If you’ve decided to get into tenkara fishing, you’re probably wondering what gear you need to get started. The answer will be a little different for people who have fly fishing experience and already have some gear they can apply vs. people completely new to the sport who are starting from scratch. But the good…
One 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…
I headed over to my local fly shop today to pick up some hooks and there happened to be a fly fishing class going on. While I was scouring the hook wall trying to find some #16s, I was eavesdropping, listening to what the instructor was saying. And it was painful. The “class” listened in…
In my last post, I wrote about how to choose a tenkara fly line. Many people had questions about how to attach a level line to their Tenkara fly rods so I thought it would be helpful to post a quick video on it so here it is. I hope this helps: If you’re not…
As Tenkara continues to gain momentum is the U.S., the number of choices in gear seems to have multiplied overnight. In particular, many new line makers have appeared giving Tenkara anglers a wide range of choices in color, length, and tippet connection. A common question many people new to the sport have is which…
I 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…
[/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…
Meet my wife. Her name is Guadalupe. She’s from Argentina. She’s never fly fished before. In fact, she’s never even fished a day in her life. I took her out to the Roaring River below the alluvial fan in Rocky Mountain National Park, put a Tenkara USA Ayu in her hand and gave her some…
[/caption] While Tenkara fishing is often pigeonholed as being only for small streams, I’ve recently fallen in love with Tenkara fishing in lakes. Just as the lack of a reel and the ability to shoot line force you to change your technique on rivers, so too does Tenkara force you to adapt your method…
To a Western fly angler who is used to a nail knot or handshake connection (loop to loop) to connect their leader to their fly line, connecting a Tenkara fly line to the rod can seem a bit baffling. Here’s a quick demonstration on how to connect a Tenkara fly line to your new Tenkara…
To me, one of the most interesting challenges of fly fishing on multi-day hikes is coming up with a system that allows you to carry all of the essentials without lugging a 15 lb. vest up the trail. Although my system is constantly evolving, here’s one that I found works well. Total weight (including rod): …