Today, I got my moose antler tenkara line spool hand carved by Chris from The North River Blog. This spool is a work of art reminiscent of Dr. Ishigaki’s wooden line spool and I just wanted to share a few photos…If you follow my blog, you know that I have a deep appreciation for…
DetailsIf someone asked my what the best all around hackle for sakasa kebari, I would answer (without hesitation) that it’s brahma hen cape from Whiting Farms. Here’s why… Two Hackles for one I think probably the main reason I think this is such great hackle is that every cape really gives you 2…
DetailsThere seems to be a fair amount of confusion among tenkara newcomers when it comes to level lines. People talk about level lines in terms of “lb. test” or “breaking strength” and people don’t seem to get the rating system used in tenkara so I thought I’d make a post to clear it up and…
DetailsThese flies might not win any beauty contests above water, but I’m sure they’ll be sexy enough down below. With some classic color combinations, nice contrast, and a bit of weight and movement, I can’t see how these “plain Jane” sakasa kebari wouldn’t catch fish. Here’s the recipe… Hook: TMC 2499 SPBL # 10 Thread:…
DetailsI recently got some eyeless tenkara hooks from Tenkara Bum and have been having a lot of fun trying out different patterns. But I was curious…are the claims about eyeless hooks having more action in the water true? So, I decided to do a (very unscientific) test and see. I tied two flies with identical materials, put them underwater, and took video so I coud compare.
DetailsI got some eyeless tenkara hooks today from Tenkara Bum: the Owner Yamame and Gamakatsu Amago. They’re both great hooks with interesting bends and finishes that will surely make for some fun experimentation. In Japan, tiers would use a silk cord to form a loop “eye”. I didn’t have any silk cord so I’m…
DetailsIn terms of gear, waders are just about as sexy to me as socks. I’d much rather fawn over new rods, nets, or a really nice wooden fly box. But, waders are a necessary fishing tool. Many years ago, I became a breathable wader convert but I had one complaint–a lack of durability. Even after…
DetailsI’ve been asked by several people to make a video showing the basic steps on how to tie a sakasa kebari so here it is. I chose a very simple pattern for the demo but you could easily substitute a lot of different materials to create a wide variety of patterns.
Here’s another quick video clip from the Denver Fly Fishing Show of Daniel Galhardo breaking down the basic tenkara casting stroke. Sorry for the bad audio. It’s hard to get good sound at a trade show without a lapel mic. Plus, the lighting at the show was horrible. While the quality might not be great,…
DetailsThis weekend, I sat in in a cabin next to a wood burning stove with the Arkansas River not 20 yards away from me. I brought my Yamame and Ito hoping to get some fishing in but it was not meant to be. The winds howled, rattling the wood stove chimney and everything else in…
Details[/caption] I came home from work today to find a nice package from Japan in the mailbox waiting for me. Red fluorocarbon! I’ve been talking to a company there about getting some bulk hi-vis level line and they were gracious enough to send me some sample line. Here’s what it looks like and my initial…
DetailsI’ve never seen any discussion of tenkara where the word “simplicity” didn’t come up at least a few times. It’s true that simplicity is an easily identifiable attribute of tenkara but this seems to put gear addicts like me in an interesting dilema. Is our love of gear antithetical to the intrinsic nature of tenkara?…
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