Hey TRF fishing folk....

[stealth6]

A bit of shameless self promotion.

I just launched this: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TenkWest?ref=l2-about-shopname

I'm pretty sure none of y'all fish tenkara, but I think a few of you are fly fisherman, no?
While the gist of the shop is tenkara, any or all of the flies work great for western fly fishing as well. Indeed, most of the flies are "actually" western ones at their core anyway.

Check it out,
s6

 

[fyrwrxz]

Dave-Holy cow! You just reminded me I have a whole fly tying footocker buried in my garage! I have literally not been fly fishing in 9 frickin' years! A few rattle around the various tackle boxes, but I haven't spun one up since 2005. Thanks!
p.s.- you do nice work!

 

[heada]

I fish spinner mostly. I've done some small amount of fly fishing (11ft 7wt). What's the major difference between fly and tenkara?

 

[stealth6]

I fish spinner mostly. I've done some small amount of fly fishing (11ft 7wt). What's the major difference between fly and tenkara?

Tenkara fishing uses a fixed-line rod.....no reel, no guides, etc.
It's stripped down to the essentials ,....... sort of analagous to single speed mountain biking compared multi-gear, full suspension, (and now electric) bikes.
A bit of a "purist" thing when taken to extremes.

True "authentic" tenkara is a Japanese tradition that pre-dates western fly fishing by quite a bit. Some folks are very dogmatic about authenticity, but modern day "western tenkara" (which is what I indulge in) has a lot of western fly influences. Hence TenkWest, wherein a lot of my flies are essentially variations on western fly patterns, and my line (while still pretty simple) has elements taken from czech/euro fly fishing, and even spin/bass fishing.

All that said, it's all fishing, and such its all good.

s6

 

[stealth6]

Dave-Holy cow! You just reminded me I have a whole fly tying footocker buried in my garage! I have literally not been fly fishing in 9 frickin' years! A few rattle around the various tackle boxes, but I haven't spun one up since 2005. Thanks!
p.s.- you do nice work!

Go fishing.
Now.

s6

 

[fyrwrxz]

Go fishing.
Now.

s6

Still flying those stupid rockets. Last meet in the heat @ LDRS 40 for the summer, so maybe panfishing time.

 

[tsmith1315]

Tenkara fishing uses a fixed-line rod.....no reel, no guides, etc.
It's stripped down to the essentials ,....... sort of analagous to single speed mountain biking compared multi-gear, full suspension, (and now electric) bikes.
A bit of a "purist" thing when taken to extremes.

That sounds pretty cool!

 

[kuririn]

Tenk you, tenk you, tenk you.

 

[Hobie1dog]

use to love fly fishing. haven't been since becoming disabled. Still have my 7',6" Powell 4wt. rod w/ J.Ryall reel, Winston 7wt.
nice flies

 

[kenstarr]

Awesome! I've read about this and it sounds like a grea method/way of fishing the small mountain streams here in Northern Utah.
Ken

 

[stealth6]

Awesome! I've read about this and it sounds like a grea method/way of fishing the small mountain streams here in Northern Utah.
Ken

Small mountain streams are what tenkara is all about. Honestly, I can't see using any other gear/method for such places. It also happens to be the type of fishing I like most.

But tenkara is great for other stuff too. A few days ago I was catching fat 18+" trout in the (fast water) Rio Grande near Creede, Colorado....my tenkara gear made me quick and light so I could cast more, and move to the best spots with ease. Yesterday morning I was fishing wide open valleys with tiny threads of water (often just a foot or two across), and catching nice 6"-10" brookies. Today I've been fishing a small river with some great beaver ponds, and netting 10"-12" browns. I even fish ponds with it (and can catch bluegills all day long usually).

These days there is an unfortunate bit of hipster element in the tenkara world....it's sort of a "cool thing" to be into with a certain type of person. But just ignore all that, and you will find that it's a GREAT way to fish ....... it's simple (or at least can be), it's relatively inexpensive, it's super portable, and it's just plain efficient.

s6

 

[NateB]

This is the first I've heard of Tenkara, sounds kinds neat. I like the simplicity. I usually fish with a spinning reel baited with a hook and red worm. Sometimes I break out the small Beetle spin.

I've never tried fly fishing. It always looked complicated to me. A coworker has been tying flies lately and some of his creations look really neat. We need to head to the lake or river and see how they work.

 

[Marc_G]

Funny thread, because for the first time in >40 years, I'm going fishing this week. Taking my 17 year old son. We have a few days planned together while wife and other kid are away, and I asked him what he wanted to do. HE said he wanted to try fishing. We just bought a bunch of stuff at Walmart and are headed to a lake in Ohio on Thursday/Friday. A neighbor told me "No offense, but my money is on the fish."

 

[stealth6]

So, for the benefit of folks here who don't know about tenkara, this video does a decent job in terms of a very basic introduction to "what it is".....



There's tons of info via google search as well of course, if you want to know more.

s6

 

[dhbarr]

So, for the benefit of folks here who don't know about tenkara, this video does a decent job in terms of a very basic introduction to "what it is".....



There's tons of info via google search as well of course, if you want to know more.

s6

Neat, today I learned about something I'd never heard of before. Thanks for that.

 

[ThreeJsDad]

Tenkara is for folks who fish for fish tank filler...... LOL LOL just kidding....

When my son was 10 or 11 we did 100 days on the water fly fishing. We did our 100th day on Christmas Eve in the pouring rain.

I have also gotten into carving micro crank baits. I built a 7' UL spinning rod using a 3wt fly rod blank. That kind of fishing is so much fun. I even use to use a slinky rig and streamers for big Browns

 

[Hobie1dog]

 

[Hobie1dog]

 

[Hobie1dog]

This is the fish of my dreams, a monster Bluegill:

 

[stealth6]

That there is a monster.
Bluegills/crappie/etc. definitely fight "above their weight"..... I've caught 9" bluegills and 16" largemouth bass in the same session and the bluegills put up more of a fight. That one must have been a fun battle.

On a related subject......caught a steelhead on tenkara gear a short while back. 20", which is small for a steelhead but on light gear, no extra line or reel to let it run, and 5x tippet that was quite an exciting episode. This was on the Salmon River in Idaho. Sorry - I don't do "fish pictures", so you'll just have to trust me.

s6

 

[Hobie1dog]

 

[Hobie1dog]

big-ass catfish

 

[bibbster]

What's the state record where you are? That has to be getting close!

 

[Hobie1dog]

What's the state record where you are? That has to be getting close!

4 lb., 5 0z bluegill

 

[Hobie1dog]

 

[Hobie1dog]

 

[Hobie1dog]

 

[Hobie1dog]

 

[Hobie1dog]

What a pair:

 

[Hobie1dog]