Reaction of the uninitiated

I've shown my Tenkara set-ups to a number of fly fishermen lately, and it seems the more skilled and knowledgeable they are, the more interested they are in Tenkara.

I have a friend who writes for an outdoors magazine. I asked him if he would like me to bring him a spare rod and he instantly said yes, and made plans for us to hit a small river for a demonstration. We all caught a few fish on dry flies, then he set it up with a nymph. "Man, this is one damn fine nymphing rod!" was his reaction as he pulled out two more fish.

I showed it to another friend who grew up owning a fishing resort in Colorado. "I'm ordering one of these tomorrow!"

I then went fishing with a guy who claims all he likes to catch is small trout on dry flies. His reaction was that everything about the rod, from the price to the length, was all wrong. I caught and released over 50 small trout, all on a dry fly, and he still showed disdain for the rod. Of course, he couldn't tell a brookie from a brownie.....

Return to Your Tenkara Stories.

“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

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!