“Traditional Japanese Fly Fishing”. That’s the tag line of this site. But lately, I’ve been wondering how accurate that line really is. In terms of the tackle we use, there seems to be nothing that is really “traditional” about it. Early tenkara anglers fished with bamboo rods, lines, and hooks fashioned from needles. Today, we…
As I sit here looking at the aftermath of the recent snowstorm through my office window, I’m reminded of the cruel joke nature sometimes plays on anglers: the thwarting of fishing plans. You know, those days where you could go fishing, but the rivers are frozen over, or blown out. It’s a bitter irony and…
For as long as I can remember, describing fly rod action has always been problematic. The typical adjectives used such as “fast”, “medium” and “slow” are not only inadequate, but also subjective. What does “fast” mean? And does it mean the same thing to you as it does to me? At some point, there was…
Ever since tenkara was introduced to the U.S., there has been quite a bit of discussion on whether or not it is legal on designated “fly fishing only” waters. There seems to be quite a bit of confusion over interpretation of the law–even among govenrment officials since the legal definition often includes language dictating that…
Over the last few years, I’ve read some pretty harsh criticism on the marketing of Tenkara. I find this curious because all of us are surrounded by marketing in nearly every aspect of our everyday lives, yet those same critics don’t seem to complain about it (at least not with the same vehemence). We’re…
Anyone who fishes with me for the first time invariably makes the same comment: I move. A lot. I pretty much take a few casts in a spot and if I don’t hook up, I move on. Part of this is practical. Like Dr. Ishigaki and many other tenkara anglers, I’m of the philosophy that there are…
There’s an interesting phenomenon I’ve observed on many social media fishing sites. It basically goes something like this: Someone posts an idea. Maybe it’s a new fly tying technique, a DIY project, a new way of rigging, etc. Someone else responds to it saying that it’s too complicated, or takes too much time, and they’d…
Ever since a I can remember I’ve been doing something that might be considered strange and have always wondered if I’m the only one, or if other anglers do it as well. Basically, I “cull” flies from my fly box. That is, when I take a fly out of my box to fish it, that’s…
Don’t be put off by the title. I’m not about to incite a heated debate about what is or isn’t a “tenkara” fly and delve into an infinite loop of semantic minutia. Instead, I thought I would simply list out the criteria I use when selecting patterns that I think work well for tenkara. And…
It might sound strange, but I have come to believe that fishless days can actually be a good thing (well, every once in a while, that is). And I’ll even take it a step further and add that ultimately, I think they make us better anglers and deepen our appreciation of the sport. I’ve been…
In western fly fishing, a lot of emphasis is placed not only on the fly pattern, but also on fly size. It’s considered standard practice to carry both a wide variety of patterns and a variety of sizes of each pattern. The mentality seems to be that if you don’t have a good selection, you’re…
In Japan, tenkara has been very narrowly defined in terms of gear, technique, and application. The gear part of the definition includes using a long rod, no reel, and simple, unweighted flies. The technique part includes things like using rapids and waterfalls to sink flies rather than weight, watching the line rather than using a…
Ever since I started tenkara fishing, I’ve been fascinated with those who subscribe to the “one fly” approach. Imagine an angler so confident in their skills, having so much faith in one fly, that they choose to carry only one pattern with them. It seems almost mythical. Yet, there are some practical reasons why this…
As tenkara takes hold in the West, many people are experimenting with different techniques, rigging, and DIY gear modifications. As someone who has a deep passion for innovation, I think this is a good thing. But there are many voices criticizing certain types of experimentation in an effort to preserve the intrinsic simplicity of tenkara.…
Sitting on the bank during one of those all-too-familiar fishless days on the South Platte, I started thinking about rod design. With my current favorite in my hand (the Tenkara USA Ito), I began to think about what makes a rod “good”. I’ve done a fair number of tenkara rod reviews and if you’ve followed this…
This 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…
I’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?…
[/caption] It was a beautiful bluebird day this fall on the South Platte when the revelation hit me like a miscast 4/0 Clouser to the forehead: I have never really tenkara fished! Now, before you use my own words against me and bring up the impotence of labels, let me explain. I was fishing with Daniel…
I’ve seen this question come up in social media again and again (with some pretty heated debates). I’m not sure why people seem to focus so heavily on labeling tenkara as “fly fishing” or not. After all, we don’t obsess about the many, more incorrect labels and misnomers we use in our in our…
Today, I got the first ever TenkaraUSA print catalog in the mail. Daniel was kind enough to not only autograph it for me, but also write a nice message. This is a truly special item and as soon as I opened it, it reminded me of something I’ve been thinking about for quite some…
[/caption] Why is it that some people instantly embrace tenkara while others reject it outright? I have been wondering this for a long time now. I’ve read dozens of social media posts where people have written downright malicious comments about tenkara and tenkara anglers. The funny thing is, by their own admission, most of…
The picture above is the first Tenkara fly I ever fished and is the first fly I ever caught a fish with using a Tenkara rod. It’s retired now and a little worse for wear with a tail missing and the dubbing roughed up. But it sits on a shelf in my fly tying…
[/caption] As Tenkara catches on more and more in the U.S., I have yet to see one description of it lacking the following adjective: simple. Mainly by virtue of not using a reel, Tenkara is certainly simpler than what most Western fly fishers are accustomed to–and that is probably its main appeal. Ironically though, many…
