From Perrine to C & F to Wheatley, I either own or have used just about every brand, style or design of fly box out there. From the day I started fly fishing, I had an early fascination with fly boxes. My first one was some uninspired, mass-manufactured plastic compartment box that I think came…
DetailsIt might not be accurate to call it a “non-tenkara” day. It might be better described as “the opposite of tenkara” or even “Bizarro World“. With all the local streams totally blown out, I decided to try to sneak in a quick fishing opportunity on a nearby lake. My family and I were planning to…
DetailsYou may have noticed I haven’t been posting much lately. It’s not because I haven’t been inspired or don’t have anything to write about. It’s because I’ve been working on a new project behind the scenes. I’d like to introduce you to The Tenkara Shop, my new online tenkara gear store! I’ll be the first…
DetailsWhen I first started tenkara, I fished furled, tapered lines because they were easy to cast. The turnover was very good and loaded the rod well. But they are typically “heavy” and difficult to keep off the water when you want to make a good dead drift presentation. Eventually, I “graduated” to level fluorocarbon lines…
DetailsI just got a care package from Japan from Masami Sakakibara (a.k.a. “Tenkara no Oni”) which included some of his flies. His patterns are simple, but very versatile and buggy looking. I’m not sure of all of the materials, but thought I’d share some pictures of the flies one of the greatest tenkara anglers in…
DetailsI’m not one of those tenkara anglers that only fishes one pattern. But I do only fish one fly at a time. There’s no idealogical reason behind it and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with fishing a dropper or even a cast of flies. In fact, I fished droppers for years before I started…
DetailsI just received my Hinoki wooden fly box from Tenkara-Ya. “Hinoki” is Japanese cypress and is a very strong, high-quality wood that was traditionally used to build temples and shrines. The box comes in either a 4-compartment or 6-compartment version. Since I already have a very nice 4-compartment wooden box from Rick Setina, I decided…
DetailsI can’t remember who it was, but a long time ago, someone sent me this furled tenkara line. It’s made of black and dark green strands of thread. For months, it sat shunned on my desk because my first reaction was, “I’ll never be able to see it!” After all, every discussion I’ve ever seen…
Details1. Trophy Shots You know the ones I’m talking about. The angler is extending their arms, holding the fish as close as possible to the camera to make it look twice as big as it really is. It’s even worse when combined with a fish-eye lens. Flyfishing is not an extreme sport. If you need…
DetailsIf you’ve followed my blog for a while, you’ll know that I’m a pretty big fan of rods from Tenkara Times. I’ve reviewed several of their models and am consistently impressed with their action and quality of workmanship. I’ve recently been testing their new “Try 360” rod for a while now and am happy to…
DetailsWhile I use fluorocarbon level lines for 99% of my fishing, I always like to experiment with different materials to see what applications they might have for tenkara. Last year, I wrote a post about using Cortland braided mono running line and many people seemed interested in it. However, I recently discovered that that line…
DetailsMore years ago than I care to admit, I worked in a fly shop that catered to a pretty mixed bag of characters. On any given day, anyone from Barbour-clad Bogdan reel collectors, to redneck bait chuckers could walk through the door. It was during a time I consider to be the pinnacle of fly…
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