Stream ecology research, and Dr. Shigeru Nakano

Recently, a fisheries PhD candidate at Oregon State brought to our attention the work of Dr. Shigeru Nakano. Dr. Nakano was a researcher in Japan, who conducted groundbreaking research on trout and the ecology of small streams. Like many fisheries professionals and students, Dr. Nakano was an avid angler. In conducting some of his studies, Dr. Nakano also used tenkara as a method of catching fish he observed while diving on small streams, there is a very cool picture on the video mentioned below of him with face in the water in full wetsuit, while holding a rod outside the water…Yes, it’s that effective. We hope to learn more about Dr. Nakano, his love of fishing and tenkara, and post more information here later on.

Meanwhile, here’s the trailer for a really good movie on Dr. Nakano and on small stream ecology, River Webs. We received this video today, watched, drooled a bit, and loved it. If you get a chance, and are interested in the subject, we’ll highly recommend you purchase it.

An important take away from the movie “Adding [non-native] rainbow trout in streams reduces emerging insects, and those feed not only the spiders that we studied, but also birds and bats” – Dr. Kurt Fausch, Colorado State University

For more information on the movie, you may visit their site: http://www.riverwebs.org/index.html. And, if you’d like to get a copy of the movie, simply join Freshwater Illustrated, for a contribution of $25 and you’ll own this incredible video: https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=7089.

“RiverWebs is a 1-hour documentary film that chronicles the inspiring life and work of the pioneering Japanese ecologist, Dr. Shigeru Nakano. From his boyhood exploration of Japan’s mountain streams to his leadership of an international effort to understand river ecosystems, Nakano’s life demonstrates the unquenchable curiosity and bold creativity that drive scientific discovery. Yet it is Nakano’s tragic death that shows us the profound personal impact of his life, and reveals what is perhaps the greatest scientific strength… community.

Tenkara USA's tweets of the week

• RT @hrXXL: @hendrikmorkel @stevenhorner @philcturner Have a nice trip and I want lots of Tenkara videos 🙂 where to? #
• Checkout the latest (Spring 2010) issue of Fly Rod and Reel. A magazine with “reel” in its name is embracing tenkara! Fly Rod and Fish? #

Tenkara USA dealers

As some of you may have noticed, Tenkara USA rolled out its new dealer program a couple of weeks ago. The demand from stores to carry our products has been incredible from the beginning. As many of them have said over and over again, there hasn’t been anything really new in the industry in many years, and tenkara is just that. In light of that, we decided to slowly start offering our products to stores with a physical retail location, so that you may go visit them and feel the rods for yourself.

Many dealers share our perception that tenkara may be something that was missing in the sport, a simpler fly-fishing alternative. The number of new participants in the sport has been minimal, which translates into a very slow and mature industry, and in turn brings few new things to the market, and also makes it hard to continually attract customers back into the fly shop. Based on our customer demographics, largely comprise of anglers with MANY years of experience, or outdoor enthusiasts completely new to fly-fishing, we believe tenkara is something that will excite loyal long-time fly shop customers and will open the doors to many new enthusiasts.

Creative Sports, Lois (manager) and Jamie (owner)

Tenkara USA will be working with the best independent fly shops in select regions. The first stores to start carrying our products are: The Bear’s Den (Taunton, MA), Creative Sports Fly Shop(Pleasant Hill, CA), Wildfly/Campsaver (Logan, UT), Mossy Creek Fly Fishing (Harrisonburg, VA)  . These shops are great at what they do, have a good reputation in their markets, and above all, are as enthusiastic about tenkara as we are. We will not push our products to any store, so if you see our products in a store, it’s because its owners got the concept and have become fans of tenkara too. These dealers understand the importance of something new in the industry, but most importantly they find the simplicity of tenkara refreshing and see the great effectiveness of using a long rod with no reel. We’re proud to work with them, and hope they don’t blame us when their western rods, and reels start accumulating dust.

Tenkara USA's tweets of the week

• Received Mr. Fujioka’s painting “Swimming Trout”, the first picture featured on our homepage, it looks AWESOME in our office! #
• RT @boyzie: My first fish caught Tenkara style, caught on @Tenkarausa Hane on the River Aire http://twitgoo.com/p3c4l – nice fish! #
• Tenkara International: http://www.tenkarausa.com/blog/
  Customers in Canada, UK and most of Europe can now order tenkara gear “locally” #
• RT @FlyFishingChick: The only thing better than learning Tenkara fly fishing was listening to Gordon Wickstrom talk about it! #
• Tenkara USA in this Spring’s Fly Rod & Reel magazine: http://bit.ly/dnSS1y #
• Tenkara in this Spring’s Fly Rod & Reel magazine: http://bit.ly/dnSS1y. Full interview with Tenkara USA founder #
• @TenkaraBum The ideal net for tenkara? http://bit.ly/bN58oX #

Tenkara International

Tenkara USA is now available internationally.

Customers in Canada, the UK, and Western Europe will now be able to take advantage of our new distribution centers in Vancouver and the UK for cheaper shipping rates, faster delivery and no customs/ duty hassles. We’re very proud that word on tenkara has been quickly reaching many parts of the globe. The great international demand we have experienced has prompted us to make it easier for our international customers to order from us. At this point we’re making products available in limited quantities, and customers may order tenkara rods, tenkara lines, and tenkara flies as well as replacement tips for their rods. DVDs, t-shirts, and wallets are not currently available.

We’re currently working on making our site available in multiple languages as well, so stay tuned. If you’re interested in helping translate Tenkara USA into your language, we’d love to hear from you by email.

Tenkara USA's tweets of the week

• Great video by Dr. Kelleher on tenkara: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXpuqvKv5kk #
• April 12, 2010: Tenkara USA 1st year anniversary!!! #
• Symptom of a western fly angler turned tenkara angler: keep looking for more gear before a trip…it really is just a rod, line and flies #
• Symptom of a western fly anglers turned tenkara: keep looking for more gear before a trip…it really is just a rod, line and flies #
• Oops, correction, Mr. Wickstrom’s talk is on April 14 Boulder Creek, CO: http://boulderflycasters.wordpress.com/ #
• Writer, Mr. Gordon Wickstrom to talk about tenkara on April 15th at Boulder Creek, CO: http://boulderflycasters.wordpress.com/ #
• Tenkara history, part 1: http://www.tenkarausa.com/blog/?p=688 #

1 Year of Tenkara in the USA

Today, April 12, 2010, marks our one year anniversary. Since April 12, 2009 Tenkara USA has introduced many experienced anglers to the simplicity of tenkara fly-fishing, the tenkara experience; and during this year we have also opened the doors to many people who have always thought of trying fly-fishing but until their discovery of tenkara had been largely turned off by the complexities thrown at them by the industry.

We sincerely thank all of you, tenkara ambassadors, out there who have helped us spread the word about tenkara in this year! We realize that without your newfound passion for this method of fly-fishing we would not be here today.

New milestones:

At our one-year mark, we’re proud to have two new developments in the introduction of tenkara to anglers in the US and the world.

Last week we started rolling out our authorized dealer program. We are working through the list of shops that contacted us and shops that were recommended to us to make tenkara slowly available at select fly shops through the country. Please see our “Dealer” page for up-to-date information on where you can find tenkara gear. The first stores to carry our products include: Campsaver/ Wildfly in Utah; the Bear’s Den in Massachussets, Mossy Creek Fly Fishing . We also have a few more stores just waiting for the gear that will have it in hand in time for the season.

Today we are proud to roll out our Tenkara International distribution in Canada, UK and most of Europe. With new warehouses setup in Vancouver and the UK, Tenkara USA is now able to ship within Canada and Europe. This will allow for much quicker delivery, lower cost (shipping for most orders is now only $14.50) and no hassles with customs and duties, which is the biggest reason for this move. Also, it will allow for warranty claims to handle more easily by shipping necessary spare parts. At this point items are available on a limited basis as we expand further in those areas. Rods, lines, flies and caps are the only items available for international-local shipping (t-shirts, dvd’s, and the leather wallets are not currently available).

One of the possible origins of tenkara, part 1

There are several theories regarding the origins of tenkara. It may have been imported from China, it may have passed through the lowlands in the hands of samurai and up to the mountains, or it may have originated independently. Personally, I have no reason to believe it didn’t originate independently. The mountain folk in Japan had an abundance of fish in their reach, and plenty of streams around them. The abundant bamboo in some areas made bamboo rods an obvious tool of choice, and what is perhaps one of the most logical steps towards fly-fishing, creating artificial flies that could be used over and over again to catch fish in small running streams was by far much more efficient than using bait (tie one fly and catch several fish v. look for bait, catch bait, change bait, catch one fish…). One of the theories for the origins of tenkara is the “samurai tenkara theory”. It’s the theory most westerners are quickly drawn to because it brings to mind the poetic image of a samurai with a fishing rod as substitute for a weapon. I think it is plausible, and cool, but based on one counterargument, presented here, it may not be the most likely origin.

It is known that the samurai, one of the highest classes in Japanese society at times, fished for Ayu and other fish found in the lower flatlands of the country. They even used this method of fishing as a martial arts practice substitute at times of peace and quiet. It is also known that the samurai sometimes used flies; intricate patterns made with several types of feathers and silk wound around bent needles. As the samurai tenkara theory goes, their method of fishing may have found its way to the high mountains of Japan where it was adapted by locals to small, fast running streams and became tenkara.

Before visiting Japan…

Tenkara USA's tweets of the week

• Tenkara featured on Hawaiian Airlines: http://www.hanahou.com/pages/magazine.asp?Action=DrawArticle&ArticleID=866&MagazineID=55 #
• Putah Creek Council holding an event to benefit a stream with tenkara-perfect sections: http://bit.ly/92vDm6 #
• Furled line = “Basu”;Tippet=“Harisu”;Fly= “Kebari”;Landing net=“Tamo”; Creel=“Biku”; Line,Tippet and Fly=“Shikake”. Spool=”Shikake-maki”. #
• Really great interview with renowned tenkara angler, Mr. Yoshikazu Fujioka: http://tenkara-fisher.com/?p=199. Nicely done. #
• Gordon Wickstrom on tenkara: http://www.wildonthefly.com/content/tenkara-beauty-simplicity #

Tenkara kids

Educational Recreational Adventures (ERA) reports on the use of tenkara at their Spring Bread Fly Fishing Camp on the Crooked River, Oregon. March 25-27, 2010. Written by Jeff Gottfried.

Anglers ages 13-14 traveled with ERA from the Willamette Valley across the Cascade Mountains to the Crooked River of Central Oregon for three days of fly fishing for native red-band rainbow trout. All but one of the youth had participated in other ERA fishing expeditions so I concentrated my initial efforts on Ian Nakamura, the novice. Since I was excited to try out our new Tenkara rods, I decided to start Ian out on one of them. I soon found out that my choice was excellent.

Instead of spending a whole bunch of time teaching Ian to cast, I simply demonstrated a few casts with the Tenkara rod and then handed it to him. Within 15 minutes, Ian’s rod was bent into a major arc. He was onto a nice 12 rainbow trout! Soon he caught a larger whitefish that gave him a great fight. Ian was fishing a size 18 bead-head midge larve to start with but he also caught fish on a size 16 blue-winged olive. I was very impressed by his ability to make a drag-free presentation.

Ian Nakamura at ERA camp

“The tenkara rods were a real eye opener for me since they simplified the process and allowed my young anglers to catch fish on their own and be independent of me much sooner than had been the case with traditional rods and reels.”

Tenkara USA's tweets of

• Tenkara USA on Fox Business: http://www.foxsmallbusinesscenter.com/entrepreneurs/2010/03/31/fly-fishings-trip-japan/ #tenkara @tenkarausa #
• Tenkara USA on Fox News: http://www.foxsmallbusinesscenter.com/entrepreneurs/2010/03/31/fly-fishings-trip-japan/ #tenkara @tenkarausa #
• David Dirks, Tenkara method a revelation: http://bit.ly/9kCVA7. Another enamored tenkara angler, and ambassador #
• Writer, Mr. Gordon Wickstrom to talk about tenkara on April 15th at Boulder Creek, CO: http://boulderflycasters.wordpress.com/ #
• Tenkara rods, by definition, have a handle for comfortably casting a fly all day. Their longest length will always be less than 15ft. #