Tenkara in the media Ralph and Lisa Cutter and John Gierach embrace tenkara

We are absolutely ecstatic this month! Tenkara has reached the mainstream through the words of 3 of the most respected anglers and writers in the US: Lisa and Ralph Cutter and John Gierach. These articles were published in what I have come to perceive as two of the most progressive magazines in the industry: California Fly Fisher, and Fly Rod and Reel. these magazines have been ready to tell their readers about tenkara, a new development in the US, which I think proves their editorial integrity and that they are concerned with telling their readers what is new in fly-fishing as opposed to just pushing their advertisers’ wares. Kudos to these two magazines.

Ralph and Lisa Cutter write about tenkara for California Fly Fisher

Ralph & Lisa Cutter wrote a great article on their first experiences with tenkara for California Fly Fisher, with a beautiful illustration of a mayfly landing on a bamboo stalk done by Lisa. Getting to meet Ralph and Lisa was quite awesome in itself. I had known about the Cutters’ work for a long time, and always suspected they would probably enjoy learning about tenkara. One day, suddenly and unexpectedly, I received an email from them. Ralph says that Yvon Chouinard was visiting with them for a couple of days, and Yvon kept talking about tenkara. With so much “tenkara this, tenkara that”, Ralph couldn’t resist and got in touch.  It just so happened I was in the Sierras and would be going past their place on my way back home and also had some rods in the trunk of my car. I personally delivered the equipment, and gave them a brief lesson. As they attest in their article, there is more to tenkara than is first expected, ” the few videos and descriptions of tenkara I had seen prepared me for a lesson in dapping and high sticking.However, when Daniel made a crisp, tightly looped cast and hit a fist-sized pocket 30 feet away, I was incredulous. His line, nothing more than 18 or 20 feet of 16-pound fluorocarbon leader tied to a few feet of 5X tippet, was effortlessly lifted from the water by his 13-foot rod. Only the fly and a few inches of tippet remained touching the film. It was a perfect dragfree presentation . . . more perfect than any Western fly rod could ever approach in that situation.” A couple of weeks later my friend Marty and I had the pleasure to fish with them for a couple of days, what an awesome couple of people! My favorite quote from their article, ” I can’t imagine ever approaching a small stream with conventional fly gear again.”

Ralph and Lisa Cutter on a rest at midday by the Truckee River – all their gear between them.

John Gierach writes about tenkara for Fly Rod and Reel magazine

For the many months since I met John Gierach and Ed Engle for a few days of fishing in Colorado, I have been anxiously anticipating John Gierach’s words on tenkara. I had been longing to see his eloquent and characteristic writing illustrating tenkara to his readers. And, I was not at all disappointed to read his 4-page article for Fly Rod & Reel magazine, which is currently arriving to subscribers and should be in newsstands soon. Through his article I was able to relive my experiences with two anglers I have admired for a long time,  Gierach himself and Ed Engle. In turn they were able to share their first-hand insights on tenkara with their readers. Ed’s article, published right after the trip for the Daily Camera can be found here. The article did tenkara great justice. My favorite quote in the article, “I’d sometimes giggle out loud at the long reach I had and the beautiful drifts I was getting in normally difficult pocket water.”

John Gierach hitting a nice pocket in a small mountain stream.

I think the Cutters and Gierach’s readers deserved to learn about tenkara. After all they often talk about mountain stream fishing, and how could you ignore tenkara when that is one of your favorite kinds of fishing?  It’s awesome that they have been able to see why tenkara is here to stay.

New auction for Japan Relief Efforts

The first auction we held for the benefit of the on-going relief efforts in Japan was a huge success. We raised over $900 through the sale of a very rare authentic tenkara net.

Inspired by that auction, tenkara angler and  owner of TrailLite Designs, Thom Darrah, approached us to do a new auction by donating one of the products he designed, the Ebira rod quiver, as well as a tenkara gear set. The new auction includes all items one would ever need to go fishing – a complete tenkara set:

– Iwana 11ft rod, Series II (147.95)
– Ebira rod quiver (55.00)
– Tenkara Net (85.95)
– Book: Tenkara, Radically Simple, Ultralight Fly Fishing. Dr. Kelleher and Misako Ishimura (Signed by Dr. Kelleher) (19.95)
– 3 flies tied by Dr. Ishigaki (the only fly he actually uses for fishing) (priceless)
– Level line 3.5 (12.35)
– Traditional tenkara line 10.5ft (19.95)
– 2X Line holders (11.95 each)
– Tippet, 5X (7.55)
– Forceps/Nipper set (11.95)
– Fly box (12.35)
– Tenkara tea set (15.00)

Keep an eye open, I just got wind that there is a very rare, authentic bamboo tenkara rod coming from Japan, donated by Dr. Ishigaki for a new auction. It’s a very nice gesture from him. It will be the first time an authentic tenkara bamboo rod will hit the market and will probably be the only chance to ever acquire one as they are rare even in Japan – I may bid on that one myself too 🙂

100% of the proceeds from these auctions go to relief efforts in Japan.

Tenkara Summit Artwork by Anthony Naples

The Tenkara Summit is picking up steam! A killer speaker lineup is secured, Dr. Ishigaki’s ticket to Bozeman has been booked, and many people have already registered –  I’m wondering if I’ll have to reserve an additional conference room.

Now, to top it all off, tenkara angler and artist Anthony Naples, of the blog castingaround.com, has provided us with some delightful artwork to celebrate the first Tenkara Summit to be held in the US. A couple of weeks ago Anthony said he had an idea for a poster, and asked if it would be okay for him to take a shot at it. Of course! I’m very pleased with the results, and we’ll adopt his artwork as the official Tenkara Summit art. Anthony has setup a store on Zazzle, with the Tenkara Summit artwork below on shirts, posters, mugs, etc. We will have some shirts for sale during the event, but they will be in a very limited quantity. So, if you want to guarantee you get a shirt, you may want to order it from Zazzle.

Thanks Anthony for the beautiful work! I think it fits tenkara very well, and is a wonderful way to celebrate the event.

Iwana handle upgrade. Now available

If you purchased one of our Iwana rods prior to last year, you may now get the upgraded handle for your rod.

Based on feedback from anglers in Japan, we redesigned the handle of the first version of the Iwana rod, improving its length, contour and cork quality. Instead of buying  a new rod for $147.95, you may simply get the upgraded handle for your rod for only $36. One of the many advantages offered by the design of tenkara rods. The upgrade handle is available here.

Authentic Tenkara Net Auction For Japan Earthquake Relief Efforts

You certainly heard about the tragic earthquake and tsunami that swept through Japan.  I’m relieved to report that our tenkara teachers, friends and family are okay, but many others are not.

In an effort to raise funds for the relief efforts that will be taking place in the coming days/weeks/months, I am auctioning off one of my very prized and extremely rare tenkara nets (tamo), made in Gujo by tamo master Ikichi-san. I feel greatly indebted to the people of Japan for teaching me about tenkara, and for always kindly welcoming me. 100% of the proceeds will go to the relief efforts.

I have written extensively about tenkara nets here http://www.tenkarausa.com/blog/?tag=tenkara-net.  I thought you, or someone you know may like the opportunity to acquire this one. 100% of the money raised will be sent to the relief efforts, and the bidder earns a one-of-a-kind net that is becoming rarer by the day. Please pass it on to anyone you feel would like a chance to bid.

Good luck with the bidding and than you for helping.

AUCTION (better pictures, and more info here): http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320670445593

Tenkara net gallery

It has been a while since I last posted something on tenkara nets. So, I thought I’d give you an update on nets that I have recently finished. Also, be on the lookout this year for more on tenkara nets. I plan on talking more about them, and the advantages they present for stream fly-fishing, particularly mountain stream fly fishing.

This first net was made with a Juniper tree branch, collected in Colorado. It is one of my favorite ones so far. As with all nets, this was a whole lot of work, but the beautiful features on the wood made it all worth it. I also incorporated a deer antler, which I thought would really complement it – and protect me in the water as Japanese superstition goes. As I didn’t want to hide the flaws on the branch, I chose to fasten the mesh to it by using eyelet pins on the bottom of the frame – TONS OF WORK, and I don’t plan to do that unless absolutely necessary as I felt it was for this one.

As with all nets I’m making, this one features my name with Japanese kanji characters on the handle. Dr. Ishigaki, my sensei, is also quite a master with words. He was able to find characters that can not only be pronounced “Da ni e ru”, as you’d pronounce my name in Japanese, but also mean “a person who developed his own casting style” or something to those lines.

The one below is made of a Ponderosa pine branch, collected in the Sierras. I made the hoop larger than most other nets so far. It is a little over 27cm (most that I make are 24cm) in diameter.

This one is a small net, made with Jeffrey Pine. The diameter of the branches making the hoop are thinner than usual, but it’s very strong nonetheless, and I’d use it with full confidence. The line used to connect the mesh to the frame was twisted polyester line made by my friend and forum user Rick.

And, below is the “kuroi tamo”, a unique black net. The branch had some parts with interesting lines and features, but was generally boring and not that pretty. Thus, I decided early on to highlight the interesting features by darkening the entire net and having a transparent, and golden tone over on black on those features. They are hard to see in the photographs, but the bottom of the handle and the rounded middle are where you can see it. Unfortunately I think the mesh bag was too small for this one. I was going for a smaller mesh to keep its look more “delicate”, and used a 24cm size. I should have used a 27cm mesh, and will probably change it down the road.

2nd Tenkara Fly Swap Slideshow

For the past several days we have featured 2 flies a day, the results of the awesome flies tied by the participants of the second “Tenkara Fly Swap” hosted through the forum. Here’s a recap, of the flies in the form of a quick slideshow:
https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf

Tenkara Flies of the Day V Tenkara Fly Swap

Three beautiful tenkara flies today:

Tied by Kuhlow

Mr. Kuhlow from our forum tied the nice western/tenkara hybrid above, he says, “I called it the Royal Sakasa Kebari for kind of obvious reasons. When I first tied it, I was thinking about what kind of kebari would be great for small stream brook trout. Then I thought why not combine the best aspects of a sakasa kebari (namely the reverse hackle) and another proven fly, the Royal Coachman. That fly has been around since 1878 and worked so well that numerous other types of flies have used it’s color scheme. So I applied the herl and silk red band and reverse tied partridge hackle to a scud hook and away I went. It became one of my best flies for brookies last year. The only issue I have now is that I have tied so many new patterns this past winter I wonder if I’ll get a chance to fish it this coming year!”

Below is John Burge’s take on a classic tenkara fly, tied after one of Yoshikazu Fujioka’s favorite patterns, and I think its visibility will be a great asset in a fast flowing mountain stream.

Tied by John Burge

Bob Kern (Narcodog) tied the fly below, I really like the way the hackle matches the body. I kept the photograph a bit dark to accentuate the yellow of the hackle and the body.

Tied by Narcodog

Tenkara Flies of the Day IV

Jay (Yakfisher) from our forum, tied this wonderful fly. He says he’s tied less than 100 flies and is just “beginning to understand the techniques involved”, but I think he’s done a pro job at it. Description and his words below:

Jay says, “The story behind my flies is a simple one. Four years ago, or so, a friend tried to get me to tie flies and I even took a series of classes… A recent fly-fishing trip to Puget Sound brought my interest back up a bit and I discovered tenkara fishing as a simpler alternative to what I’ve done in the past. This idea fits very well into my psyche. Most of the flies I’ve seen tied for tenkara fishing appeared spare but effective so I decided to try tying once again. The pattern I’ve sent was based on this idea with some of the materials I purchased when I first tried to learn. Including these flies, I’ve tied less than 100 flies total so I’m just beginning to understand the techniques involved. Next I’ll need to better understand how changes to the patterns affect the behavior of the flies.” Great fly Yakfisher! I really like it.

MikeM tied this beautiful fly, Tenkara Purple and Partridge

MikeM from the forum tied the fly above, and wrote, “I am pretty much a traditional fly tier and have been tying longer than I have been fly fishing. Therefore I am far from a “one fly” guy. I really respect those that go this route, but I am a biologist and a bit too much of a geek about the entomology side of things to give up hatch matching. So I thought about what I would want to incorporate from what I have learned of traditional western fly tying if I could only use one simple fly. That fly would have to be a soft hackle wet fly as they are versatile and always seem to work well for me. One color would be tough to choose, but it would likely be either olive or purple. I went with purple because of the idea that it is more recognizable in deeper water. I strongly believe that segmentation is important, so I had to give it some type of rib, and figured that a little flash from the silver wire might act as a trigger. Finally, I choose the light partridge hackle because it provides a bit of contrast and the banding in the barbs provides a “buggy” look. I put all off this together and used the reverse hackle in homage to the traditional Tenkara style. I’m looking forward to hearing if anyone has success with this pattern.” Nice going Mike!

Tenkara Flies of the Day III

Karel Lansky, of the website http://www.tenkaraonthefly.net/ tied the first fly featured today, and says, “I wanted to crate a fly imitating a very widespread insect, a caddis, fished as pupa, with a dubbed body instead of the thread to achieve more “shaggyness”. Oh, yes, it’s all about the shaggyness, as he says, “thought a caddis pupa imitation might be something trout would not pass up.”

Tied by Karel Lansky of tenkaraonthefly.net

Andrew Berner tied the fly below, and says, “Mine was the red reverse Ishigaki Kebari. I just got all the stuff to tie flies and actually made two other batches of twelve and picked this third batch that looked the best. I’m new to this tying thing and I don’t think mine are as good as others but am really excited to try them out and see if they work. I used some 6/0 thread, hungarian partridge and red peacock herl. I’m really excited about tying as much as I can and want a bunch of good flies before the season starts this April.”

Tied by Andrew Berner (Berner9)

Tenkara Flies of the Day II

Rick Setina tied the fly below and says “I chose the sakasa kebari with a black body and a red tail section. I used grizzly hackle because that color combination did so well last fall in the high sierra mountains of Mammoth Lakes. I try to make my flies fairly bushy as far as the hackle goes. I feel the more action the feathers produce in the water the better it attracts fish.” I think this would work very well on a fast flowing mountain stream as well.

Tied by Rsetina

Erik Ostrander, who organized our first tenkara fly swap, created the midge tenkara fly below. Erik says, “For the second fly swap I tied a tenkara variation of my successful western fly called the “Drunken Midge”. It’s a very simple tie utilizing wine colored wire – hence the name. I have great success fishing this fly in the winter during the prolific midge hatches. I’ve been wanting to tie a good tenkara style version of the Drunken Midge for some time now, and I believe my design holds true to the original pattern. I call this one “Umeshu Midge”, named after the Japanese liquor made from Ume, the Japanese Plum. The tie is quite simple. Mustad C49S hook in size 18 to 22, gray uni-thread, wine colored wire, and a grizzly hen hackle.”

Tied by Erik Ostrander

Tenkara Flies of the Day I Tenkara Fly Swap

How I love our community of tenkara anglers, their enthusiasm and passion for tenkara inspires me to run Tenkara USA and try to make it better every day. As the flies of our second tenkara fly swapare put in the mail for the recipients, I will be featuring 2 flies a day on the blog. Keep coming back!

Forum user, Heineken, tied the beautiful fly below.

Tied by "Heineken"

Heineken says, “Hi Daniel ,
I had no time to come up with a little story behind my micro sakasa kebari earlier. Here it is
My objective was to tie a dry fly for quieter pools and streams where picky trout are feeding on small insects off the surface.I wanted to incorporate a little more movement in the hackle so I added some white fibres of culle de canard. The copperwire has to weigh down the body to ensure penetration of the water film, since the fly is very light, and a parachute like landing. Hook: Tiemco 103 bl | Thread : Black 0/8 uni | Rib: Copper wire fine | Hackle: Red cock hackle (Brahman) | Wing: White culle de canard | Simple enough ?

Ugly fly by Daniel

My fly was an “ugly” functional fly, and my take on a “original kebari”. I tied a fly to accomplish one goal: to sink effectively while using the simplest materials, thread and hackle. Actually, there is a bit of a story behind how I learned about this fly. Last September, Dr. Ishigaki came to visit and fish in California. On one of the days we went fishing for golden trout, on a gorgeous mountain stream with many very calm pools. One of the pools had a good number of fish, but they were only going for flies about 2-3ft under. While we could get to them with other flies, it took a while for them to sink. So, after a few minutes he pulled this “secret” weapon. I had seen his fly box many times Yet, I never noticed this “different” fly, which was tied with a lot more thread on the body. We tied this fly on, cast to the pool, and observed it sinking twice as fast. And, we could now catch twice as many fish, still using one pattern.