New to tenkara? There’s an app for that! Last year, I heard about an English language tenkara app published by Tsuribito Magazine. I thought it was interesting but didn’t download it since it was geared towards beginners. But today, curiosity finally got the better of me. I wanted to see exactly what it was, so today,…
A harsh truth all of us who tie flies have to inevitably face is that our eyes aren’t getting any younger. I remember as a teenager tying size 28 midges in my parents’ basement simply by the ambient overhanging fluorescent lighting without any problem. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve found myself needing supplemental lighting.…
Just off the heels of last week’s Denver Fly Fishing Show, today, I attended ISE 2015 at the Colorado Convention Center. For those of you not familiar with this show, it’s massive. To give you an idea, the floor plan puts the catacombs beneath Paris to shame: Whereas I was really please with tenkara presence at…
As of today, I will be closing my store, http://www.thetenkarashop.com/. I have several reasons, but mostly, I just hate packing things up and going to the post office. Life is already complicated enough with a full time job and toddler, so I really just want to simplify and focus more on fishing and writing this blog.…
I’m excited because I just got my Tenkara no Oni flies back from the framer. I know you can’t see much detail in this picture (my tenkara office has lighting issues) so here is a link to closeup pictures of the flies. I will add this to my growing collection of tenkara art including Dr.…
Yesterday, I made my annual pilgrimage to the Denver Fly Fishing Show and came away with two impressions. First, it was PACKED. In all the years I’ve been going, I’ve never seen a crowd this big. You had to fight just to make it through the aisles and I had to park a mile away.…
The other day, I found myself thinking about a forgotten fly introduced to me by its creator, Gordon Wickstrom. I can’t remember how we first met, but I do remember our meandering chats in Boulder coffee shops talking fly fishing history, fly design, language, and how Garrison Keillor is a great storyteller but should never, ever, be…
The Tenkara no Oni Type I has long been my favorite tenkara rod. It’s incredibly light in the hand and has an action that suits my casting style perfectly. I’ve been fishing the original model with the straight foam handle (not the current models) for a couple of years now, but ever since I heard…
The second volume of Tenkara Magazine has just been published, further anchoring tenkara as an established form of fly fishing in the West. In 96 pages, this latest issue explores a wide spectrum of tenkara-related topics including presentation techniques, tenkara in Japan, trout cooking techniques, tenkara with kids, interviews with Japanese tenkara anglers, and more. One…
With all the snow and cold weather, cabin fever is taking its toll–driving me slightly mad you could say. So I felt compelled to put together another set of tenkara memes. This is the fourth one. You can see past ones here, here, and here. Enjoy! …
I got an email today from a reader who had the following comment: “While crawling around the web researching the subject, I ran across some Japanese websites, and noticed the flies they have seem to be more sparsely tied than the American versions. Is there anything to this?” It was an interesting observation–though (I think) not…
Quick post today. I’m often asked about my go-to setup for tenkara so I thought I’d just list it out. After years of testing and refining, I think I have finally come up with the combination that’s perfect for me. Rod For about the last year and a half, I’ve fished almost exclusively with an…
This year, Tenkara Santa wants to give you some neat stocking stuffers! He’s giving away a nice little package of tenkara gear, including the following: 1. A wooden fly box hand made by Boulder Artisan and avid tenkara angler Dave Burchett. 2. A 13′ horsehair tapered line made by me. 3. A cork line spool…
When I first started fishing tenkara, I didn’t give much thought to traditional tenkara flies. The initial allure was really the tenkara rod itself and by default, I assumed that I would just use my standard patterns like the Elk Hair Caddis, Stimulator, Bead Head Hare’s Ear Nymph, and so on. And I did. And…