Tenkara: 1st impressions

[boneless]

So I decided to jump on the bandwagon and get a tenkara rod. Being a penniless public servant and all around cheap guy, I went with the least expensive one out there, the Fountainhead caddis fly 330. It's 11' and rated 5:5 which has something to do with the flex. I just liked the $45 price tag. ($53.50 shipped). I paired it with a hi-vis fluorocarbon level line from tenkarabum.com ($14 shipped). According to what I've read, tenkara was developed to catch small fish in small mountain streams. Well, I spend a lot of time chasing small fish in small mountain streams so it seemed like a good match. Turns out it is a good match. Long casts are rarely needed where I fish so the limited reach isn't a problem. I was more worried about banging the 11' rod into overhead brush but that hasn't really been an issue either. I normally fish a 7'6" 3wt and if anything, I'm doing less monkey fishing with the 11 footer. Maybe I'm just being more careful. Casting is easy and fun. I can finally cast the whole line, just like the rock stars of fly fishing. Of course my whole line is only about 13' including the tippet. So, you ask " what about catching fish?" I've been out 3 times and I've caught about the same number of fish I normally do. The fight on the ultralight rod is pretty cool. Even a small smallmouth can put a serious bend in it but I haven't felt like it was in any danger of breaking (I'm using 4# tippet which should be the weak point). I also took it down to the UH quarry pond and caught a few red devils. The long rod and light line were good for that application too. I'm looking forward to casting from my kayak out at Wilson in the near future. In summary, though I won't be throwing away my regular fly rods, I'm stoked to have tenkara as an option and I'm really happy with my purchase.

[Stan Wright]

So, when are we going fishing? I want you to try the 6:4 rod (13' 6")
I also have a 5:5, but it's a 12 footer. So much fun.

[Chaess]

My wakata 13' arrived last week. I have yet to try it out. I have never fly fished before and thought the tenkara would be a great start. I hope it performs well.

[Stan Wright]

I understand some fly fishing classes now start with the Tenkara and then move on to "western"style fly rods.
Pretty soon we'll have enough people to have our own Tenkara Summit.

[Ahnkochee]

How about a Tenkara potluck?

[Ahnkochee]

I just ordered a 6' Tenkara rod for fishing small mountain streams that have plenty overhead vegetation, great SMBass grounds.

[Stan Wright]

That's a pretty little thing... Ikura desu ka?
You can bring it to the potluck.

I was reading about a guy from Germany who teaches fly fishing. He uses a small wash cloth to teach Tenkara users how to land a fish. The wash cloth has just the right amount of "fight" in a small running stream to act like a fish. Seems like a good way to teach anyone how to land a fish on any kind of tackle.
(of course I would need a beach towel to represent the size of fish I catch)

[boneless]

Stan, I have lots of weekdays off and I crush down the barb on all my hooks.
For the potluck, I make a mean chocolate chip cookie and a pretty fair chicken enchilada.

[Ahnkochee]

That's a pretty little thing... Ikura desu ka?

I dunno, might break the bank.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWNX:IT

[Ahnkochee]

That's a pretty little thing... Ikura desu ka?

I dunno, might break the bank.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWNX:IT

Just got it in the mail yesterday, ARGH the quality sux, not worth the $8.56 including shipping I paid for it. Maybe I'll turn it into a Oama rod.

[Stan Wright]

You know what they say...
You get what you pay for.


My first rod was $135... www.TenkaraUSA.com
My next was $60... www.Allfishingbuy.com
I like both rods, but you can sure tell the difference in quality.

We won't even talk about the 16 foot Crappie Stick rod I got for $16
at Brian's... (it is NOT a Tenkara Rod)

[Ahnkochee]

:lol:
You know what they say...
You get what you pay for.


We won't even talk about the 16 foot Crappie Stick rod I got for $16
at Brian's... (it is NOT a Tenkara Rod)

I guess it lived up to it's name.

[roadwarriorsvt]

I guess it lived up to it's name.

You beat me to it Ji !! I can just see the transaction at Brian's:

STAN: I want a crappie rod.
BRIAN: Why do you want a crappy rod?
STAN: Just get me a crappie rod!
BRIAN: OK, here you are, a crappy rod.