Father and Son First Tenkara Nymphing

by Danny
(White River Mountain home Arkansas)

We got our first taste of tenkara fishing with a TenBum 36 last summer on the frying pan in CO. Perfect drag free drifts tripled our catch rate on dry flies. Last weekend on the White river in Arkansas, we finally got to try nymph fishing with our Tenkara rods. We had a blast. I love the bend that we get in our rods even with average fish. We used an airlock indicator and two nymphs- a y2k bug and a ruby midge. The Ruby Midge slayed them. We caught so many that onlooking fishermen began to ask us "What are you catching them on?" Part of our success was due to the flies, but a big part was the great drifts that we got using our Tenkara equipment. It's going to be hard to go back to using a western rod.

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten” - Benjamin Franklin

"Be sure in casting, that your fly fall first into the water, for if the line fall first, it scares or frightens the fish..." -
Col. Robert Venables 1662

As age slows my pace, I will become more like the heron.

We've all had situations where seriously chewed up flies kept catching fish after fish after fish. It is no sin to tie flies that come off the vise looking seriously chewed up.

Seriously, all the hooks sold on TenkaraBum.com, whether packaged as loose hooks or incorporated into flies, are sharp - or as Daiichi says on their hook packages, Dangerously Sharp. Some have barbs, which make removal from skin, eyes or clothing difficult. Wear eye protection. Wear a broad-brimmed hat. If you fish with or around children, bend down all hook barbs and make sure the children wear eye protection and broad-brimmed hats. Be aware of your back cast so no one gets hooked.

Also, all the rods sold on TenkaraBum.com will conduct electricity. Do not, under any circumstances, fish during a thunder storm. Consider any fishing rod to be a lightning rod! Fishing rods can and do get hit by lightning!