I?m trying to decide on my first Tenkara rod to use mostly in the small mountain trout streams in the Blue Ridge of Virginia, but possible occasional use on my backyard warmwater stream and others. My desire for a tenkara rod is both for the simplicity and (perhaps more importantly to me) to reduce what I carry when backpacking. To see what kind of streams I'm referring to, see my other post here.

What size Tenkara rod should I get for these small mountain trout streams? There are Tenkara rods sold for ?small streams? but will I be losing something with a 9? rod? On the other hand, do people really take a 13? Tenkara rod into the thicket, where there is rarely 13? between the overhanging branches on either side of the stream?

Also, what length of line should I use? It is often impossible for me to lift my 8? western rod directly overhead to land a fish or grab my fly because of overhead branches. Should I use a line that is equal to or shorter than the rod? Or should I use a longer line to compensate for a shorter rod?