Written by Martin Montejano

Dry fly fishing season is upon us! Watching a trout snatch a snack off the top of the water is just about as exciting as it gets! While rod and reel fly fishing utilizes dry flies, fixed-line fishing brings some advantages when it comes to fishing the surface.

There’s a certain approach I like to take while the activity on a stream is hot and the fish are willing to come up for their food. But, as I imagine most anglers do, I usually start with a dead drift. A gentle cast to avoid spooking fish, followed by a short drift in a seam or foam line may be just enough to get a bite. Be sure to keep the rod tip high and the line off the water if you can, as it may keep a feeding fish from rising to that tasty-looking fly with the weird, bright string attached to it.

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Tenkara is who we are.

Hello! Welcome to the first edition of a little series we’ve put together to help you get to know our wonderful crew. Tenkara USA has always been a tight-knit team of responsive anglers dedicated to sharing tenkara, and while we work with outside firms for some other aspects of our business (such as fulfillment) and count on supporters at events, the team we’re highlighting here is our close-knit in-house staff with whom you’re likely to interact when you reach out. While it’s true that our founder Daniel Galhardo has taken a step back from the helm, our main team is together and we’re happy to help you with all things tenkara. If you’ve ever called us, emailed, or even been to our booth at a fly fishing show there is a good chance you’ve talked with TJ. He’s also super creative and fun to work with, so we thought he would be the perfect person to start this off.

Meet TJ – Customer Service & Ops

TJ has been working with us since 2011 and is in charge of customer service, and works behind the scenes helping to make sure products are available for you. His jolly smile and friendly connection with customers help ensure Tenkara USA continues its reputation for terrific customer service!

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TJ’s fooled trout

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Hey everyone, happy March. Can you believe there’s only a couple more weeks until the official first day of Spring on March 20th?! The days are getting noticeably longer, and warmer, and that means the big thaw has started or will start soon for many of us here in the Northern Hemisphere.

As far as spring tenkara fishing opportunities go, the name of the game is TIMING. Some of our favorite creeks and rivers are starting to open up and although we’re not quite out of the woods yet for cold dips and moisture, if you time your fishing right you can catch some warm afternoons, and hopefully bug hatches too. It’s also time to get your gear ready.

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Your Guide to Winter Tenkara Fishing
Written by Jen Kugler Hansen

While some anglers seem to have gone into hibernation and are sitting at their fly-tying vices this time of year, tenkara anglers have some major advantages to get in the winter fly-fishing game. Ice can bring havoc to fly rods, lines, and reels, but tenkara rods are perfectly suited to handle icy conditions that traditional fly-fishing rigs cannot. Because a tenkara rod uses a fixed line only attached at the tip there are no guides or reels for ice to collect on, which puts us in the driver’s seat.

Winter tenkara fishing can be a lot of fun if you prepare yourself, so let’s discuss what to expect and we’ll give you some tips that will make your next trip more successful.

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Whenever we put a tenkara rod in someone’s hands, it seems like the tips we share on how to use the rods are the same. So, here’s a video we made to share the 10 most common tips we share for tenkara fishing.

We have put together a 17 minute video that goes through everything you need to learn to start tenkara fishing.
In this How-to tenkara video, I go through every step of the way to get you hooking fish with your tenkara rod, line and fly.

Over the weekend I created my longest video/podcast episode for the Tenkara Cast yet. This time I cover everything about tenkara nets (also known as tenkara “tamo”): where do they come from, how they are made, how to use a tenkara net, and how to make your own. I go into a lot of detail into every aspect of tenkara nets in this episode. The episode clocks in at over one hour and twenty minutes, so I also added timestamps of different sections if you’re interested in one area over another.

Watch now and get more information here or by clicking the image below

Please check out a new episode of the Tenkara Cast, in which I discuss my method for covering water, stealth, and fishing in windy conditions. In this episode I also do a 5-minute guided meditation in the end, something a bit out there (as tenkara may be anyways) and hope that it helps someone in these crazy days we are living.
The Tenkara Cast is available via your favorite podcasting app, and now also on Spotify.

Welcome to the seventh issue of Tenkara USA’s official monthly ezine, covering the best stories on the tenkara method of fly-fishing. mounTEN brings forth content created by Tenkara USA over the last 10 years in a fun-to-read format. This month features a look back at 10 years of sharing tenkara and building Tenkara USA. Enjoy!

Welcome to the sixth issue of Tenkara USA’s official monthly ezine, covering the best stories on the tenkara method of fly-fishing. mounTEN brings forth content created by Tenkara USA over the last 10 years in a fun-to-read format. This month features thoughts on simplicity, information on our Tenkara Summit, a story by TJ Ferreira, an article on line management and a new Up Tenkara Creek Comic…plus much more. Enjoy!

You can read the ezine in the reader above, or download the full PDF version here.

Welcome to the fifth issue of Tenkara USA’s official monthly ezine, covering the best stories on the tenkara method of fly-fishing. mounTEN brings forth content created by Tenkara USA over the last 10 years in a fun-to-read format. This month features an article on our first video, the “one-fly” philosophy, a story on Mr. Katsutoshi Amano, a piece that talks the ideas behind our Sato rod, a new Up Tenkara Creek Comic and much more. Enjoy!

You can read the ezine in the reader above, or download the full PDF version here.

Welcome to the fourth issue of Tenkara USA’s official monthly ezine, covering the best stories on the tenkara method of fly-fishing. mounTEN brings forth content created by Tenkara USA over the last 10 years in a fun-to-read format. This month features an article on tangles & snags, covers a trip fishing tenkara with Ed Engle and John Gierach, a piece on the versatile tenugui, a new Up Tenkara Creek Comic and much more. Enjoy!

You can read the ezine in the reader above, or download the full PDF version here.

Besides the blog posts below, here you’ll find the newest content from Tenkara USA:

mounTEN – the tenkara ezine

mounTEN brings to you the best stories and articles we have shared in the TEN years since we introduced tenkara to the US. Each issue contains TEN beautifully designed spreads, and is released on the TENth of every month. Click here to read all issues of mounTEN

• Tenkara Coloring Book

  Tenkara Coloring Book

  Our designer Jeremy just finished putting together the first Tenkara Coloring Book! We hope this may be a fun activity for you and your family, or something that will...

• mounTEN: issue 6, March 2019

  mounTEN: issue 6, March 2019

  Welcome to the sixth issue of Tenkara USA’s official monthly ezine, covering the best stories on the tenkara method of fly-fishing. mounTEN brings forth content...

• mounTEN: issue 5, February 2019

  mounTEN: issue 5, February 2019

  Welcome to the fifth issue of Tenkara USA’s official monthly ezine, covering the best stories on the tenkara method of fly-fishing. mounTEN brings forth content...

Tenkara Cast – our podcast

The Tenkara Cast features conversations about technique, gear and philosophy, and now also features conversations with Trout Unlimited chapters across the US.

• The Manzanar Fishing Club, with Cory Shiozaki

  The Manzanar Fishing Club, with Cory Shiozaki

  Fishing always brings with it a glimmer of hope. But, it can also provide a sense of freedom, and dignity, as the story behind the Manzanar Fishing Club shows us. Daniel...

• Destinations: Tenkara in Idaho with Chris Hunt

  Destinations: Tenkara in Idaho with Chris Hunt

  Chris Hunt is Trout Unlimited’s National Digital Director and author of Catching Yellowstone’s Wild Trout: A Fly-Fishing History and Guide as well as Fly...

• Conversation with Jason Klass, and more

  Conversation with Jason Klass, and more

  This time Daniel talks to Jason Klass, the prolific tenkara blogger behind Tenkara Talk. They talk about the 10 years of tenkara, discuss the use of the term...