My backpacking fishing kit

Very nice….I need to get my 10′ Tenkara out soon :-)

Awesome! I got bit by the tenkara bug a year or so ago but have since went back to western outfits. Maybe it is time for me to dust off the tenkara gear as well.

good stuff chris; enjoyed the montana blog too. re the pill bottles, do ya dump most o the flies out each time, to access them? i would lose lots, esp when windy. lately i have enjoyed altoids tins in both sizes, sometimes w magnetic liner. the fly box by morel is very UL also.

the 2 pasttimes go well tgether 4 sure, with rods going 3 ozs n flies being weightless…wild trout on a campfire, in the backcountry, pure magic.

I think my Tenkara kit for the high country is ~3 ounces.

Tenkara USA Iwana with the 9′ handle conversion, Tenkara USA mini forceps/clippers, small plastic tube with flies, spool of 6X tippet, spare tenkara line, all in a small zippered Orvis leader pouch.

I’ve only used two flies in the past 4 years or so; Sekasa Kebari and a beadhead zebra midge.  90% is the kebari.

As we speak I’m pulling out my Western gear.  I’ve fished Tenkara exclusively for almost 5 years now but I miss the American stuff; got a beautiful Sage SLT 6wt that I’m looking forward to fishing on browns during the spawn this fall….

Nice kit, very workable! Can’t get pics of my kit right now cuz it’s in my sleeping kids’ room… so won’t go into detail about everything. But will mention two easy places you could save weight if so desired.

1- reels are fairly heavy (by UL standards), and in most high mountain fishing, I really don’t need more than 30-40’ of fly line anyway. So I cut one of my older fly lines down and made a mini “line holder” from a small plastic tape roll. The roll goes over the reel seat and is held on w/ a big broccoli rubber band. Took a little practice to get used to but works pretty well. Saved around 5-6oz

2- my Winston rod sock is surprisingly heavy, so I sewed one out of some spare lightweight silnylon instead. Dropped another 3-5oz

Forgot to mention, Tenkara is def the way to go if UL is your highest priority. But I tried it a number of times and it just didn’t do it for me. Maybe I was doing it wrong or trying it in poorly matched situations… wished i’d liked it more but just didn’t.