Tenkara Blog

With a nod to tradition and a passion for Tenkara Americana, the Tenkara Talk Blog features hundreds of gear reviews, fly tying tutorials, DIY hacks, and presentation techniques.

Denver Fly Fishing Rendezvous
Jason Klass

2019 Fly Fishing Rendezvous

It’s been pointed out to me that I’m somewhat of a hermit in the fly fishing and tenkara community. There are really only two events I attend on a regular basis: The Denver Fly Fishing Show and the Tenkara Summit. It’s not on purpose. There are plenty of tenkara events

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Tenkara Memes
Jason Klass

Tenkara Memes Round 6

While it’s OK to take tenkara seriously, sometimes we just have to step back and be able to laugh at ourselves. Here’s my 6th in my series of tenkara memes. To see all of them, click here. Enjoy and if you share any of them (as with any of my

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Tenkara Fly Fishing Central Park
Jason Klass

Stretching Lines in NYC

If you told me that one day I’d be waving a tenkara rod in the heart of Manhattan with a girl from the Dominican Republic, I would have asked you for some of whatever it was you were smoking. But that’s exactly where I found myself just a few days

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Kevlar Braided Tenkara Line
Jason Klass

Bulletproof Tenkara Line

One of the things I love about tenkara is that it lends itself to DIY gear and experimentation–especially when it comes to lines. If you think about it, people don’t really do much in the way of DIY lines in mainstream fly fishing. Most people just buy something off the

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Tenkara Fly Giveaway
Jason Klass

“Tenkara in Ten Words” Fly Giveaway

For the month of April, I’m giving away a box of my Shetland Killers! The box is slotted foam (handmade by me) and is filled with a dozen #12 weighted Shetland Killers (tied by me) in my favorite colors! All you have to do to enter is answer the following in

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Ultralight Tenkara Gear Setup
Jason Klass

An SUL Minimalist Tenkara Setup

On a couple of recent fishing trips with my friends Daniel and Dennis, I was struck by something–actually, I was struck by the absence of something. While I was donning my beloved Yonah Tenkara Simple pack, they were carrying nothing. And I mean nothing (save their rods). No chest packs,

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Shetland Spindrift Yarn Tenkara Flies
Jason Klass

Simple Yarn Tenkara Flies: The Shetland Futsū

If I had to name one tying material that rivaled the versatility and universal fish-catching properties of the venerable peacock herl, it might be Jaimeson’s Shetland Spindrift Yarn. And lately, I’ve been tying the majority of my “working” flies with it. Why? It’s fast and easy to tie with. Just

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The Shetland Killer Fly Pattern
Jason Klass

The Shetland Killer

Back in 2012, I wrote an article about how I came to know and develop a fondness for a version of Frank Sawyer’s Killer Bug pattern which had become a quick favorite among tenkara anglers: the Utah Killer Bug. The Utah Killer bug was developed by the Tenkara Guides as

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Jason Klass Fishing Tenkara on the St. Vrain
Jason Klass

Redemption on the St. Vrain

It’s been a long, dismal winter fishing season for me this year. The few places with open water were crowded with desperate anglers trying to get a drift before their fly snagged a miniature iceberg or jagged ice shelf. Most of the time, I was so frustrated by the crowds,

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Nirvana Tenkara Line Spool
Jason Klass

NIRVANA Tenkara Line Holders

When I first saw the prototypes of the new line spools from NIRVANA On The Fly circulating around Facebook, I didn’t really give them a second thought. They looked exactly like the old Raji Leica I had already been using for years. I wasn’t much interested, but when owner Brent

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Wooden Fly Tying Bobbin Spool
Jason Klass

Tenkara Path Wooden Fly Tying Bobbin Spools

My mad-scientist friend and tenkara partner-in-crime Dennis Vander Houwen has been tucked away in his wood shop again working on some really interesting projects. A couple of them aren’t ready to be announced to the world just quite yet (soon) but today when we met up on the stream, he

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Zen Tenkara Suimenka
Jason Klass

Zen Tenkara Suimenka Rod

In an industry full of “me too” companies, Zen Tenkara has always stood out in my mind as one that isn’t afraid to stray from the pack, break with convention, and do their own thing. Owner Karin Miller’s tagline is “Defining American Tenkara”, and whichever side of the whole “what

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About Me

Jason KlassJason Klass is a former fly fishing guide & casting instructor based in Colorado. He was an early adopter of tenkara in the West and has been fishing the method for a variety of species since 2009. Read more

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Tenkara Talk
Jason Klass, Author
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Based in Denver, Colorado U.S.A. (MST)

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