A Simple System for Marking & Identifying Tenkara Level Lines
If you’re anything like me, you’ve accumulated a bunch of level lines that live in anonymity. You’ve long forgotten the size and have no idea what the length is. And they all start to look the same after a while. Rather than getting the micrometer and measuring tape out every time you uncoil a mystery line, here’s a simple system you can use to instantly identify any level line’s length and diameter.
Read MorePainted Tenkara Level Lines
An ongoing dilema I’ve faced has been line visibility. If you’re using a furled tenkara line, then visibility is usually not an issue. But if you use level fluorocarbon lines, you know that even the brightest line can sometimes be hard to see in different light conditions. I basically use two colors: orange, and bright yellow. Neither are 100% high vis all the time so I find myself switching between them based on the conditions. I really don’t want to do this. I’ve thought about knotting alternating sections of orange and yellow lines together, but this is kind of a pain and having too many knots can affect line performance (not to mention increase snags). But what if you could paint your line with alternating colors?
Read MoreTying Flies with Common, Everyday Materials
All of these flies were tied with materials I found around my home & office
Fly tiers have it pretty easy these days. Run out of red floss during a marathon tying session of Royal Coachmans? Head down to your local fly shop and pick some up. Need fluorescent pink guinea fowl for a killer new Spey fly? Order in online and it will be at your door in a few days.
But imagine what it must have been like for early tenkara anglers. Not only were there no fly shops (or e-commerce) back then, but living in remote mountain villages, they were pretty much cut off from the rest of the world. They had to tie flies with whatever they had available to them locally.
This forced them to be pretty creative when designing flies. And it got me thinking…
Read MoreAdd a Silencer to your Tenkara Rod
Right now, go to your gear closet, man cave, garage, armory, or wherever you keep your fishing gear. Grab your tenkara rod and shake it (vertically). Hear that rattle? It’s the collapsed segments of your rod slamming into the end cap. No, it isn’t broken. In fact, most tenkara rods do this–it’s just intrinsic in the design. While this rattling sound probably won’t damage your rod, it can certainly be annoying (especially on long hikes into your favorite fishing spots). Luckily, there’s a simple DIY solution you can do with materials you probably already have that will eliminate this.
Read MoreDIY Fly Tying Background Plate
Even the most organized fly tying desks can have cluttered backgrounds that can be distracting when you’re trying to put the finishing touches on that perfect fly. It can not only adversely affect the quality of the fly you’re tying, but also cause eye strain. Here’s a simple, low-cost solution I came up with to block the complicated background of my tying desk…
Read MoreA DIY Tippet Spool Holder
I normally don’t like gadgets hanging off the outside of my chest pack. I try to limit it to the things I want quick access to like hemostats and line clippers. Until now, I have kept my tippet spools inside my pack thinking it was one less thing to clank around. But, I like the convenience of having my tippet readily available and to be able to pull off a length of tippet with one hand. I’ve also been known to drop a tippet spool here and lose it to the current. This simple DIY tippet spool holder keeps your tippet close at hand, prevents loss, and costs virtually nothing.
Read More20 ft. Furled Line & DIY Line Spool Mod
20 ft. tenkara furled Line
Today, I got my long awaited Nissin Prosquare tenkara rod in the mail (review coming soon). A friend in Japan who bought and sent the rod to me was kind enough to also include a 20 ft. furled line he made himself and one of his flies. Thanks Eiji! The line looks a lot like the horse hair tenkara lines I recently made, with different snoods knotted together. After reading Daniel’s article on long line tenkara, I am really excited to try it out. I was a little surprised to see that he sent it on the same Meiho mini line spool Tenkara Bum sells. But upon closer inspection, I noticed an even better surprise.
Read MoreHorse Hair Tenkara Lines
Two horse hair tenkara lines
For Christmas, my lovely wife got me a horse hair tenkara line kit from Tenkara Bum. I’ve always wanted to try to make my own horse hair line and since I have this whole week off for the holidays, I immediately started furling away. The results were very interesting.
Read MoreBi-vis Tenkara Line
That’s not a typo. We talk a lot about “Hi-vis” line in tenkara but this one really is a “Bi-vis” line because it’s actually two colors. The first two thirds are clear fluorocarbon while the last third is hi-vis fluorocarbon. It all started during a conversation with Karel from Tenkara on the Fly.
Read MoreA Line Clip for Your Tenkara Rod
Line clips for tenkara rods
Ever wonder what to do with your line when you’re moving from spot to spot? If you need to go through brush, the best thing to do is collapse the rod and either remove the line and wind it around a tenkara spool or around your EZ Keepers. But sometimes, you don’t need to collapse the rod and just want a way to hold your line while you scout out the next spot.
While at my local Bass Pro Shops, I discovered some pretty neat line clips that are really designed for baitcasting and spinning rods, but I think might be of some interest to tenkara anglers.
Read MoreAdjustable Tenkara Line
One of the things I love about my Tenkara USA Ito is the zoom feature which gives you the ability to instantly lengthen the rod when you need a little extra reach. But I’ve always dreamed of and adjustable line.
Wouldn’t it be nice to instantly change your line from a 10 ft. to a 15 ft. without having to tie one more line or use loop-to-loop connections? I’ve been experimenting but haven’t quite gotten it to work the way I’d like yet. The idea goes like this:
Read MoreTenkara Rod Rack
After reading Mike’s post about a tenkara rod rack over at Troutrageous!, I just had to drag myself over to Walmart to buy one (actually two). Using my iPhone level app and a cordless drill, I had both racks installed in a corner of my man cave in about 10 minutes.
Of course, these aren’t really “tenkara rod racks”. They’re actually pool cue racks from a company called Sportcraft. At about $9.50 a piece (including the mounting hardware) these make great wall mounted tenkara rod racks to display your tenkara arsenal.
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