The last three weekends, I’ve been hitting Bear creek at Lair O’ the Bear Campground. The first trip was with a group Tenkara outing organized by Karel Lansky of the Tenkara on the Fly blog. With a mix of new and experienced Tenkara anglers, this was a blast and we will be organizing more trips…
The picture above is the first Tenkara fly I ever fished and is the first fly I ever caught a fish with using a Tenkara rod. It’s retired now and a little worse for wear with a tail missing and the dubbing roughed up. But it sits on a shelf in my fly tying…
In my last post, I wrote about how to choose a tenkara fly line. Many people had questions about how to attach a level line to their Tenkara fly rods so I thought it would be helpful to post a quick video on it so here it is. I hope this helps: If you’re not…
As Tenkara continues to gain momentum is the U.S., the number of choices in gear seems to have multiplied overnight. In particular, many new line makers have appeared giving Tenkara anglers a wide range of choices in color, length, and tippet connection. A common question many people new to the sport have is which…
You know you’re a Tenkara addict when… You can name more species of trout in Japanese than you can in English You wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat after having nightmares about losing your rod’s plug You feel personally insulted when someone refers to Tenkara as “dapping”…
Thom Darrah from TrailLite Designs has hit another home run for ultralight tenkara anglers and backpacking fly fishers. You may know Thom as the inventor of the Ebira Rod Quiver. Now, Thom has set his sites on nets and has designed what might just be the lightest fly fishing net in the world. The Ti…
A friend of mine recently returned from Japan with a nice surprise for me: a Suzumi Tenkara rod! The 10.5 foot (3.2 m) rod feels incredibly light in the hand despite the slightly heavy weight of 2.7 oz. weight. I think this is because the rod is slightly stiffer than what I’m used to fishing…
FINALLY got the big shipment in I’ve been waiting for! The Tricos are officially back in stock and hopefully for good. To all of you who have been so patient in waiting for them, thanks! Also, from now on, we’re including a custom foam fly drying patch with each one. Get them here.
Tenkara USA is auctioning off the ultimate Tenkara outfit with proceeds to go directly to aid victims of the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan. The auction was donated by Thom Darrah, inventor of the Ebira Rod Quiver and founder of TrailLite Designs and includes the following gear for a retail value of over $425: –…
Just stumbled on to a site that has flies for 50 cents each! Stream Flies has all the mainstay patterns to stock your fly arsenal without breaking the bank. But here’s the clincher: these flies are actually high quality. They’re not cheap flies tied with the incorrect colors and proportions you typically find at discount…
Today, I got something in the mail that has been in the works for months: my bamboo tenkara rod. A while back, I contacted Chuck Ledgerwood from Prize Catch Inc. and asked him if he could make me a tenkara-style rod in bamboo. He was really enthusiastic about the project right from the start and…
While I tend to prefer dry flies and don’t fish sinking flies much, I thought it would be fun to start experimenting with some reverse hackle Tenkara wet flies. When I do fish wet flies, I usually want them to sink fast. So, I’m playing around with some different ideas for Tenkara-style flies that use…
I get asked this question a lot. And like many of my answers, I’m forced to say, “it depends”. There are a variety of factors that determine how big of a selection you need to take on backcountry fly fishing trips. Here are a few considerations that might help you figure it out… How long…
I recently read Tenkara: Radically Simple, Ultralight Fly Fishing by Kevin Kelleher, MD and Misako Ishimura and just wanted to post a few of my thoughts on it. First off, this is the first book on Tenkara fly fishing written in English and represents a milestone for the Tenkara-mania that seems to be spreading across…