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.

Theo Bakelaar tenkara fishing
Jason Klass

Theo Bakelaar Talks Tenkara

If you’re an American angler and love bead head flies, you have one man to thank: Theo Bakelaar. While bead head flies have been fished in Italy for as long as 100 years, Theo was the first person to introduce them to the United States, earning him the nickname “Mr.

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3D Printed Tenkara Line Spools
Jason Klass

3D Printed Tenkara Line Spools

Another sign that tenkara is continuing to grow–we now have 3D printed line spools! Michael Hackney of The Eclectic Angler has been taking advantage of the latest in 3D printing technology to produce some really interesting tenkara line spools. Specs Diameter: about 50mm/slightly less than 2″ Center hole diameter: 20mm/.78″

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Tenkara Magic
Jason Klass

Tenkara Magic!

Tenkara angler and magician Dennis Vander Houwen swung by the Tenkara Talk headquarters today (OK, technically my basement but “headquarters” just sounds so much more official) and wielded a little tenkara-related magic. If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to attach your sakasa kebari to your tippet without tying a

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Jason Klass

The 2014 Wintertime Blues Project

Last year, Anthony Naples of the Casting Around blog put together a great collection of tenkara and fly fishing inspired content called the Wintertime Blues Project (read it here). The idea was to provide some relief from cabin fever during the frozen winter months. This year, it’s back and Anthony

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Custom Tenkara Rods
Jason Klass

Custom Tenkara Rods

Have you ever found a tenkara rod that has all the right properties except for that one thing you wanted to change? Maybe you wished the handle were longer. Or maybe you just want to get a blank and build your own rod from the ground up. Well, now you

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Bi-vis Hi-vis Tenkara Level Line
Jason Klass

The Bi-vis Hi-vis Tenkara Line

Tenkara level lines are so thin that, by nature, they’re hard to see. To combat this, manufacturers dye their lines in bright colors to make them more visible. But conditions can change throughout the day (and even from spot to spot) so rarely is one color trackable in every situation.

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Tenkara Fly
Jason Klass

The Clear Creek Kebari

I’ve been meaning to share this fly for some time but for whatever reason, haven’t gotten around to it until now. It’s one of my most productive flies and although tenkara flies typically don’t intentionally match the hatch, I call it the “Clear Creek Kebari” because it’s a top producer

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Sunline Tornado Tenkara Line
Jason Klass

Sunline Tornado Tenkara Line

I recently got a spool of Sunline Tornado fluorocarbon line from The Tenkara Times in size #2 (o.235mm). When I first started fishing tenkara, I preferred a #4 line. Then, as my casting got better, I started using lighter lines such as a #3. I liked the way a lighter

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Tenkara Rod Wall Rack
Jason Klass

Tenkara Rod Wall Rack

Many anglers have a fishing office (i.e. man cave) where they have their fly tying desk, gear, and where they like to put their tenkara rods on display. Some people have built their own tenkara rod racks, or used an off-the-shelf solution like these pool cue racks to show off

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Tenkara big fish
Jason Klass

Don’t Toss your Tenkara Rod!

So, I just came across a Facebook post talking about how to land a big fish by throwing your tenkara rod in the water. It’s not the first time I’ve seen this “technique” advocated. It seems to appear on the internet every once in a while. And every time it

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Custom Tenkara Rod
Jason Klass

Pimp your Tenkara Rod!

French company Tenkara Pyrenees recently announced that they are now offering personalized tenkara rods, allowing you to choose different graphics on the rod blank and tube. Each rod is also individually numbered and can feature your name, making it unique. The blanks are manufactured by a well-established Japanese tenkara rod

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tenkara simplicity
Jason Klass

Tenkara Isn’t Good Because It’s Simple

“It’s simple.” Ask most anglers why they like tenkara and that’s probably the answer you’ll get. That was my stock answer too for a long time. But the overthinker in me started to wonder why does “simple” = “good”? After all, “simple” isn’t intrinsically good. If my doctor tells me

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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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