Tenkara Fishing Blog

May 21, Suntech GMR Special 36NP

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:44:50 -0400

The Suntech GMR Special 36NP is a rod that blurs the boundaries. It is very light and very sensitive, like a seiryu rod, while having lots of backbone, like a keiryu rod. The first fish I caught with the rod caught me by surprise. You may have seen this photo before on my Killer Bugger page. It is also the first fish I caught with a black Killer Bugger. Where I fish, I catch a fish this size about once a year, so it is always a surprise. What was most surprising, though, was the way the rod handled the fish.

The Suntech GMR Special 36NP is a seiryu rod. What I like most about seiryu rods is that they are very light weight and very sensitive. The downside of that light weight and extreme sensitivity is that they tend to be pretty soft rods. Not the Suntech GMR Special. It not only managed the 18 incher pictured above, it controlled it. The fish started to head downstream, and the rod stopped it - easily.

May 21, First Time Out

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:29:47 -0400

This is not a great story, but a first-time-out story with my Tenkarabum Starter kit equipment which might be of interest to people thinking of making

May 21, Blue Wooly Bugger - Bass

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:25:35 -0400

I've been fishing black flies lately, but when the strikes died down, I figured it was time to get back in the blue fly game. This bass was from the last

May 20, BAD DAY GOOD DAY

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:18:04 -0400

55 and raining. I was not having a good morning, but decided to push it and go back to a creek I had fished 2-3 weeks before in southern Vt. Then I had

May 17, Titanium Line

Fri, 17 May 2013 19:54:19 -0400

I had first heard of titanium lines years ago and was impressed by the ability of their main proponent, Tatsurou Okaniwa, to keep his fly in an extremely small eddy on the far side of a rushing current. I tried one and found it to be absolutely invisible against any background. I hated it and never tried it again until very recently. I tried a titanium line again a little while ago to determine if it would work well as a wind line and also to determine how the line casts. I have to say, the line was extremely easy to cast - even into a breeze. I haven't yet decided whether I like the line, but I have decided to carry the line for those who want to experiment with it.

May 16, Confessions Of A Keiryu Angler

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:19:24 -0400

Here we are, the first posting of Japanese keiryu fishing methods in the USA. I have spent the past 8 months learning about Japanese keiryu fishing methods

May 15, Don't Try This at Home

Wed, 15 May 2013 19:17:25 -0400

On the Kiyotaki page, I wrote that a micro fishing rod should be able to handle a 9" brookie when fishing for dace, or a 10" largemouth when fishing for 3" sunnies. Do not try that with a tanago rod. I had initially labelled the Daiwa Soyokaze as a tanago rod, because tanago is one of the types of fish that the packaging suggested the rod could be used for. The Soyokaze and Kiyotaki are general purpose rods that can be used for tanago fishing. The tanago rods I carry now clearly are not general purpose rods. The brookie shown above is about a 7 incher, hooked in quiet water. The rod bent more than I had thought it could bend without breaking. I would not want to hook a 9 inch brookie with this rod, and fully expect that a 10" largemouth would be way too much for it. These are delightful little rods for dace, darters, shiners and minnows, but they are little rods for little fish.

May 12, Tenkara with my brother.

Sun, 12 May 2013 23:12:39 -0400

It was a beautiful day here in Northern Kentucky so I decided to pick my not so little, little brother up and take him fishing. Dustin had never fly fished

May 12, Lessons from the Summit - 3

Sun, 12 May 2013 21:35:11 -0400

If the guy who is taking you fishing for the day takes one look at you and asks "Can you get around OK?" take that as a warning that you are not going to fish a meadow stream, and instead are about to find out what "high gradient" really means.

Brandon R. fishing a pool and blending into the scenery

I don't have any high gradient photos, as I was using both hands to hold on to rocks, roots and saplings. Plus, I probably needed a helping hand a half dozen times. What I didn't need, unfortunately, was my net. I got my aerobic execise for the year, but I didn't get any fish. After we climbed out of the gorge, we went to a different stream. The second stream was a lot closer to what I had been expecting, while still being higher gradient than I am used to.

I also got my next two lessons: (1) If you are going to want to take a photo of a fish, get everything ready ahead of time - camera, photo box, everything, and (2) If you absolutely need a picture of that particular fish (a) don't remove the hook before taking the photo, and (b) take at least one photo of the fish while it is still safely in the net. Some fish are remarkably camera shy, and those fish seem to be particularly slick and squirmy. In the second creek, I did manage to catch a fish but I have nothing to show for it.

May 11, Lessons from the Summit - 2

Sat, 11 May 2013 18:05:33 -0400

John Geer demonstrating the use of the "Tenkara Travel Vise"

Close-up of John's Amano Kebari tied in hand.

John believes the sakasa style may have been developed because the flies are easy to tie without a vise. Because tenkara flies tend to be simple, and can be tied fairly easily "in-hand", a tenkara angler's travel fly tying kit could consist of no more than a few hooks, some thread, a pair of scissors and some feathers, all of which could fit in an Altoids tin. It doesn't get much simpler than that.

May 11, Hickory Shad, Deer Creek, MD - 10 May 2013

Sat, 11 May 2013 08:39:35 -0400

I thought of this fly as soon as the yarn arrived. It's a blue Clouser/Mayfly tied on a size 8 salmon hook. I stopped at Deer Creek on my way to the Tenkara

May 11, Lessons from the Summit - 1

Sat, 11 May 2013 07:38:14 -0400

If it has been raining for days and the water is in the trees... Fish the eddies behind the trees.

May 10, Seiryu Rod??? Maybe more?

Fri, 10 May 2013 23:33:22 -0400

Chris - I never did get you feedback on the Nissin Fine Mode 2-Way Nagare 440 rod I bought earlier this year. I could say this is the best rod ever made

May 9, Blue Midge

Thu, 9 May 2013 22:21:02 -0400

Received my order today and enclosed was some Blue Fly Yarn. Couldn't help myself; went directly to vice and made two different size Blue Midges. One

May 9, UK Tenkara Syndicate

Thu, 9 May 2013 06:13:02 -0400

Spring 2013 saw the formation of a 'Tenkara Only Syndicate' to fish several small, previously unfitted, moorland streams near Sheffield in the north of

May 8, Gone Fishing

Wed, 8 May 2013 16:09:40 -0400

The shipping department has gone fishing. If you have not already received confirmation that your order has been shipped, it will be shipped Tuesday, May 14 (or later). You may continue to place orders, and I would suggest not waiting for me to come back before placing an order. Some items are in short supply and waiting only increases the chance they they will be sold out. Besides, after I get back, shipments will be on a first in - first out system. Orders placed May 8 will be shipped on May 14. Orders placed on May 14 will get shipped when I can get to them.

May 7, Tenkara USA Summit Questions and Answers

Tue, 7 May 2013 09:35:53 -0400

Q: Are you going to the Tenkara USA Summit?
A: Yes.
Q: Are you going to complain about it afterwards?
A: No.
Q: Are you going to have rods?
A: Yes - I'm going fishing and as always, will have more rods than I need.
Q: Are you going to sell rods?
A: I am not an approved vendor. If there is a rod you would like to see, chances are I was planning to fish with it anyway, but send me an email just in case. Use the "contact us" page.
Q: Can I order stuff and have you bring it to the summit?
A: I will have a space limitation. I do not plan on delivering orders. Send me an email just in case.
Q: If I order something now can you ship it before the summit?
A: I have a speaking engagement Wednesday, and am leaving for Virginia Thursday morning. The window is closing fast. I'll be back home Monday evening and will start shipping again on Tuesday.

May 7, Trip Report - 5-5-13

Tue, 7 May 2013 09:07:28 -0400

This was a day for lots of bluegills, a few bass, one blue fly and a revelation. The last few reports have been full of bass, bluegills and blue flies, so straight on to the revelation. For years - maybe decades, actually - my spinning rod of choice has been a 6 1/2' ultralight rod. For all those years, it never even crossed my mind that the "collapsed length" of the rod was too long. It has truly never been a problem. I've fished with it out of boats and canoes, taken it in cars and cabs and subways. Didn't even think of it. It struck me while sitting on the train this morning that the Nissin Honryu must be about the same length as my trusty 6 1/2' ultralight when broken down. And sure enough, it is. The 3.8 meter Honryu 3808, pictured below, is just a few inches longer. The 4.5 meter Honryu 4505 is precisely one half inch longer when collapsed than my spinning rod, which in decades of use has never once caused me to think it is too long or unwieldy.

I think I have just taken as a given that tenkara rods should collapse to roughly 22", and that those used by backpackers should collapse to about 15". I think it's time to do a little out of the box thinking.

May 7, Nissin Pro Spec 2 Way 7:3

Tue, 7 May 2013 06:43:34 -0400

I've just bought the Pro Spec 2 Way 7:3 rod to fish small, well wooded streams for wild brown trout & grayling up to 16 inches. The zoom facility is great

May 6, Nissin Airstage Honryu and my biggest trout

Mon, 6 May 2013 22:57:49 -0400

I like my Nissin Airstage Honryu 4505. I have tried 2-3 different lines and it has worked well with all. I used 15' of #4, 1' of #2 and a leader of 2'

May 5, Nissin SP 390 and SP 450

Sun, 5 May 2013 23:23:19 -0400

I'm not sure what the SP stands for in the Nissin SP 390 and SP 450. What it ought to stand for is Special Panfish. These are really sweet panfish rods. They are for people who like long, soft, smooth-casting rods. When I first wrote about tenkara fishing for bluegills two or three years ago, I had recommended a relatively beefy rod, thinking that the next cast could always yield a 3 or 4 pound largemouth instead of a bluegill. I've since changed my mind. Bluegills are just so much more fun on light tackle and I'd much rather enjoy the fish I was catching than gear up with heavier tackle for the fish I might catch - but never did.

May 4, 1st micro blue

Sat, 4 May 2013 13:09:23 -0400

The fly is an overhand knot on a tanago hook. This is my first intentional micro, first blue fly challange entry, and first fish on my new Kiotaki 27!

May 3, Good Day

Fri, 3 May 2013 23:54:31 -0400

We are having a stretch of good weather here in the north east .The smaller streams that I like fishing are running at summer levels ,but with good cool

May 3, Tenkara Midi

Fri, 3 May 2013 10:17:40 -0400

Tenkara Midi is a new hi-vis tapered tenkara line made for Yoshida Kebari by Fujino line company in Japan. It is nylon, so it isn't as dense as you might want, but it casts well on a windless day. And boy, is it hi-vis! Takashi Yoshida, the man behind Yoshida Kebari, has to be one of the most creative tenkara anglers in Japan. He clearly does not feel bound by tradition to do things they way they've always been done. This is best known in his flies, which run the gamut from very traditional kebari tied with zenmai and a pheasant alula feather to bead head flies to bug-eyed creations (or maybe bug-eyed creatures). He is less well known for the rods he uses - perhaps because the bloggers and tweeters who call attention to his interesting flies are strangely mum about his use of corkless keiryu rods for tenkara fishing. Yoshida san has come full circle now, and has added a thinking-out-of-the-box tenkara line to his rods and flies. His new line is called Tenkara Midi, and is essentially a knotless tapered leader adapted for tenkara fishing.

May 2, Set 5 of my 18 fish

Thu, 2 May 2013 21:55:59 -0400

When I arrived a young boy was fishing with spinning gear. I asked him if he got anything. He said no. I was thinking to myself. The only way to fish

May 2, Set 4 of my 18

Thu, 2 May 2013 21:54:52 -0400

It was a warm day here 86 degrees, but as it got darker, the fish got more active.

May 2, Set three of my 18 fish

Thu, 2 May 2013 21:54:04 -0400

By the way, I started fishing at 6pm and caught all of these fish in 2 hours and 15 minutes.

May 2, Second set of my 18 fish

Thu, 2 May 2013 21:49:43 -0400

Here are the next 4.

May 2, one of eighteen on my Killer Kabari

Thu, 2 May 2013 21:47:55 -0400

I bought some gear from tenkara bum and Chris send me this blue yarn. I'm like what is this. I didn't order yarn. So I read the thing about the blue

Apr 30, Trip Report 4-28-13

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 22:56:53 -0400

Some days you just try to cram too much stuff into one day. Sunday was one of those days. I think I fished with six different rods and six different lines (luckily I didn't try to fish each line on each rod - that would have just been insane). I caught four different species of fish, both warm water and cold water. The day started early and ended late. I'm still tired.

Apr 29, Clear Creek 4/27/13

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:27:53 -0400

Another Brown trout from Clear Creek. The fly is a bead head nymph tied with the blue yarn and Pheasant Tail fibers as the shell back and legs, a silver

Apr 29, Suntech Kurenai H30

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:25:02 -0400

My Kurenai H30 just may be my favorite rod. It fits the size of stream I enjoy fishing the most. I have used 2 different lines, 8' #3 tenkara line - 1-2'

Apr 27, Shimano Folding Net

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:03:11 -0400

The Shimano Folding Net is similar to the Daiwa One Touch, but there are a number of differences. The differences are in the details, but they add up to make the Shimano net quite a bit nicer than the Daiwa.

Apr 26, Blue Scud Part 2

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:17:55 -0400

More takes on the scud

Apr 26, Next Fly - Blue scud, Part 1

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:15:55 -0400

This one worked well - but what doesn't on Bluegill?

Apr 26, Best Catch of the Year (so far)

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:13:42 -0400

I tied up another Red Tailed Killer Bug and let my son Marlon cast it out on his Kiyotaki. On his own, he spotted a bass hanging out in the shallows.

Apr 25, First Blue Fly Contest Brown Trout

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 18:05:31 -0400

Lunch time today, first fish for Blue Fly challange and first fish on new Ayu II rod! I've been waiting weeks to get on the water with this rod. The

Apr 22, No fish but a blue fly - the Killer Caddis

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 23:23:26 -0400

Hope this is allowed (no fish submission), but I have made a few attempts and still no blue fly fish, or even Tenkara fish for me yet. Here's my fav blue

Apr 22, Size 4 Sunline back in stock!

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:32:14 -0400

Size 4 fluorescent orange Sunline 100% fluorocarbon level tenkara line is back in stock!

Apr 22, Trip Report 4-21-13

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 08:54:25 -0400

For most trips, I fish a number of rods, a number of lines and a number of flies. Today I tried a few flies, just couple lines and only one rod. As Kyle always says at the end of a South Park episode, I learned a valuable lesson today: Don't leave the first aid kit in the car. I would add to that, only slightly in jest, if you're on a blood thinner and you're clumsy, you might want to bring a tourniquet, too, just in case.

Apr 18, Big Trout on Tenkara

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 19:26:44 -0400

I fished in the Bighorn River with friends from Wyoming: the annual Big Fish and Lots of Em Trip from April 10-13. We floated each day, based at Thermopolis.

Apr 18, Trip Report 4-14-13

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 08:49:40 -0400

This trip report will cover two themes: putting more blue flies to the test and also experimenting with some extremely light tenkara lines. The stream was a relatively small wild trout stream in New Jersey. You can cast a lighter line than you think with more rods than you think.

Apr 15, Sunday's Catch

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 23:33:30 -0400

Tied another blue fly - half hitch on a tanago hook secured in place with a dab of epoxy. The wind was up more so than the previous days - the really

Apr 15, Blue Killer Bugger Part 2

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 18:10:14 -0400

Blue Gills have been hammering my Bleeding Bugger in Blue!

Apr 14, Half Moon Blue Fly 3

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 22:41:16 -0400

Thanks to Chris for telling me he did not think My small bass would hold the Tittle of Smallest Fish, I been trying for some micros. Although I did not

Apr 14, Half Moon Blue Fly 2

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 22:38:53 -0400

More Minis.

Apr 14, Half Moon Blue Fly

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 22:37:18 -0400

While I was home for dinner I decided to tie up a Blue Fly on a half Moon Tango Hook. I probably should say glue up since that is what it took. Some super

Apr 14, Size 26 Blue Fly 2

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 22:35:15 -0400

More Micro Gills.

Apr 14, Size 26 Blue Fly

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 22:30:23 -0400

It must be intended that I no longer fish the Nissin Prosguare. After replacing the broken sections, it broke again in one of the replaced sections. Not

Apr 14, Killer Caddis Catches 5

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 22:26:56 -0400

Well, I got my replacement parts for the Nissin Prosquare and decided to do some fishing. I was able to find the crappie in the ponds that wanted to eat

Apr 14, Blue Asher

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 22:25:41 -0400

I stumbled across a pattern called the Orange Asher that is supposed to be good for trout fishing on pressured waters. One site said to try it in different

Apr 13, 13 April 2013 - Before the tree ate the Red Tailed Blue Killer Bug

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 23:29:54 -0400

Got another three Bluegill before I caught a tree. I feel like I am cheating by nailing Bluegill (I ended up catching over 20 today - but on different

Apr 13, Killer Bugger Big Hit with Large Mouth Bass

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 23:08:17 -0400

I received my Killer Bugger kits Tuesday. Tied 3 black and two white KBs Wednesday. Thursday became a one fly day because I was having so much fun catching

Apr 13, 12 April 2013 submission, part 4

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 16:46:32 -0400

Last set for now

Apr 13, 12 April 2013, submission part 3

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 16:45:41 -0400

part 3 of 4

Apr 13, 12 Apr 2013 submission, part 2

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 16:44:37 -0400

More fish

Apr 13, Red Tailed Blue Killer Bug

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 12:27:16 -0400

I ran out of my normal orange scuds so I decided to start using the blue yard you sent. I tied up a killer bug (with a red dubbing tail so I could see

Apr 13, The Royal Smurfman

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 10:39:58 -0400

The royal smurf is tied on a Dohiku size 16 with tungsten 2mm nickel slotted bead, blue yarn, starling hackle and utc peacock thread. This more than likely

Apr 12, All Fishing Buy Yokoshima 270 tenkara rod

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:31:18 -0400

Received this rod a few days ago and fished once with it and now I'll give my first impressions to those who it might interest. The (not so) bad: As

Apr 11, Tanago Rods

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:25:50 -0400

Some time ago I got in a few Daiwa tanago rods (real tanago rods, not the all-purpose Soyokaze). I didn't get many because (A) I wasn't sure they'd sell well here and (B) I was pretty sure I could always get more if they did. It turns out I was wrong on both counts. They sold out quickly and I have never been able to get more. I have turned to Nissin and Shimotsuke for tanago rods. I have a few from Nissin (top) and a few more from Shimotsuke (bottom). They are just a bit over 10" when collapsed and either 3' or 4' when extended.

These rods are so small and so light that fishing with them is like fishing with Harry Potter's wand.

Apr 10, Trip Report 4-7-13

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 18:07:41 -0400

Went to one of my favorite streams for the first weekend of the NY regular trout season. I had fished the same stream just before the close of the season last fall but I had not seen it since Hurricane Sandy came through in October. I was surprised to see the number of trees that had fallen across the stream. Having to continually leave the stream to get past the trees certainly made me appreciate the ability of tenkara rods to collapse easily.

I wanted to expand the possiblities of the Blue Fly Challenge and tried some blue-dyed silver pheasant for hackle on a wool bodied soft hackle, and also some blue-dyed deer hair for a Wool & Deer Hair Caddis.

I was a bit surprised that the blue deer hair was really pretty visible against the color of the water. Also, when treated with a drop of Water Shed the fly floated surprisingly well. I say suprisingly because all fly tyers know that wool absorbs water and gets heavy. What many don't know is that wool also absorbs floatant quite well and then floats very nicely. Blue hackle, blue deer hair and Water Shed are all available on the Fly Tying Materials page.

Apr 7, Killer Caddis Catches 4

Sun, 7 Apr 2013 22:44:45 -0400

Last from today.

Apr 7, Killer Caddis Catches 3

Sun, 7 Apr 2013 22:43:45 -0400

More Gills

Apr 7, Killer Caddis Catches 2

Sun, 7 Apr 2013 22:39:45 -0400

More Gills

Apr 7, Killer Caddis Catches

Sun, 7 Apr 2013 22:37:51 -0400

Some More from today.

Apr 7, On the Board

Sun, 7 Apr 2013 22:29:34 -0400

I got my yarn and needed to tie up a quick fly for the challenge. I decided to tie a fly I have had good success with in other patterns. I tied up a blue

Apr 7, bluegill on blue fly

Sun, 7 Apr 2013 22:24:41 -0400

The weather report said 18mph winds, felt more like 28mph. I found a fairly calm 12'x12' section of the small pond and was able to cast. Caught several

Apr 7, (My) First fish on Tenkara using a blue fly.

Sun, 7 Apr 2013 22:21:27 -0400

I'm sure there has already been a First Fish, but I wanted to share this one because it was MY first fish. I have always wanted to fly fish, but never

Apr 6, Seeing Blue - ten

Sat, 6 Apr 2013 21:11:40 -0400

Seeing Blue Part 10 The Blind Turtle Fish Last October I was fishing with my same buddy on the same stream and in the same place. This part of the stream

Apr 6, Seeing Blue - nine

Sat, 6 Apr 2013 08:59:24 -0400

Seeing Blue Part 9 The Flies. The best fly far and away was the slender one seen against a log. It caught all but 4 or 5 of the fish. The Blue Killer