South African fish on Japanese hooks bought from America

by Werner Nell
(Johannesburg, South Africa)

Received my first batch of Owner Tanago hooks from TanagoBum end of last year, but I only got around to testing them out this past weekend.

Went to my usual city spot in Johannesburg to target mini species.

I actually wanted to catch a couple of small fish, which looked like they could be either mosquito fish or top minnows. But there were way too many banded tilapia (Tilapia sparrmanii) around for the little ones to get to the hook.

Caught a couple of beautiful specimens in the 50mm - 100mm range.

My rig consisted of an Owner Tanago hook snelled onto 7X (2.25Lb) Airflo tippet, small splitshot and a tiny speck (roughly 1mm x 1mm) of artificial bait cut from a larger soft plastic grub.

I used a combination of a 6'6" spinning rod and a 4 metre telescopic Garbolino Midnight whip (similar to the tenkara/tanago tele poles).

Had a great time catching the micro species.

More stories to follow soon.

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“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!