If you’re an American angler and love bead head flies, you have one man to thank: Theo Bakelaar. While bead head flies have been fished in Italy for as long as 100 years, Theo was the first person to introduce them to the United States, earning him the nickname “Mr. Goldhead”, and sparking a revolution…
Another sign that tenkara is continuing to grow–we now have 3D printed line spools! Michael Hackney of The Eclectic Angler has been taking advantage of the latest in 3D printing technology to produce some really interesting tenkara line spools. Specs Diameter: about 50mm/slightly less than 2″ Center hole diameter: 20mm/.78″ Width between flanges: 5mm/.2″ With…
Tenkara angler and magician Dennis Vander Houwen swung by the Tenkara Talk headquarters today (OK, technically my basement but “headquarters” just sounds so much more official) and wielded a little tenkara-related magic. If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to attach your sakasa kebari to your tippet without tying a knot, watch the video!
Last year, Anthony Naples of the Casting Around blog put together a great collection of tenkara and fly fishing inspired content called the Wintertime Blues Project (read it here). The idea was to provide some relief from cabin fever during the frozen winter months. This year, it’s back and Anthony is now accepting submissions until…
Have you ever found a tenkara rod that has all the right properties except for that one thing you wanted to change? Maybe you wished the handle were longer. Or maybe you just want to get a blank and build your own rod from the ground up. Well, now you can order all the components…
Tenkara level lines are so thin that, by nature, they’re hard to see. To combat this, manufacturers dye their lines in bright colors to make them more visible. But conditions can change throughout the day (and even from spot to spot) so rarely is one color trackable in every situation. It could suddenly become overcast,…
I’ve been meaning to share this fly for some time but for whatever reason, haven’t gotten around to it until now. It’s one of my most productive flies and although tenkara flies typically don’t intentionally match the hatch, I call it the “Clear Creek Kebari” because it’s a top producer on my home river of…
I recently got a spool of Sunline Tornado fluorocarbon line from The Tenkara Times in size #2 (o.235mm). When I first started fishing tenkara, I preferred a #4 line. Then, as my casting got better, I started using lighter lines such as a #3. I liked the way a lighter line was easier to keep…
Many anglers have a fishing office (i.e. man cave) where they have their fly tying desk, gear, and where they like to put their tenkara rods on display. Some people have built their own tenkara rod racks, or used an off-the-shelf solution like these pool cue racks to show off their rods. But the innovative…
So, I just came across a Facebook post talking about how to land a big fish by throwing your tenkara rod in the water. It’s not the first time I’ve seen this “technique” advocated. It seems to appear on the internet every once in a while. And every time it does, I have to roll…
French company Tenkara Pyrenees recently announced that they are now offering personalized tenkara rods, allowing you to choose different graphics on the rod blank and tube. Each rod is also individually numbered and can feature your name, making it unique. The blanks are manufactured by a well-established Japanese tenkara rod maker and customized by a…
“It’s simple.” Ask most anglers why they like tenkara and that’s probably the answer you’ll get. That was my stock answer too for a long time. But the overthinker in me started to wonder why does “simple” = “good”? After all, “simple” isn’t intrinsically good. If my doctor tells me I need a simple surgery,…
How many times have you been in the middle of winding your line on your spool, only to suddenly lose your grip sending your spool flying down the bank (or worse, into the river) and unravelling your whole line? This happens because most tenkara line spools are round (they are “spools” after all). I recently…
Yesterday, the video below appeared on YouTube. It’s a video of Tenkara no Oni testing the casting action and fish fighting ability of the two new rods he’s launching soon. Please note: that’s not a real fish in the video. From this post on his blog, we know that the new rod will be offered…