Every once in a while, I like to step back and take a look at the state of the tenkaraverse. This week, a couple of things in social media really made me pause and think. And I think it gave me a couple of insights into the current state of tenkara outside Japan. The first…
DetailsThe Takayama sakasa kebari is a classic tenkara fly that is tied in many color variations. But basically, it’s characterized by having a thread abdomen, a peacock thorax, and forward facing hackle. My first encounter with this fly was the red version so that’s what I chose to base my interpretation on. Here’s my recipe…
DetailsYears ago, a friend of mine who had returned from a fishing trip in Tasmania told me about an unusual practice that the local anglers did there. He told me that they sanded down the blanks of their fly rods with sandpaper. My first thought was, “why on earth would anyone take sandpaper to a…
DetailsHaving already tested rods from Tenkara Times such as the 1st Step and Next, I was already familiar with their quality before receiving their their Motive Rod. In my experience, Tenkara Times makes very good rods with actions I like. And the Motive is no exception. Here is my review… Action The Motive is the longest rod Tenkara Times makes…
DetailsA while back, I wrote a review of Tenkara USA’s “new” yellow line. It was supposed to have less memory and be more visible than the company’s previous level fluorocarbon lines (and it was). But Tenkara USA recently came out with a new line of lines that is supposed to be even better (and it…
DetailsSome of you might have stumbled on to the recent tenkara litigation (maybe the first in the history of the ancient sport). While I knew about it some time ago, I decided not to write about it for a variety of reasons. But this case did spark an online dialogue that piqued my interest about…
DetailsIf you’ve been following tenkara for any length of time, you’ve probably seen some discussion on line visibility. For traditional, furled tenkara lines, this isn’t really an issue. They’re pretty thick and are often brightly colored so they’re almost as easy to see as western fly lines. But for the thinner, fluorocarbon lines many tenkara…
DetailsSmall, meandering meadow streams certainly make idyllic backdrops but they pose several unique challenges for the angler. Typically, these streams are very shallow with slowly moving, crystal clear water meaning the fish can see you coming a mile away and will scatter at the slightest shadow, vibration, splash, or sound. It’s not hard to imagine…
DetailsAfter reading about Chris Stewart’s blue fly challenge and receiving some of his blue yarn by happenstance, I thought it would be fun to experiment a bit with blue. So, I came up with this pattern. I haven’t tried it yet but I’m sure it will catch fish. And even if it doesn’t, I like it…
DetailsRight out of the box, I loved my Fishpond San Juan chest pack. I’ve had it for about 2 years now and during that time, I’ve discovered a few tricks that make this great pack even better. 1. Added an External Tippet Dispenser I wanted a way to be able to pull out tippet…
DetailsIt’s not that I don’t want to. Believe me, I used to work in a fly shop and understand the value of having a place to gather to talk shop, exchange info on conditions and tell some good old fashioned fish stories. And, I do want to support local businesses. But unfortunately, most of the…
DetailsThis weekend, I gave a tenkara presentation to a group from the Poudre Wilderness Volunteers organization in Rocky Mountain National Park. I give a fair number of tenkara presentations but this one was particularly fun! We started out on the Fall River near the alluvial fan. I thought that would be a good place to accommodate a…
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