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.

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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Tenkara Stiff Hackle Fly
Jason Klass

How to Tie a Tenkara Stiff Hackle Fly

Unlike the soft hackle of their more famous cousins, the sakasa kebari, tenkara stiff hackle flies use dry fly hackle to create resistance in the water rather than absorb water and undulate fluidly. The fibers still do move somewhat, but their main purpose is to anchor the fly in the

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Universal Tenkara Rod Cap
Jason Klass

Dynwave Universal Tenkara Rod Caps

For those of you who are familiar with so-called “universal rod caps”, you know they’re worth having a few on hand for when you inevitably lose your rod plugs to the same vortex that also devours guitar picks and socks. If you’re not, then you’ll be happy you read this.

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Minimalist Fishing Wallet
Jason Klass

Ultralight Minimalist Outdoor Wallet

I know most of you probably don’t and might consider it completely unnecessary, but I carry a fishing wallet. It’s where I keep my license, national park pass, emergency cash, business cards and other sundries. Until recently, I was carrying a Travax wallet which works great, but is a little

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Glass Bead Takayama Sakasa Kebari
Jason Klass

How to Tie the Ichiban Kebari

The Takayama Sakasa Kebari is one of the most iconic patterns in tenkara and has always been a good producer for me. My version incorporates two glass beads at the head which add sparkle and just enough weight to get it down when needed without getting snagged on the bottom

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Win a free Tenkara Tanuki Ninja
Jason Klass

Win a Tenkara Tanuki Ninja Rod!

If you’re in any of the tenkara Facebook groups, you’ve undoubtedly seen all the buzz about the new Ninja rod from Tenkara Tanuki. And now, you have a chance to win one. Well … three chances, actually. You can enter below on my site, on Tenkara Tanuki, and on CastingAround.

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Tenkara Memes
Jason Klass

Tenkara Memes Round 5

I don’t know about you, but right now I’m in fishing limbo. The few days I do get off from work are consumed by life obligations and even if I could get out, my local streams are iced over–with only narrow slots of open water lined with desperate anglers competing

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Autographed John Gierach Book
Jason Klass

Interview with John Gierach

In case you missed it in my recap of the 2019 Denver Fly Fishing Show, I thought I’d repost my chat with renowned fly fishing author John Gierach. Every year, we bump into each other at our mutual smoking spot just outside the main entrance of the show and talk

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How to Attach Tippet to a Tenkara Level Line
Jason Klass

How to Tie Tippet to a Tenkara Level Line

There are a lot of excellent graphics and animations available that show the knot used to attach your tippet to your level line, but they typically don’t show you what you actually do with your hands and fingers. The Tenkara Knot was shown to me by Daniel Galhardo of Tenkara USA

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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
(303) 803-2740

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Based in Denver, Colorado U.S.A. (MST)

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