As a fly tyer, I’ve always appreciated a good hook. I’ve tried a lot of them over the years and (as anyone else who ties) definitely have had my favorites. As with pretty much everything else in fly fishing, technology and engineering have made everything better in some way. And hooks are no exception. They’ve…
French company Tenkara Pyrenees just announced the release of their new product, the TWIN Adapter. The Adapter allows you to connect two spools of level line, allowing you to cut down on the number of spools cluttering up your fishing bag by 50%. They’re available in different colors, allowing you to devise a color-coding system to…
After seeing the success of such tenkara e-magazines as Tenkara Angler and Tenkara magazine, I felt it was time to fill in yet another niche within a niche in the tenkaraverse with new rag–one that appeals to those of us who have a passion for the most direct link between us and our quarry–the fly. What is…
Tenkara USA is launching a new line. Not a new product “line”, but an actual “line”. It’s tapered nylon which is a departure from from their traditional offering of fluorocarbon level lines and furled tapered lines. They’re made by Fujino (one of the industry’s most trusted brands) and will be available in various lengths under…
I recently had to send a tenkara care package to a friend and thought it might be a good opportunity to clean up and organize some of my gear while I sifted through what to send–kill two birds with one stone. By the time I emptied the first bag (of several bins, bags, boxes and…
Where I come from, nymphing meant two things by default: 1). a heavily weighted fly and 2). a high-floating strike indicator (usually the bulky teardrop type with a toothpick stopper). That was an effective rig on a 5 wt. It’s the perfect balance between sinking the fly and getting a visual indication of the take…
Daniel Galhardo of Tenkara USA swung by my new house today and gave a great forecast of the future of tenkara. Let’s listen …
When I first started tying flies, I didn’t have a dedicated space to do it; let alone tools or materials. I literally took snelled hooks, smashed down the baitholder barbs on the shanks with needle-nose pliers, and secured them in the corner of my dad’s tool vise on his workbench in the basement. For materials, I…
Six months. That’s how long it’s been since I’ve posted anything on Tenkara Talk. That was poignantly pointed out to me today by one of my long-time readers. Actually, during that time, dozens of you have written to me asking what’s going on. My digital marketing hero, Seth Godin, always says that if you want to…
For the last several years, I’ve been fishing level lines for tenkara almost exclusively. While tapered, furled lines are a pleasure to cast, level lines (due to their almost anti-gravity weight) make it much easier to keep your line off the water and maintain a good dead drift. Usually, I fish fluorocarbon level lines since…
When I first heard that Chris Stewart of Tenkara Bum teamed up with Japanese rod maker Suntech to design a new rod, I was really excited. Chris has been fishing tenkara longer than pretty much any American angler I know and through his vast store inventory over the years, has gained an intimate knowledge of…
My friend Randy and I worked together in the same fly shop in Western New York for several years and we had kind of a running joke between us. Customers would always make comments like, “I wish I could work in a fly shop. You guys must get to go fishing all the time.” The…
The nice thing about being an early adopter of a newly introduced niche sport is that you get to observe its evolution—kind of like watching a child grow up and witnessing all of the “firsts”. You get to see the first smile, hear the first words, record the first time they walk on their own.…
For many, just dipping their toes in the sport of fly fishing is daunting enough–forget about getting into tying their own flies. I imagine it’s something like trying to rewire the Space Shuttle before learning to actually pilot it. And if you peruse the fly selection at your local fly shop, you can see why. There…
We’d been having a bit of a dry spell–my fishing buddy Dennis Vander Houwen and I (he goes by the pseudonym “Dennis Michael” in the entertainment world). We’d been through more than our share of fishing fiascos and I’d been having less than a stellar year (to phrase it diplomatically). Timing, high water, weather, and a seeming raft of…
Back in May of 2010, I introduced the (then tiny) tenkaraverse to the concept of using EZ Keepers as an on-board line management system. Since then, I’ve seen more and more people adopt this method of storing their line on their tenkara rod without the need for a separate spool. Some people love it, some…
Not too long ago, I wrote a post about how I rediscovered the Teeny Nymph and why I think it’s a good pattern for tenkara. While I have a fairly long history fishing this venerable pattern, I wanted to hear more about it directly from its creator, fly fishing icon Jim Teeny. Here is…
Masami Sakakibara (AKA Tenkara no Oni) is coming to the U.S. next month for the first ever Oni Tenkara School! In case you don’t know, Tenkara no Oni is widely regarded as the most skilled tenkara caster in the world and has a huge following in Japan. This is an unprecedented event and a once-in-a-lifetime…
I have to confess, I’d never heard of Fulling Mill hooks until I saw them on Anthony Naples’ site, Three Rivers Tenkara. There are a million hooks out there today and I’ve tried a lot of them–not just for tenkara, but for many other applications as well. I usually don’t get too excited about hooks…
This question isn’t new. In fact, it probably arose on day one when tenkara first hit the U.S. Over the years as I’ve watched tenkara go from an underdog in the flyfishing community to a tour de force, I’ve heard many anglers tout that its efficacy is what won them over. This got me to wondering–was…
Every time someone asks me to try out a new tapered tenkara line, I always say the same thing: “I’m a level-line guy”. But, because of my STGA (“Severe Tenkara Gear Addiction), I always accept, and am always reminded of how easy tapered lines are to cast. So when Chris Stewart of Tenkara Bum asked…
A few weeks ago, I went fishing with my good friend Dennis Vander Houwen. Neither of us had been out in a while so we were really looking forward to a much-needed day on the water. Everything started off fine–we were in good spirits, the weather was good for February–all indications pointed to smooth sailing and…
I’ve mentioned on many occasions that I don’t adhere to the tenkara “one fly” approach simply because I would quickly get bored tying the same pattern over and over again. To me, fly tying is as much fun as fly fishing and the monotony would ruin one of my favorite aspects of the sport. So,…
It’s funny how easy it is to forget good fly patterns. I was recently reminded about a good pattern that I had fished years ago with a rod and reel but had forgotten about since starting tenkara fishing–the Teeny Nymph. This pattern was invented by venerable angler Jim Teeny in 1962 originally for for trout. But…
A couple of weeks ago, Chris Stewart from Tenkara Bum told me about a new line he was thinking of carrying. It was a nylon tapered line similar to those used in conventional fly fishing. This type of tapered line is nothing new in tenkara. There are many tapered nylon lines available today such as…
I just finished watching volume 2 of the DVD series from Discover Tenkara: “Discovering Tenkara: Japanese Kebari Patterns & Principles”. When I heard of the video’s release, I had pretty low expectations. I thought, “just what the world needs … another video showing you how to tie the exact same flies 500 other videos on…
I just got back from the Tenkara Winter Series event in Loveland, CO organized by Zen Fly Fishing Gear. I went with my good friend and early tenkara adopter Dennis Vander Houwen. Unfortunately, both of us had to be back in Denver fairly early in the day so we couldn’t stay for the full conference, but…
How can you improve on something as simple as a tenkara line spool? After all, it’s nothing more than a spindle to wrap your line around for storage and transport, right? Think again. Tenkara USA has literally just reinvented the wheel with their latest innovation–The Keeper. The Keeper’s most important innovation is that it features…
Probably the #1 thing that confuses people new to tenkara is the way rod actions are described. And I can see why. 5:5? 6:4? 7:3? What the heck do these numbers mean? While there are many good charts out there that (I think) describe these actions well, I still see a lot of people who…
If you’ve been into fly fishing for any length of time, you might have heard of a pattern called the “Brook’s Stone“. It was invented by Major Charlie Brooks to imitate the big stoneflies on the Yellowstone River. It’s a simple pattern. Unlike most stonefly patterns, it doesn’t even have a wing case. It’s basically…
