Daiwa Soyokaze Review
Daiwa Soyokaze Rod
While the Daiwa Soyokaze isn’t technically a true “tenkara” rod, any tenkara angler would immediately recognize a lot of familiar features. Telescopic blank? Check. Lilian cord? Check. No reel seat? Check. In fact, it’s hard to cast the Soyokaze and not consider it anything other than a “minature” tenkara rod.
Read MoreHow to Retrieve Snagged Flies without Spooking Fish
The best holes are often "snags waiting to happen"
You’ve just found the perfect pool. It’s full of fish that are actively feeding and you’ve got it all to yourself. You know you’ll be able to pull at least a few nice ones out if you just fish it long enough. It’s one of those rare moments that you need to take full advantage of when it comes along. You take your first cast and catch the eye of a nice rainbow. It comes to your fly but you just miss him. No matter, there are plenty of other fish in the pool. Your excitement grows. But then, it happens. You get snagged on the log on your second cast. You now have two choices. You can either wade in to retrieve your fly and put down all the fish in the pool, or break it off, re-rig, and continue fishing. But what if you could get your fly back and still be able to fish the pool without putting the fish down? Thanks to a unique characteristic of tenkara, you can!
Read MoreTenkara on the Big Thompson
Big Thompson rainbow on a Japanese Hammer
Today I hit the Big Thompson with fellow tenkara angler Jim Lionberger. I haven’t fished the Big Thompson in the canyon for a few years so it was nice to make it back. Even better was that Jim has a friend who owns some land right on the river so we ha a beautiful stretch of water all to ourselves. The fish were rising and the action was great despite the cold. The overcast made conditions perfect for a good olive hatch and I caught most of my fish on dry flies. Here are a few pictures…
Read MoreKamikaze Kebari
Dark Kamikaze Kebari
Whenever anyone asks me what makes the sakasa kebari an effective pattern, of course my first answer is the standard one–that the reversed hackle produces a lifelike motion in the water. But this is always immediately followed by an explanation of what I consider an equally important (yet often overlooked) quality of these flies: they’re expendable. This might seem like a strange quality to admire in a fly (something some people call “art”) but considering that we take our carefully handcrafted patterns and throw them to the mercy of trout rather than hang them on walls, it soon becomes clear that a willingness to send your flies on a suicide mission can greatly increase your success on the water.
Read MoreHow to be a Tenkara Outlaw
I recently read an article in which a spokeswoman from the NY Department of Environmental Conservation stated that tenkara fishing on fly fishing only waters is technically illegal in her state since the law dictates the use of a “traditional” fly rod, fly reel, and fly line. “Traditional”? That’s odd, isn’t it? People have been fly fishing without a reel more than ten times longer than they have been with a reel. Apparently, in New York State though, “traditional” means something that has been used for less than two hundred years or so. Anything that predates that just isn’t “traditional”. At any rate, it seems that other state regulations may pose the same problem for tenkara anglers. So I thought it might be helpful for those of you fishing in states where tenkara doesn’t fall under the legal definition of “fly fishing” to learn how to avoid those hefty fines or jail time–essentially, how to become a Tenkara outlaw…
Read MoreBass Pro Shops White River Gear Bag Review
I finally decided to replace my 15-year-old Orvis gear bag with something a little more modern and technical. At my local Bass Pro Shops, I found the White River gear bag–a feature packed bag that is perfect for tenkara as well as other types of fly fishing. After comparing it to several other bags, this was the best gear bag for the money and so far, it has exceeded my expectations.
PLEASE READ: Before you say a gear bag is “against tenkara” or isn’t “simple”, note that I do not carry this on the stream. I use it to organize my gear at home and leave it in my car in case people I’m introducing tenkara to need gear (or just want to try some different gear they don’t have).
Read MoreMy 1st Tenkara Bass
This might come as a surprise to some of you but today, I caught my first tenkara-caught bass. Funny thing–I guess if you only go fishing for trout, you only catch trout! Until today, I have only used tenkara in trout streams so I thought I’d give one of our local lakes a try for some warmwater tenkara. Actually, it’s a chain of lakes next to the South Platte that I drive by every day on my way to work. It’s close to home and I’ve always wanted to fish them so today was kind of a test run. This summer, I hope to expand the number of species I’ve caught on tenkara beyond just trout so I’ll be making an effort to catch some sunfish, bluegill, and largemouths (I guess I can cross smallmouths off the list now). Here are a few more pics…
Read MoreMore Tenkara Gear for Me (and You)
Today, I got some good tenkara gear in the mail. But this time, I’m not hoarding it all for myself–it’s for you too! The first was a box of tenkara rods and lines generously donated by Tenkara USA for our tenkara rod loaner program. I’ll be adding these to the demo page this weekend. I’m excited to tell you that in addition to getting a couple more of one of the most popular rods (the Iwana), we’ll now also be able to loan out the premium Tenkara USA rod, the Ito (which happens to be my favorite Tenkara USA rod).
Read MoreConfessions of a Killer Bug Addict
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I came from a good family. I grew up fishing dry flies with bamboo rods on spring creeks. I learned all the latin names of aquatic insects and could tie patterns that imitated them right down to the last abdominal gill. I filled Wheatly after Wheatly with beautifully intricate flies made from exotic feathers and fur of animals most people never even heard of. But somewhere along the line, something went terribly, terribly wrong.
Read MoreRaji Leica Tenkara Line Spools
Not too long ago, I posted about some Oni tenkara line spools I got from Japan. I like them a lot but I also like line spools that have a metal bar inserted in the center for storing the fly. On eBay, I recently found a spool that has the best of both worlds–a spool identical to the Oni spools but with the metal bar.
Read MoreS**t Tenkara Anglers Say
I’ve always been a fan of the “S**t People Say” video series and thought it would be fun to make one about tenkara. Special thanks to TenkaraTalk readers Phil Echelman, Joe Egry, and Kevin Fricke for being in the video. WARNING: This video contains adult language.
Tenkara Release Box
Today I got a chance to try out the release box that Karel from Tenkara on the Fly made for me. I really like it because it gives me plenty of time to take pictures of fish without having to worry about suffocating them or slipping out of my hands. Plus, I can pour them right from my net into the box, and then pour the box into the water to release them touch free. Here are a few pics…
Read MoreAbout Me
Jason Klass is a former fly fishing guide who now exclusively fishes Tenkara for trout in the streams and lakes of Colorado...Read More Tenkara Summit 2012
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