small creeks and streams, like many of the creeks Tom Davis fishes. We are so happy to soon have the new MUTANT tenkara rod to cover the longer rod lengths for fishing more open casting areas (my kind of water) and still have a shorter length (10.3ft) to make casting in many tighter casting quarters easier. Really with the MIZUCHI rod and the new MUTANT rod together you can fish just about any water situation in a preferred length.

I really think a lot of tenkara anglers that prefer light level lines are going to love how this rod casts them with ease, although the rest of you are still going to like how smooth it casts most tapered lines as well.

It blows me away how much I like the MUTANT rod in each of the 3 zoom lengths, more so than any other zoom rod I have tried; and I have tried many from USA brands to Japanese brands, we do a lot of rod research here at DRAGONtail. I think you will be very pleased with the MUTANT rod’s performance for you.

 

How to Use a 3-Length Zoom Tenkara Rod

Customer Reviews

Based on 9 reviews
78%
(7)
11%
(1)
11%
(1)
0%
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(0)
J
Joseph
Awesome

season opens in April 1 so haven't fished with it yet so that's why I left a star off. Been practicing in my yard, and aiming at a tin pie with a fly that I cut the hook end off. one thing I will say making a hell of noise with it.

B
Birdman
Good, but problematic

I very much like using this rod, but it has something of a crippling flaw (just to note, I have and use about a dozen other tenkara rods, and have been using the Mutant, and more than one of them, for some years now): Something about the carbon material from which its made periodically causes the lower sections to get unmoveabley stuck in the extended position, and then nothing can get these sections to collapse (e.g. , the rubber band trick). A couple of times I've had to return stuck lower sections to DragonTail for replacement (which they were very good about; great service). It also happened to my girlfriend's Mutant, and it doesn't happen with any other rod I own, so the problem apparently isn't in the way I'm extending it. I sat down to write this now because it's happened again, the time to a couple of the replacement sections DragonTail sent me. It's as if the carbon material is slightly 'soft', and/or absorbs a bit of moisture, and then gets 'fused' in the extended position. It happened this most recent time yesterday when I was fishing in the rain, and the lower two sections of the Mutant are now 'fused' in the extended position (although rain isn't the only condition under which it has happened; seems to be a characteristic of this particular rod). Just spent 10 minutes trying to unstuck it with the rubber band trick, to no avail.

C
Christopher
All around go-to rod

The mutant is an extremely versatile rod with precision casting and a amazing feel. Medium slow action that can handle even big fish with ease. Best tenkara rod I have ever used. Slightly long when it is collapsed. But other than that it's perfection.

T
Tyler
My go-to rod

This has quickly become my go-to rod. Most of my fishing is 6 - 18 inch trout and this roof excels at keeping the small fish fun while managing the bigger fish well! If it is too tight for this rod I go to my Foxfire or Mizuchi, if the average fish will be over 15 inches I use my Hellbender.

DRAGONtail has great rods at great prices, with excellent customer service.

C
Chris
Mutant

This is my first tenkara rod and have used it for a few months now and am very happy with it. Would definitely recommend it. My next tenkara rod will be another dragontail rod.

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