The Middle River Group, LLC

fly fishing, conservation and politics.

Tenkara USA

Fishing Tenkara With Daniel Galhardo

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When Tenkara USA founder, Daniel Galhardo was in town we had a chance to hang out, fish and talk tenkara.

Meeting up with sensei Galhardo

Daniel was at Mossy Creek Fly Fishing on Saturday October 20th giving a presentation and casting demonstration.

Daniel starts his presentation

That afternoon we took a group of avid tenkara anglers to Mossy Creek for a hands-on clinic.

Starting the tenkara demonstration on Mossy Creek
Daniel demonstrates the downstream presentation
Daniel scouts a bend on Mossy Creek

Folks had a chance to get some fishing time with Daniel as well

Fred was the first to land a fish
A rainbow is landed
This fine Mossy Creek ‘bow sports a black sakasa kebari

Mossy Creek Fly Fishing co-owner Brian Trow, shot some great video of the tenkara action.

In the video, Daniel and Brian see a fish rise and start stalking it. Just as Daniel is set to cast, another fish rises and he turns his attention to that fish. He uses the “pause and drift” method to catch the fish. You will also see how he handles landing a large fish. Daniel fished a T-USA Ito, about 15ft of 3.5 level line, 4ft of 5x tippet and a Ishigaki Kebari.

Brian and I wanted to learn more about the “one fly” practice that Daniel and the tenkara anglers in Japan embrace so after our guests left, Daniel, Brian and I did some fishing on our own. Brian and I had committed to Daniel that we would only fish this way when we fished together. We took the opportunity of Daniel’s coaching to become more skilled in the tenkara style of fly-fishing.

At one point, while doing a downstream “pause and drift”, a fish bit the lilian on my tenkara rod. I was so shocked I jumped back screaming and fell down laughing like a fool. After breaking off a 20″ rainbow because I was to slow to move despite Brian and Daniel telling me to…

I at least found redemption with a nice brown a few casts later.

a nice Mossy Creek brown

After a day on the Valley spring creeks we headed up to the George Washington National Forest to fish for brook. We fished only tenkara flies on level lines using tenkara techniques.

I will confess to being somewhat skeptical of the “one-fly” method but after three days with increasing success I can say with confidence that it works. As a guide who specializes in the tenkara method it was especially rewarding to get first-hand coaching on tenkara fishing.

tenkara, it’s unreel!!!

Streamside Tenkara Seminar

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Mossy Creek Fly Shop owner Colby Trow with a nice ‘bow using a Tenkara USA Ito

Are you interested in tenkara fishing on spring creeks? Then join us for the Mossy Creek Fly Fishing Streamside Tenkara Seminars. The first one is this Friday, July 27th, from 6:00 – 8:00 PM. We will have another one on Wednesday, August 22nd, from 6:00-8:00PM. Colby, Brian and I will be giving presentations and demonstrations on using a tenkara outfit for fishing on spring creeks.

As a guide for Mossy Creek Fly Fishing I know that experience and knowledge is as important to our customers as the products we sell. It is as much a reason for our success as the high quality gear and accessories we offer. We are always looking for fun and innovative ways to share that knowledge with our customers both new and old. This year, tenkara has exploded in our region. Tenkara outfits are the hottest selling items in the store. Not a day goes by when we don’t get asked about it.

During the summer our local spring creeks are a spectacular fishing option. On the water we manage, big bugs and big fish are the rule. Using a tenkara outfit has proven to be an exciting and highly effective way to catch big browns and ‘bows.

This “hands-on” seminar will give you a chance to:

* Cast the full range of Tenkara USA rods and learn which rod is best for different fishing conditions.

* Learn about the different types and lengths of line and which one is best to use for various fishing conditions.

* Learn about setting up your tenkara outfit for spring creeks.

* Learn the “go-to” flies for the various summer spring creek hatches.

* Learn tips, tactics and techniques for successfully fishing spring creeks.

To sign up, call the store at 540-434-2444. The cost is $35 person at time of sign up with Visa or Mastercard, first come – first served.

Space is limited to 15 participants so register early!

 

 

Guest Post – Are You Ten-kurious?

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Tenkara fishing on a Montana spring creek

Editor’s Note: My friend Ben Bulis, who is running the American Fly Fishing Trade Association, wrote about his recent adventure with a tenkara rod. I asked if he would let me use it as a guest post on Dispatches. He agreed. Enjoy.

Are You Ten-kurious? I was, and I tried it! Tenkara… What is it? Tenkara (translated: “from the skies” or “from the heavens”) is the traditional method (no reel) of Japanese fly-fishing used by commercial fishermen in the mountains of Japan to catch Yamame, Iwana and Yamago. Tenkara originated in Japan more than 200 years ago, the rods, originally were made of long bamboo/cane poles.

Tenkara has been making it’s emergence in the U.S. market since 2009, thanks to Daniel Galhardo, owner of San Francisco based Tenkara U.S.A. Temple Fork Outfitters recently announced they too would be manufacturing a Tenkara rod and RIO now offers a Tenkara line.

I’ll be totally honest; I was more than a little skeptical about fishing without a reel! I have to say, I really have been enjoying the simple approach to fishing, and its effectiveness has made me a believer, Tenkara is here to stay. Learning a new method of fishing and pushing the limits on the size of fish I can catch, is what I like about it! With that being said, Tenkara, will never be able to replace my assortment of rods and reels, it’s just another tool in my quiver.

Tenkara, with its simple approach and ease will in my mind, be a gateway to introduce non-anglers children and adults, to the sport of fly-fishing. Anyone can cast a Tenkara rod effectively in less than 10 minutes! Both of my young children have picked up my Tenkara rod and have caught fish within 15 minutes on the river.

If you have the Tenkara itch, go ahead and scratch it!

Tenkara Rod Caps Are EZ To Lose

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Tenkara anglers know that the most likely thing to lose when you go fishing is the end cap on your tenkara rod. The end cap protects the rod when it is housed and keeps things from falling out or getting in.

Dang handy little item.

But there in lies the challenge. Little. Like easily misplaced little.

So having spent some time thinking about ways to keep the little rascal from disappearing I came up with this idea.

Since I have a lot of old fly line lying around I decided it could be put to good use.

I grabbed my power drill and a 1/32 drill bit and made a slight modification to the end caps of my collection of Tenkara USA rods. Then I slipped a short length of old fly line through the hole and tied a figure-eight knot at the end.

Here is how it turned out.

Tenkara USA end cap MK 1 Mod 1

Since I wear a Fly Vines lanyard, I will just stash it there. If I drop it, the bright green line will be much easier to find as well.

Hopefully this will keep the rod caps from wandering off…

The Tenkara Roundup Volume 1, Issue 2

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Wow, there is a lot going on in the Tenkara world…

Pretty much every day I find some intresting tenkara news as I peruse the interwebs. The more the better as far as I am concerned. What has been especially rewarding for me this year is the increasing interest in tenkara.

I not talking about the silly stuff about fads, cults or the haters on the forums. That stuff doesn’t advance knowledge, it’s mostly noise. Most of those folks never use a tenkara rod before they spout off. Of course that noise does help with name recognition and SEO.  Like my grand pappy, with his sharp political mind, used to say about name recognition, “I don’t care what they say about me as long as the spell my name correctly.”

There is clearly an increase in curiosity and desire to learn more about the tenkara technique. So far this month I have given tenkara presentations to the  Massanutten, Rapidan, and Potomac/Patuxanat chapters of Trout Unlimited, done a tenkara demostatation at the National Capitol Chapter of Trout Unlimted and have a four day and a couple of 1/2 day tenkara guiding gigs lined up.

And if the number of articles about tenkara is any indication than more people are giving tenkara a serious look. Give these articles a look.

Tenkara Fishing Video

My good friend Chris Hunt of Eat More Brook Trout put together a terrific video: Tenkara Winter.

Tenkara and Marriage

A great post with wonderful photos on Bug Chuckers about the many advantages of tenkara: Tenkara

What Tenkara and “Fixies” have in common

Yours truly gets a quoted in this excellent article in Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine: Tenkara fly fishing is gaining momentum in the United States.

Keeping the Tenkara Rod Clean and Dry

Here is a handy tip from Teton Tenkara: What I learned from band.

Diawa Tenkara Rod Review

The new Daiawa rod gets a test on Casting Around: Tenkara Rod Review: Daiwa LL36SF.

Tenkara USA Ito Rod Review

The Ito gets the Teton Tenkara field test: Tenkara USA Ito review.

New Tenkara Fly Box

Tenkara USA has a new fly box: Bamboo Tenkara Fly Box.

Handcrafted Tenkara Rod Plugs

Kiwi over at The North River works his magic again: Tenkara Rod Plugs.

Tenkara Level Line Comparisons

Tenkara Talk compares somes level lines from Tenkara USA and Tenkara Bum: New Tenkara USA Yellow Level Line.

 

 

Tenkara USA Guide Network

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Last week I was thrilled to receive an email from Daniel Galhardo, owner of Tenkara USA, asking me if I would like to join the Tenkara Guide Network to be launched in 2012. According to Daniel the Tenkara Guide Network will be a directory of guides that teach and guide with tenkara as their preferred method of fishing. This is a great honor for me and I really appreciated the recognition from Tenkara USA!