Some tenkara anglers in Japan prefer to tie their sakasa kebari on eyeless hooks. Rather than a metal ring for an eye, these flies have a loop of flexible material to which the tippet is tied. I’ve heard some people say that this connection gives the fly more movement in the water than flies with…
Anyone who has ever dead drifted a fly with a tenkara rod has undoubtedly discovered two things: 1. Sometimes it’s hard to detect a strike on a level line. 2. Strike indicators don’t cast well with a tenkara rod. Luckily, for anyone who finds it difficult to see their line, there’s a simple way to…
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. The Soyokaze line of…
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…
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…
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:…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.
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…