It might not be accurate to call it a “non-tenkara” day. It might be better described as “the opposite of tenkara” or even “Bizarro World“. With all the local streams totally blown out, I decided to try to sneak in a quick fishing opportunity on a nearby lake. My family and I were planning to…
You may have noticed I haven’t been posting much lately. It’s not because I haven’t been inspired or don’t have anything to write about. It’s because I’ve been working on a new project behind the scenes. I’d like to introduce you to The Tenkara Shop, my new online tenkara gear store! I’ll be the first…
When I first started tenkara, I fished furled, tapered lines because they were easy to cast. The turnover was very good and loaded the rod well. But they are typically “heavy” and difficult to keep off the water when you want to make a good dead drift presentation. Eventually, I “graduated” to level fluorocarbon lines…
I just got a care package from Japan from Masami Sakakibara (a.k.a. “Tenkara no Oni”) which included some of his flies. His patterns are simple, but very versatile and buggy looking. I’m not sure of all of the materials, but thought I’d share some pictures of the flies one of the greatest tenkara anglers in…
I’m not one of those tenkara anglers that only fishes one pattern. But I do only fish one fly at a time. There’s no idealogical reason behind it and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with fishing a dropper or even a cast of flies. In fact, I fished droppers for years before I started…
I just received my Hinoki wooden fly box from Tenkara-Ya. “Hinoki” is Japanese cypress and is a very strong, high-quality wood that was traditionally used to build temples and shrines. The box comes in either a 4-compartment or 6-compartment version. Since I already have a very nice 4-compartment wooden box from Rick Setina, I decided…
I can’t remember who it was, but a long time ago, someone sent me this furled tenkara line. It’s made of black and dark green strands of thread. For months, it sat shunned on my desk because my first reaction was, “I’ll never be able to see it!” After all, every discussion I’ve ever seen…
1. Trophy Shots You know the ones I’m talking about. The angler is extending their arms, holding the fish as close as possible to the camera to make it look twice as big as it really is. It’s even worse when combined with a fish-eye lens. Flyfishing is not an extreme sport. If you need…
If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you’ll know that I’m a pretty big fan of rods from Tenkara Times. I’ve reviewed several of their models and am consistently impressed with their action and quality of workmanship. I’ve recently been testing their new “Try 360” rod for a while now and am happy to…
While I use fluorocarbon level lines for 99% of my fishing, I always like to experiment with different materials to see what applications they might have for tenkara. Last year, I wrote a post about using Cortland braided mono running line and many people seemed interested in it. However, I recently discovered that that line…
More years ago than I care to admit, I worked in a fly shop that catered to a pretty mixed bag of characters. On any given day, anyone from Barbour-clad Bogdan reel collectors, to redneck bait chuckers could walk through the door. It was during a time I consider to be the pinnacle of fly…
As a beginning fly tier, one concept was thoroughly drilled into my brain by the cronies at the local fly shop: match the hatch. The “goal” of fly tying was to imitate specific species of insects and the more realistic the fly was, the better it was. It made perfect sense. The trout are eating…
Tenkara Centre UK just released a new tenkara rod named the Hayase (which means “swift current” in Japanese). The new rod is the flagship premium rod in the company’s lineup and in addition to being constructed of higher modulus graphite for added strength and accuracy, also features some hardware upgrades that set it apart from…
I just got an email from Team Oni with the specs for the new 2014 Oni rods! There are three models with different actions designed for advanced casters, beginners, and even children. The big news is this year, there is a dramatic reduction in price. The top end rods are now only $271 USD and…