Yesterday, I was lucky enough to fish with Chris Stewart of Tenkara Bum and Brian Flemming of Learn Tenkara in Rocky Mountain National Park. [/caption] We started out on the Roaring River near the Fall River Entrance in the alluvial fan. My favorite part of the Roaring River is actually the upper section (the…
DetailsNot too long ago, I wrote a post about my preference for wet wading when tenkara fishing. While it’s great in the summer, with fall fast approaching (even faster in the high country), it’s time to break out the waders for the colder temperatures ahead. Every angler who uses waders has their own system for…
DetailsThis is a simple, yet effective fly that would be a good pattern to try for anyone who read my recent post, “A Beginner’s Guide to Tying Tenkara Flies“. With the barring on the hackle, high-contrast ribbing, and muted colors, this is a great all around tenkara wet fly. The key is to tie the…
DetailsI’ve always considered myself a confirmed dry fly fisher but have recently taken an interest in fishing sakasa kebari wet flies. I’ve had a number of experiences lately that are convincing me more and more that they’re not only effective, but just as fun to fish as surface flies (though for different reasons). The main…
DetailsIn my last post, I briefly mentioned this fly pattern which was very productive on a small lake near Mt. Whitney and I thought I’d post the recipe. It’s a simple fly to tie (as many successful patterns are) and very buggy looking because of the iridescence of the materials used. The recipe Hook:…
DetailsI just got back from a backpacking trip to Mt. Whitney with fellow tenkara enthusiast Brian Green of Brian’s Backpacking blog. We were both as excited about the hike as we were about the prospect of fishing some of the high mountain lakes on the way down with our tenkara rods. I brought my Tenkara…
DetailsI got my Daiwa fluorocarbon Plasma Line from Japan today. While I’m completely happy with my Tenkara Bum and Tenkara USA level lines, I Just wanted to try something a little different. The diameter is 0.310 mm (0.012″) and is marked as a #3.5 line. This is a just little thinner than the…
DetailsOne of the questions I get asked most often is what one needs to start tying tenkara flies. The first thing I tell people is to NOT buy a fly tying kit. Kits are a perfect waste of money with just the right combination of wrong-sized feathers, useless colors of materials, and unnecessary tools. While…
DetailsTenkara Bum is now offering their own line spools and I got my order for 3 of them today. They’re essentially identical to the Meiho blue spools sold by Tenkara USA but are a shrunken down version. [/caption] The smaller diameter would be good for a tenkara minimalist or the backpacker who wants the convenience…
DetailsOne of the nice things about tenkara wet flies is that while they’re very simple in design, they allow for a lot of experimentation in body construction. This is probably the main thing that keeps me interested in them as a fly tier. Recently, I’ve been experimenting with wire bodies and epoxy bodies. Now, I’m…
DetailsToday, I received my long awaited custom tenkara fly box made by Rick Setina. It’s even more beautiful in person than the pictures he sent me in advance lead on. The lid is Maple and has my name in Japanese (katakana alphabet) burned into the lower right corner. The bottom is Cherry which contrasts nicely…
DetailsI’ve been making a lot of my own Tenkara level lines lately and I’ve noticed small problem: they all look the same. At first, I tried putting them on Tenkara USA blue spools and marking the spool with a Sharpie marker to indicate the line’s diameter and length. Of course, I ran out of spools…
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