Thom Darrah from TrailLite Designs has hit another home run for ultralight tenkara anglers and backpacking fly fishers. You may know Thom as the inventor of the Ebira Rod Quiver. Now, Thom has set his sites on nets and has designed what might just be the lightest fly fishing net in the world. The Ti…
DetailsA friend of mine recently returned from Japan with a nice surprise for me: a Suzumi Tenkara rod! The 10.5 foot (3.2 m) rod feels incredibly light in the hand despite the slightly heavy weight of 2.7 oz. weight. I think this is because the rod is slightly stiffer than what I’m used to fishing…
DetailsTenkara USA is auctioning off the ultimate Tenkara outfit with proceeds to go directly to aid victims of the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan. The auction was donated by Thom Darrah, inventor of the Ebira Rod Quiver and founder of TrailLite Designs and includes the following gear for a retail value of over $425: –…
DetailsToday, I got something in the mail that has been in the works for months: my bamboo tenkara rod. A while back, I contacted Chuck Ledgerwood from Prize Catch Inc. and asked him if he could make me a tenkara-style rod in bamboo. He was really enthusiastic about the project right from the start and…
DetailsWhile I tend to prefer dry flies and don’t fish sinking flies much, I thought it would be fun to start experimenting with some reverse hackle Tenkara wet flies. When I do fish wet flies, I usually want them to sink fast. So, I’m playing around with some different ideas for Tenkara-style flies that use…
DetailsI get asked this question a lot. And like many of my answers, I’m forced to say, “it depends”. There are a variety of factors that determine how big of a selection you need to take on backcountry fly fishing trips. Here are a few considerations that might help you figure it out… How long…
DetailsI recently read Tenkara: Radically Simple, Ultralight Fly Fishing by Kevin Kelleher, MD and Misako Ishimura and just wanted to post a few of my thoughts on it. First off, this is the first book on Tenkara fly fishing written in English and represents a milestone for the Tenkara-mania that seems to be spreading across…
DetailsSo I’ve been tying different variations on the Japanese hammer and thought it might be good to tie some in a tried-and-true color scheme: the Adams. [/caption] This pattern pretty much has everything I want for fishing the high mountain streams of the Rockies: it’s buggy, buoyant, hi-vis, and easy-to-tie. Tied in the colors of…
Details[/caption] I managed to make it to the Denver Fly Fishing Show last weekend despite the snowy roads (thank you Jeep!). I’ll admit that I brought certain expectations with me. I’ll also admit that they were not met. Overall, I didn’t see much real innovation–just a lot of overly complicated, overpriced superfluous gear design. Not…
Details[/caption] I almost exclusively fish dry flies for trout—not because I’m a “purist”. I just love to see fish rise to a fly. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with nymph fishing and I don’t look down on anyone who fishes nymphs. It’s just not my style. I’ve been thinking a lot about the “one…
DetailsToday, I got something very special in the mail–a copy of “Tenkara: Radically Simple, Ultralight Fly Fishing”, by Kevin C. Kelleher, MD and Misako Ishimura. Why is this book so special? For starters, it’s the first English Language book on Tenkara fly fishing. Secondly, it is autographed and came with a personal letter from the…
Details[/caption] Tenkara fishing is gaining (OK, exploding) in popularity in the U.S. and around the world, yet there are still some misconceptions that many people seem to have about this unique method of fly fishing. Here are a few that I commonly hear and my responses: 1. Tenkara is not “real” fly fishing, it’s basically…
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