Patrick's First Tenkara Trout

[Sawtooth]

I fish mostly soft-hackle flies in the film or in the first foot or so of the water column, just because they're so effective

Yessir! However, I've had lots of success this spring with Little Dark Kebaris and Killer Kebaris. Both are yarn bodied soft hackle bugs and have taken a lot of trout for me. I'm tying up a bunch of Utah Killer Bugs too.

[CreationBear]

That's actually one great thing about Tenkara--the distinctions between "wet" and "dry" don't really apply when you can get one fly to be both on the same drift. I will admit though to avoiding fishing dry flies on my Ayu mostly because I've been known to get the yips when a big brown blows up on a Wulff--I've spent more than a few minutes staring at a fly stuck up in the canopy 26 feet away and no obvious way to get it down. Hopefully the G3 Tenkara line will at least save me some time dealing with bird's nests when I have to break off.

[Sawtooth]

I have the new G3 line for my Iwana. It's an improvement for sure. You will like it. However, I have become a fan of level lines...it's windy here.

[CreationBear]

BTW, if you're tying a lot with yarn, this brand of Berlin wool has a lot of neat colors, and is 3-ply so you can separate strands and "roll your own" so to speak:
http://yhst-9494565811469.stores.yah...tansiwoya.html
I also like that it has some silk in it that adds to its translucency, especially if you rough it up a bit with velcro once you get it on the hook.

[karlk]

Great info, Thanks guys.

Creation Bear, I go up to Hazel and Eagle creek at least once or twice a year. Do you ever fish those two streams?

[CreationBear]

I'm over here on the Tennessee side of the Park, so I don't get over that way as much as I should--it's a bit of a walk if you don't want to pay for a boat ride. That said, I think I like the water over on the NC side a bit better--I lived for a while over between Cherokee and Bryson City and had a lot of good days on Forney, Noland, and Deep Creek. At any rate, I'll look forward to seeing from fishing reports from you.

[karlk]

Will do. As soon as I pay some bills, I am going to make the leap and get a rod from Tenkara USA.

On a side note, my wife and I lived in Kyoto, Japan for 6 months. I saw a lot of guys fishing in the streams, but due to my lack of japanese I never could approach any of them to ask questions. In fact, I went into a traditional fishing store and the clerk (very politely) said I would be much happier next door at the modern fishing gear store. There were many days I would go hiking and just watch the guys fishing, so I could figure out what and how they were doing it. Also, during my free time, I would take the train up into the mountains and explore many of the trout streams. I didn't have a rod, and I couldn't figure out the licensing, regulation side of it anyway. It was just fun hiking in another country and seeing another style of fishing. It was fascinating to see them fishing with what I thought were fancy cane/crappie poles. I am really glad I stumbled on this thread, because now I realize they were Tenkara fishing. I can't wait to save the pennies to get one.

[MikeB.]

Sawtooth,

Mine is the 11' & I'm using the 10'6" TenkaraUSA furled line. Other than its tendency to get pushed around in the wind, I like the traditional line.

I fished from my kayak last week & this rod was perfect for it. Kept it collapsed until I got anchored, then deployed. With 5' of 5X tippet, I could get nearly 50' drifts! The other nice thing about not having a bunch of line to manage was that I could cast toward rising fish in almost any direction with ease. While anchored, a big trout rose just off my starboard stern, so I switch the rod to my left hand & cast back over my right shoulder. I can guarantee this would have resulted in an epic bird's nest with my western gear!

[Sawtooth]

Mike,

I've yet to use a tenkara rod from a boat. I'm hoping on a day off this summer I can talk one of the raft guides into letting me tag along for a raft trip...hopefully through the Gunnison. What a hoot that would be! Bird's nests really don't happen much with a tenkara rod unless you accidentally catch your fly on the rod tip during a cast. They sure are easier to untangle when they happen!