If you have followed this blog for any length of time you have seen me post many a Tenkara fly. I have always liked the simple style of tying and the use of a very few materials to create fish catchers. My method of presenting Tenkara flies has been with conventional fly fishing gear. I have from time to time thought about purchasing a Tenkara rod but I just thought it may be a bit costly and you all know that once bitten the costs only rise.
I had an encounter on a small stream with a little lady and her dad that finally showed me that taking up Tenkara need not be costly. They introduced me to the "Tiny Tenkara" rod. I went home that day that this was the time to purchase, and the Tiny Tenkara rod was the one. A few days later the rod was at my door. As you can see from the photo it is quite small. Opening it up and extending it to it's 5' length I felt like I had a perfect tool for my little streams. I configured a line, it was a piece of an old floating line I had, a length of tippet and off I went.
It took but a few casts to get the feel of the rod, which I might add is very sensitive and responsive. After a couple of dropped fish I finally hooked my first brookie and brought it to hand.
This has been a very good fly for me. Pretty simple would you agree?
A 5' rod, a section of line, and a fly...wow you talk about simplicity. By the way the rod cost 52.00.
Thanks Nate and "Nattie"
Bitten by the Tenkara bug eh? I know the feeling well. ;-) Now I'm feeling a pull back the other way but it's all good!
ReplyDeletebillp
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Bill somewhat...I have always liked the type of flies and now I'll try the rod. So far it's been good.
I am excited that you have decided to try your hand at Tenkara. As a CT small stream angler I follow your blog regularly. With Tenkara, part of the cost creep is that there is no where to try different rods before you purchase. More often than not, if you want to know if you will like the action or feel of a rod you have to buy it to find out. I am in CT and own several Tenkara rods if you ever want to try different actions or even lengths. I can also send you some level line in a couple different weights if you want to try it. Let me know.
ReplyDeleteAs with anything, it is another tool in your arsenal. It won't replace your western fly rod but it will complement it very nicely.
Ulysses
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Ulysses I'm finding out about small stream anglers in CT. and it's good to hear we are well represented. It's very true about not having shops that feature Tenkara rods to allow for that tryout. I probably would not have purchased mine if it were not for Nate allowing me to try the rod first hand. I have some level line, and a long furled leader I,m going to try, thanks for the offer though.
Alan
ReplyDeleteWe never stop learning as fly fishermen. The closet I've got to this rod is my 10 ft. I use on the Sipsey high sticking. If I had access to those streams you fish I certainly would give one a try. Thanks for sharing
Bill Trussell
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Bill they do have Tenkara rods that reach 10 feet, mine is only 5 feet and is perfect on small streams. And yes we fly fishers keep learning.
Nice to see you giving a tenkara rod a go Alan. I think you'll find that Tiny Ten a very capable tool for those beautiful brookies.
ReplyDeleteMichael Agneta
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Mike so far on five outings it has done the job. The act of setting the hook as well as landing the fish without a net is something I'll learn.
I went from my 11' Tenkara to a 6' 3wt because I kept getting the Tenkara stuck in the trees. Wish they had a 5' back then.
ReplyDeleteMark Kautz
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Mark those long rods are fine for big waters. The 5 footer is just right. Are you thinking?
A very effective setup and a good looking little pink futsu Kebari.
ReplyDeleteNathan Camp
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Nate it work well. So that's what that fly is called.
Alan, you may find this English written blog from Japan interesting. Particularly if you scroll to the bottom and click through some of the links in the section called "Flies". The various patterns from the different regions of Japan are fun to learn more about.
Deletehttp://www.hi-ho.ne.jp/amago/b-streams/index2.html
Thanks Mike, I'll check it out.
DeleteWhile I love reading about Tenkara I haven't been bitten by that particular bug yet. ...until now. A 5' Tenkara rod would be perfect for slithering around some of these alder choked streams up here. It would make perfect sense...
ReplyDeletemike
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Mike some of the older Tenkara fly tyers are a joy to watch. It's perfect for those alder streams...I know.
Hi Alan,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your experience with tenkara. My sister-in-law had trouble learning fly cast, so I gave her an 11-foot tenkara set-up for her birthday a couple of years ago. She loves it. But I found it hard to lawn cast - maybe because I was trying to use fly casting timing? Any thoughts on this, Alan? Do you cast your 5-foot tenkara like a fly rod?
Best wishes,
John
John Strucker
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John I found that trying to cast it like a conventional fly rod is not the way to go. I find with limited experience that I do better with a sort of roll cast slightly upstream. Also a bow and arrow cast works well.
Many strikes came from just plopping the fly right behind a boulder. It's all new to me and learning has been fun.
G'Day Alan,
ReplyDeleteGlad that you have found the Tiny Ten rod a fine tool for small streams. I'd really like to add one to my quiver but I'd be virtually duplicating two short tenkara type rods that I already own--a six and five footer. They go with the five other tenkara rods that I have. Then there's my conventional fly gear. I think I have too much fly gear. Wack! I just slapped my face for saying that.
I never considered fly fishing that complicated and the tenkara technique strips it down to it's bare bones.I'm not fanatical about it.I'm not really fanatical about anything.
One thing that I do like about tenkara is that you can use many things as casting line--furled leaders, flurocarbon line, old fly line, masons line and my favourite--.7mm floating shooting line. This last one casts very well and 100 feet of it is very cheap. That would make a lot of lines for your Tiny Ten!
I think your stream side encounter with Nate and Nattie may have boosted Tiny Ten's sales.
Kindest Regards,
Steve.
Steve
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Steve I heard that slap all the way here.
I have tried several lines including a furled leader. The jury is still out on which line I like, although I'm kind of partial to the fly line.
I love anything that's simple, uncomplicated, from food to fly fishing and for the most part life. One just feels so much better.
I just saw your post.....welcome to the club! I have always found brookies, thin blue lines and tenkara to be the perfect combination. It may seem to be very a simple piece of equipment but there can be so much more to it and to learn from it. Enjoy the journey.
ReplyDeleteChris Kiwi Kuhlow
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Chris after seeing Tenkara in action and having the chance to feel the rod I knew it was the time to try it. So far so good...