I'm sure it has been clear to everyone that I have been winding down the TenkaraBum and Finesse-Fishing sites for a while now. There is very little left in stock - just three tenkara rods and some lines on the TenkaraBum site and just five spinning rods, some lines and some ultralight spinners and spoons on the Finesse-Fishing site.
I will be taking a step closer to retirement beginning November 11. I will be away from the shop for a month. Not a fishing trip, not a business trip, not a vacation. Instead, more of a temporary or "practice" retirement. While I am away, you can purchase anything that is in stock but it won't get shipped until December 11 or shortly thereafter. If you are quick, I can ship items on November 9 and 10.
While I am away from the shop I will not be able to sell any replacement parts that may be in stock but not on the website, and will not be able to order any parts that are not in stock. If you need a replacement part, I would suggest contacting Keiichi Okushi, who owns Tenkara-ya in Japan. Google can find the email address for you.
I do not plan on even reading emails, let alone answering them. There are a number of other fine tenkara shops in the US who can answer urgent questions or provide immediate shipment for any gear you may need right away.
I will be back, but until then, take care (and don't break anything).
Finesse-Fishing
Finesse-Fishing is a sister website offering Japanese Domestic Market spinning and baitcasting rods and reels for trout and panfish.
Many of us started out fishing with ultralight spinning gear. Despite taking up fly fishing and then discovering tenkara, there are a core group of us who never abandoned ultralight spin fishing.
There is another group who, after the initial excitement of the great drifts they got with a tenkara rod, gradually realized that while they could use a tenkara rod about anywhere, there is a lot of water that really isn't "tenkara" water. It takes a while for the euphoria to fade away before you realize that tenkara is great on some waters, but not so hot on others. Ultralight spinning gear works very well on a lot of the water for which tenkara is OK but not great.
One of the core themes of TenkaraBum.com has always been to match the gear to the fish. A corollary of that is to match the gear to the water.
For years now, I have been importing tenkara, keiryu and seiryu rods made for the Japanese Domestic Market. I think a lot of tenkara anglers (and ALL the keiryu and seiryu anglers) accept that Japanese rods are the best.
Bass anglers have known for some time that the best spinning and baitcasting gear is made for the Japanese Domestic Market. I suspect most trout and panfish anglers have not yet realized that (no one here sells it and no one is talking about it). My goal is to change that.
A second goal is to help people understand and accept that the "worms to spinners to flies" path most tenkara anglers took is not a one way street.
Tenryu UL Spinning and Baitcasting RodsIf you fish with ultralight spinning gear, if you are curious about ultralight baitcasting gear (yes, it does exist), head over to Finesse-Fishing and take a look.
The names are familiar: Daiwa, Shimano and even Tenryu, which makes the nicest looking ones of all! I started importing Tenryu tenkara rods a couple years ago and have been extremely pleased with their quality. If anything, their spinning and baitcasting rods for trout fishing are even nicer than their tenkara rods.
“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.
Warning:
The hooks are sharp.
The coffee's hot.
The fish are slippery when wet.
Beware of the Dogma
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. Pay attention to 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!
Went out fishing this morning. Didn’t catch anything with the tenkara rod for two hours.
Switched out to the spinning rod using floating plug and spoons, 20 fish in 2 hours
John V, Utah
If you enjoy spin fishing or baitcasting please visit my sister site Finesse-Fishing.com.