I was recently contacted by Ichi Katsumoto of River Peak about doing a review on their new tenkara rod, the Mizunoma. He offered to send me one of their rods, along with some their lines free of charge. Personally, I prefer to buy items that I review so to reduce bias and so I thought about just buying one of his rods. After some discussion, I suggested that if he would send me the rod and lines, then after my review we would offer a giveaway contest through Tenkara Angler as a way to promote his company and its tenkara products. He agreed with this suggestion and so, here we are!
From River Peak: “A full-flex, soft-action blank bends deeply with your whole body movement, absorbing the fight of the fish and allowing secure handling even with ultrafine tippets. Its gentle, lifelike action makes subtle presentations easy, while the light level lines enable delicate, precise approaches—this rod’s true specialty. You’ll feel an unbroken connection from grip to fly, a seamless extension of your hand—perfect for pinpoint, reactive fishing. And when a fish takes—this is where its “resilience” shines. Even in a big fight with a trophy-size trout, the rod absorbs the surges calmly, giving you the confidence to land it. Visually, the rod features a metallic silver finish over a carbon-black base, giving it a sleek, modern look. It’s a rod that doesn’t just perform—it stands out in every photo with your catch.”
AI search states “mizunoma” can literally translate to “water’s space,” “space of water,” or even “water field” when considering the broader meaning of “no” as indicating a relationship between the nouns.
Description
The River Peak Mizunoma 33 came to me well packaged from Japan. It is an unusual tenkara rod, in that its overall coloration is silver! Most tenkara rods have some paint and/or clear coat, but silver is not a common coloration. The blanks are unsanded and have a classic spiral feel, similar to their popular Kiwami rods.
The handle is the most interesting thing about this rod. Right off the bat you can tell that some thought went into the handle design. The handle is high quality cork, but its shape is unconventional. It has a modern or stylized double hump shape with dramatic edges and tapers. It’s quite stunning to behold. Although it may make you raise your eyebrows at first, I believe there is method to the madness. I’ll try to explain it later in the Performance section of this review.
The tip plug fits snugly into the tip of the handle section. It’s unlikely to spontaneously fall out. The butt cap is prominent, and is tapered to complete the taper of the handle. It has a rubber bumper to suppress segment chatter when they are nested, but there is no knurling or decompress hole. It’s easily removed, however. There is a small O-ring to discourage the butt cap from accidentally unscrewing on stream.
The lilian is red and is joined to the T1 (tip) section via a perfect glue joint. The T1 section can pass through the T2 section so the entire rod can be disassembled for cleaning and drying.
Measurements
| Characteristic | Measurement |
| Sections | 7 |
| Nested (w/ tip plug) | 60 cm (23.6 in. ) |
| Extended | 335 cm (10 ft., 11.9 in.) |
| Handle | 23 cm (9 in.) |
| Weight (w/o tip plug) | 60.5 g (2.1 oz.) |
| CCS | 12.5 pennies |
| RFI | 3.7 (Moderate Mid-Flex, 5:5) |
Performance
When you look at the 10 Penny Bend Profile image of the Mizunoma you can tell that it is a true 5:5 rod. Many rods have been advertised (mostly by lesser known American tenkara companies) as 5:5 flex but are in fact not even close to 5:5. Just placing the ratio “5:5” on your rod doesn’t make it a 5:5 rod. It has to stand up to testing. Well, River Peak states the Mizunoma is a 5:5 rod and at least as far as the 330 cm version, it truly is. The rod begins to bend half way from the tip to the handle under light weight. It’s refreshing to see truth in advertising on this point for once.
I cast the rod using a #3 fluorocarbon level line. Why, because that’s what I almost always use in my fishing. I think a #3 level line is challenging enough to test the rod and also that if the rod does well with this line it should do well with heavier lines. That’s my thought process anyway. The Mizunoma 33 cast a #3 fluorocarbon level line beautifully. It generates beautiful loops with modest casting effort. The casting stroke is rich and unhurried. I couldn’t detect any overshoot or tip oscillation at the end of the cast.
Fishing the rod is fun. I chose a small stream with rainbows in the 6-12 inch range. I also chose an #10 unweight kebari. While the wind was annoying, the rod did well in casting into tight lies and landing these small fish. The largest fish I caught was a 12 inch brown (off camera) and he too was no problem controlling with the rod.
Here is a brief video of me fishing the Mizunoma 33:
Conclusion
The River Peak Mizunoma 33 is a fantastic small stream tenkara rod! It’s lightweight, fun to cast and its deep bend with small fish makes it a joy to use. Although the handle shape is unconventional, it’s comfortable and has multiple grip positions making the rod even more useful on small streams. The silver coloration is also somewhat unconventional, but I didn’t feel that it adversely affected my stealth or catch rate in any way. Hook sets are solid and you can feel every shake while fighting the fish.
The Mizunoma 33 is a wonderful rod and would make an excellent addition to any small stream angler’s tenkara rod collection!
Disclaimer: My opinion regarding this rod is just that, my opinion. Your opinion may differ. Also, your rod may not have the same length, issues, or functionality as my rod. There are variations between rods, even in the same production run. No description can fully tell you how a rod feels or fishes. For this, you must personally hold, cast, and fish the rod then make up your own mind. I received the Mizunoma 33 from River Peak with the intent to do a review. However, in accepting the rod, there was no expectation of a positive review. I have no formal affiliation with River Peak.
Now, to the Giveaway!
As per our arrangement with River Peak, Tenkara Angler is giving away the Mizunoma 33 from this review! Included with the rod is a new River Peak Trick Caster braided line and a spool of #4 fluorocarbon level line. How cool is that!
Check out our simple giveaway raffle form below with multiple ways to earn points through interactions with our content. Only one entry will be taken per valid email address. Emails will only be used to contact the ultimate winner. Please refer to rules and regulations at the bottom of the entry form for additional details.
The giveaway will run from August 29th until September 12th, 2024, 11:59 PM ET, and is open to legal residents of United States of America who are 18 years of age or older.
We hope this latest giveaway opportunity interests, however if you think the rod isn’t for your style of fishing, we’d also love it if you’d tell a friend who might find this rod an asset to their quiver. Good luck to all that enter!
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Great review. I’m really digging the handles (and the classy silver)!
Tom. I really enjoyed the fishing video and the written review.