Tenkara Rods – UL fishing…

[Matthew Steingass]

Congratulations. What rod and action did you end up ordering?

[Jay Well]

I have seen some casting videos on Youtube and I decided I wanted to try some different casting techniques so last night I took my Tenkara set to a small local pond to do exactly that.

I found in just an hour was getting the hang of different casting techniques. This was only my second time using the rod and I think I am finally getting used to the slow speed of the rod. I also experimented with different flys and weights as well as different length tippets (all 5x). I found that many different casting styles work. I especially like the underhand and side cast. It was great for accurate placements. I found adding weight had negative effect on casting ease and accuracy. I don't think the rod can really handle any more than a BB of split shot and that might have been pushing it (I am using the Yamame rod). I used tippet length between about 5' and 8'. All lengths I tired worked fine. With longer tippets I would suggest some sort of 3x leader tied onto the extender loop. I didn't have any and I can see this being a problem hauling in a larger fish. I caught a lot of bluegill and it was fun bringing them in. The shorter tippet made it much easier to actually bring the fish in.

I have also made a quick winding spool out of a piece of foam. It is very similar to the one on the Tenkara forums (http://www.tenkarausa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=23), but mine is smaller. It allows you to collapse the pole and not have to spool the line. It is great for hiking from spot to spot. Only take about a minute to start casting and about the same amount of time to collapse the rod back down. I also made a foam endcap to replace the wood one. It is nice because it fits farther down the barrel of the pole to reduce movement of the pole segments while walking and it allows the transition loop to extend out the top without any abrasion from the wood cap. I will try to post pictures soon.

Starting to like the rod more and more and can't wait to try it out in the backcountry. Hopefully Ryan Jordan will post a review of the Tenkara rod he used on his Bob Marshall trip.

[Derek Goffin]

is it possible to add a slotted foam end cap at both ends of the collapsed rod and wind the line from end to end and hopefully snag the hook in an end too? That last bit may well be the problem.

[Jesse Ashbaugh]

For those of you that have some experience with this setup, how do you think it would work for small alpine lakes? Is its reach too short?

[Jay Well]

I think Tenkara would work well for small alpine lakes. With my western fly fishing set up I found I was catching most fish within 20' of where I was casting from. I was more sucessful when I surveyed the lake and could cast to a spot that I saw fish or thought fish were likely to be, rather than double hauling to the center of the lake. Many alpine have banks are choked with shrubs making longer casts more difficult. The benefit of setting up and collapsing the Tenkara rod will more than outweigh the perceived disadvantage of a limited amount of line.

I have not tried my Tenkara set up in the back country yet, but expect good results when I do.

[Barnett Childress]

Mathew,
After talking to Daniel I ended up with a 13' Ayu 6:4 rod, moss green line, 6x tippet and several Tenkara flies.

I was hesitant about the longer rod but I did want something versatile with some extra reach. After Daniel said you can fish these rods with one section collapsed I went for it. I want to try fishing with it from my kayak as well.

[Barnett Childress]

Here's a pic of my Tenkara setup described above with a small Morell foam fly box (flies on left at Tenkara), Fishpond Aussie clippers, Hemostats. Weighs 5.52oz total.

[Ryan Jordan]

I love Tenkara.

I mean, seriously, if a fly fishing inventor were to build something just for us, in terms of gear, technique, and style, this is it. SO COOL.

As many of you know, I just returned from a couple weeks of trekking in the Bob Marshall and I caught loads of fish on my Tenkara rod, a new model 13-footer.

I'm putting together a video review that includes HELMET CAM footage of casting, catching, and releasing a good fish, which is neat.

Until then, enjoy the teaser here:

This was a cutthroat, about 15", caught on the South Fork Flathead using a Sylvester Nemes' soft hackle pattern during an evening spinner fall of gray drakes.

Oh and FWIW, I think limiting "Tenkara" to small streams is ridiculous. Most trout hang out near the banks. Get into position, and get near'em. Long casts usually aren't necessary for river fishing for trout. The S Fk is a BIG river, 1000 CFS at low water, and up to 5000 CFS when it becomes fishable in June. I think it was probably running around 3000 CFS when this shot was taken.

The longer rod I had (13') was nice, for its reach, and for rolling over long leaders (I used an 8' leader at the end of a 10.5' Tenkara line), because the fish were being picky during the spinner hatch.

[Ashley Brown]

Hey Ryan,

Nice pic! What camera/lens combo are you using? One of the Oly dSLRs with pancake lens or what?

Cheers, A

[Aaron Lastname]

So max reach is ~30 feet? I would actually be more worried about using this in small streams than big ones or lakes myself, as a rod that long can get be a lot to handle in the brush and such…Any thoughts? Dap away? :) I think if I go extreme I can get my traditional fly fishing setup to about 9oz with everything included, but not under 6oz as the setup above shows. Is the 3-4 oz savings worth it? I guess that's a personal call. Can't wait for the video.

[Ryan Jordan]

@ashley – it's a Sigma DP2. I don't use SLRs so much on long trips. I still take them on short trips. This year I've been using the DP2 and the Olympus E-P1. I'll start posting photos with the P1 pretty soon. It's a pretty good camera too.

@aaron – no, much less actually (the rod/line/leader cannot be a straight line). A shorter rod would work better on a brushy creek, for sure, but yes, dapping is the modus operandi for creek fishin'.

[Ashley Brown]

Will be interested to hear how the EP-1 pans out. The Siggy would interest me more if it could actually do decent sized video… it can't even manage 640×480, which is a bummer.

The EP-1 is sounding like a fairly slow machine from what I have read so far, but that wouldn't matter much for backpacking. Likewise the limited lens selection.

Thanks for the heads up… I'll look forward to seeing some EP-1 pics.

BTW… in your Blast pack review a little while back were you using the DP2 for photos for that too?

[Ryan Jordan]

@ashley: the DP2 is slower than the E-P1. I've been using the DP1/DP2 a lot the past few years, nothing really bothers me with either I suppose, so I think the E-P1 is pretty snappy compared to the Sigmas.

I've been pretty happy with the E-P1 so far, but I still have a soft spot for the DP1/DP2 images.

The Blast pack review was shot by an Oly DSLR with that gorgeous but heavy Leica Summicron 25mm lens.

[Ashley Brown]

OK thanks. Sounds like the EP-1 would do the job. Might wait till it drops in price a bit though.

Really enjoyed your pics in the Blast review. The beauty of an f1.4 Leica lens eh!

[Hendrik Morkel]

Had a look at the Tenkara videos on Vimeo and the website and really like the idea of the system. I believe this will be my entry into fly fishing, as it looks rather "easy" and fun, plus its UL and fast to assemble/ pack. Great stuff, and that photo, Ryan, is gorgeous. Looking forward to the video and more.

[Jay Well]

To beat the heat I took my Tenkara set up and my packraft to some Alpine lakes around Mt. Hood this weekend. Overall everything worked very well. Was there especially for the yellow mayfly hatch so most of the good fishing was between 8-9pm. There is nothing better than sitting in a lake in your packraft with Mt. Hood as the backdrop as the sun is going down. Making it better was that the fishing was spectacular. Caught a number of rainbows the largest being 15". Tenkara set up worked great, just have to be well organized on the packraft to avoid any tangles especially if you are using a long tippet. Wish I had pictures, but accidentally left the camera at home. Can't wait to get back out there.

[Ryan Jordan]

I'm glad you had success on a lake with Tenkara, Jay.

My son and I are packing for a trek in the Western Uintas now, heading up there this week with Tenkara rods and the Alpacka Double Duck…

…AND a camera! (the Olympus E-P1).

Will (hopefully) post a neat fish pic back here later in the week!

[. .]

I'm ordering a Yamame as well (D.V.) with plans to attempt a bit of saltwater shore fishing here in the Puget Sound. I don't know how it will go, but I look forward to the experiment.

I'm very pleased to hear of success on 2000 cfs+ and alpine lakes (not to mention from a packraft) – both very impressive results, gentlemen.

[Frank Perkins]

> I have the as yet unreleased 13' 6:4 model

Ryan, don't think we didn't notice yet another piece of gear you're using that we don't have our hands on ;-)

When you're done with your Tenkara videos, can you please shoot a "cribs" like video of your gear shed?

[. .]

Frank, The 13' 6:4 rod is available on their website. It appears that Barnett purchased this same model (Ayu).

[Kevin Kelleher]

Just back from the Wind River Mountains for a week and took both my 5wt and my Ayu 13, 6:4 Ended up using the Ayu 90% of the time.

Insights:
1. Handled anything I could catch in the alpine lakes and streams including 18 inch "cuts." Two break offs in a week. Never felt the rod was over taxed.
2. Playing and landing is LESS time and less stress on fish with Ayu; no transfer time to reel and better nose control with long lever.
3. Less tangle and set up time = more fishing time.
4. Light weight and collapsability made bushwacking a breeze compared to a traditional rod.
5. Ended up liking a tippet ring instead of loop to loop at the extender.
6. For me, lighter touch than traditional rod, which translated to more fish. No joke. Might take a tad more stealth, but I could easily fish lake outlets as well as streams. IMO very few limitations on fresh water fishing with Tankara, exceptions being still water deep and exceptionally long casting/drift boating.

[Paul Vertrees]

I watched Ryan's video from the Flathead…looks like he was subsistence fishing, so it was OK to simply back up and pull the fish up on the shore. But I wonder, what's the technique for catch and release, especially on brush-lined streams where you really can't back up and get them on the shore anyway? I catch and release a lot more trout than I kill and eat. Just curious how to do that.

[Anonymous]

"But I wonder, what's the technique for catch and release, especially on brush-lined streams where you really can't back up and get them on the shore anyway? I catch and release a lot more trout than I kill and eat. Just curious how to do that."

Cut the hook point off just before it enters the body of the fly, or bend it inward toward the body of the fly. That way the fish can't get hooked at all. You will have had the satisfaction of fooling him into biting without exposing him to disease from an infected wound or rubbing the slime off his body when you grasp him to disengage the hook(more exposure to disease). Sort of like young Native American braves out to prove their bravery counted coup by rushing in to strike an enemy warrior without inflicting serious damage. The potential consequences for them, however, were potentially much more serious than for you
p%ss#ng off a trout. :)

[Paul Vertrees]

In my book, that wouldn't rate as "counting coup", because there's also some skill involved in actually bringing in a hooked trout. Playing the fish, reading the current, turning a fish, etc. Nice suggestion though, but I'll keep hooking fish. So, anyone else have some suggestions?

[Mary D]

The videos on the Tenkara USA site (which I found more informative since they show more actual fishing, including casting) all show fish being released. Nobody is knocking any fish on the head in these videos!

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