Jason is an avid fly angler and backpacker. As a former fly fishing guide originally from Western New York, he moved to Colorado and became an early adopter of tenkara which perfectly suited the small, high altitude streams and lakes there. He has not fished a Western-style fly rod for trout since.
Chris Stewart of Tenkara Bum recently asked me to write an article about tenkara fishing in alpine lakes for his site. It’s not a comprehensive guide but hopefully, it will get some people thinking about trying tenkara beyond small streams. Click here to read Tenkara Fishing in Alpine Lakes. Some of you might know…
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…
Traditional tenkara flies don’t have weight like our western flies that use lead wire, copper wire, or bead heads to help them sink. Instead, tenkara anglers make use of the hydrodynamics of the stream to help sink their flies. Here is a quick video of Daniel Galhardo from TenkaraUSA demonstrating how you can use the…
OK, it’s not technically a tenkara fly, but so many tenkara anglers seem to have so much faith in this pattern that I couldn’t ignore it. So, I ended up buying some killer bug yarn from Tenkara Bum (as well as some other stuff like some Pearsall’s silk thread for sakasa kebari) and give the…
I don’t know if this has been tried before or not but I had the idea to play around with the concept of a “double” sakasa kebari. Essentially, it’s just a regular sakasa kebari with two sections of wrapped hackle separated by a “spacer” of thread. My thinking was that if the main…
I have been using the Fishpond San Juan chest pack for a while now on a variety of streams and really like it for tenkara fishing. I couldn’t find one locally, but luckily, Colorado Skies Outfitters (my local fly shop here in Parker) was cool enough to pick one up from their distributor and got me…
I went a little crazy tonight building level lines with my girth hitch attachment method and it quickly became apparent to me that I’d need a way to store and organize them. So, I bought a bunch of 3″ X 4″ plastic bags at Michael’s and printed out some inserts that allow me to write…
That’s right–I said “horsehair tenkara FLIES”, not “horsehair tenkara LINES”. Usually, whenever you combine the words “horsehair” and “tenkara” in the same sentence (or Google search), the discussion is inevitably around horsehair tenkara fly lines. But what many people don’t know is that horsehair (or, more accurately, horse tail) also makes an excellent…
I recently broke down and bought a Tenkara USA Ito after hearing a lot of buzz and positive reviews on it. To be honest, my first experience with the Ito didn’t make a great impression on me. I had cast one a few times and thought it was too slow and longer than I really…
Here is a quick video I shot of Tenkara USA founder Daniel Galhardo giving some tenkara casting tips to a group on the Roaring River in Rocky Mountain National Park. In this segment, Daniel covers some basic casting techniques such as timing, casting stroke, power, and how to cast in the wind. I have a…
I just got back from the Colorado tenkara outing and am happy to report we had a great turnout! About 15 people showed up with a diverse mix of skill levels–everything from complete fishing novice to experienced fly angler tenkara converts. Daniel Galhardo from Tenkara USA gave several on-stream demos of tenkara techniques and busted…
Today was our first snow here in Parker, CO– a foreshadowing the long winter ahead. For many, winter means the end of trout season. Many will wait out the next few months tying flies or by turning to other winter sports until spring. But some will embrace the madness of winter fishing. When I lived…
[/caption] I’m excited to tell you that Daniel will be giving an on-stream tenkara presentation in RMNP and you’re invited! This is a great opportunity for anyone in Colorado who is interested in tenkara fly fishing to learn from a master, get your questions answered, and try out some cool tenkara gear! Here are the…
Fall has always been my favorite season. I love the palate of colors, the brisk air, the crackle of leaves beneath my feet, and most of all, fall fishing! Maybe it’s something as ingrained as the fact that I was born in the fall or maybe it’s something more conditioned like the anticipation of…