For years, I’ve dreamt about walking into my local fly shop one day and seeing a section specifically dedicated to tenkara gear–they way they do in Japan. Well, it’s been well over a decade now and it still hasn’t happened. Buying a rod (especially if it’s a first rod) is a big decision for most…
Recently, there’s been a lot of discussion online about using data to choose a tenkara rod. This is driven by the fact that someone new to tenkara can’t walk into their local fly shop and test cast a variety of brands like they can with conventional fly rods–they just don’t stock them. In fact, you’d…
I often see advertising for “hand-tied flies”. This makes me laugh because ALL FLIES ARE HAND TIED! As a marketer by trade and a fly tyer by passion, I find this deceptive and insulting. Who do they think they’re fooling with this messaging? In reality, the majority of commercially available flies are tied (by humans)…
I recently read an article by one of my favorite fly fishing authors, Dave Hughes, in which he wrote something that gave me pause for thought … Had I read this quote in my pre-tenkara days, I would have agreed 100%. “Match the hatch” was my mantra and I thought the essence of fly fishing…
“It depends”. That’s it. In the fly shop, I probably get 100 technical questions every day. “Which size tippet should I use?” “Should I get a 5 wt. or a 6 wt.?” “What are the best flies to use right now?” And my answer is always the same: “It depends.” Because it does depend. On…
Over the last several years, a debate has been raging in the fly fishing world that comes up so frequently, I thought it better to write out my position on it so I can link to it rather than explaining myself time after time. The debate centers around felt-soled wading boots vs. rubber, with the…
I’ve had a good talk with several veteran tenkara anglers and here are some of my thoughts on the current state of the tenkaraverse. I think we all really need to stick together and realize that even though the sport has grown, we’re still a niche within a niche, within a niche. We should all…
Lately, I’ve been flipping through the pages of some recent fly fishing catalogs and have been shocked by the prices. $800 for a rod? $500 for waders? $750 for a reel? I was disgusted by what companies were charging these days for gear that is slightly better than (or in some cases worse than) their…
I recently had to send a tenkara care package to a friend and thought it might be a good opportunity to clean up and organize some of my gear while I sifted through what to send–kill two birds with one stone. By the time I emptied the first bag (of several bins, bags, boxes and…
Daniel Galhardo of Tenkara USA swung by my new house today and gave a great forecast of the future of tenkara. Let’s listen …
My friend Randy and I worked together in the same fly shop in Western New York for several years and we had kind of a running joke between us. Customers would always make comments like, “I wish I could work in a fly shop. You guys must get to go fishing all the time.” The…
The nice thing about being an early adopter of a newly introduced niche sport is that you get to observe its evolution—kind of like watching a child grow up and witnessing all of the “firsts”. You get to see the first smile, hear the first words, record the first time they walk on their own.…
This question isn’t new. In fact, it probably arose on day one when tenkara first hit the U.S. Over the years as I’ve watched tenkara go from an underdog in the flyfishing community to a tour de force, I’ve heard many anglers tout that its efficacy is what won them over. This got me to wondering–was…
A few weeks ago, I went fishing with my good friend Dennis Vander Houwen. Neither of us had been out in a while so we were really looking forward to a much-needed day on the water. Everything started off fine–we were in good spirits, the weather was good for February–all indications pointed to smooth sailing and…