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...

Welcome to the third 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 Ice Shelf Fishing, Bamboo Rods, Iwana Sashimi, 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.

We received some great feedback and a lot of downloads of the inaugural edition of mounTEN, our new ezine. So, we bring to you the 2nd edition, which has pieces on how to tenkara fish with long lines, a conversation with Dr. Hisao Ishigaki, a piece on the Manzanar fishing camp, and one on the snake-skin tenkara flies of Mr. Hirata.

Download the printable PDF version here

mounTEN is the official ezine of Tenkara USA, and its ten spreads will be published on the 10th of every month. So stay tuned for the next issue, which will be published on December 10th.

If you want to receive the magazine to your inbox, make sure to subscribe to our email newsletter:

Announcing our first issue of mounTEN! The official “e-zine” of Tenkara USA. Look for it on the TENth of every month, each issue is a collection of essays, interviews, how-to’s, and philosophical thoughts on the tenkara lifestyle in TEN spreads. At the end of the zine will be an installment of Up TENkara Creek, a new comic about the history and story of tenkara. We have designed the comic to be printable as a coloring page. Download it here and break out the colored pencils and crayons

Tenkara rods are very easy to use and are pretty strong. Some common problems with tenkara rods are very easy to avoid or deal with. In this video, John Geer from Tenkara USA’s customer service team, will walk you through some of the common problems seen on a tenkara rod, how to avoid problems while using your tenkara rod, and how to troubleshoot and fix any problems you may encounter with your tenkara rod.
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And of course, if your tenkara rod has the Tenkara USA name on its label, you can always count on our customer support to take care of you, that’s our Tenkara Care™ guarantee.
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To learn more about tenkara rods, or for help from our customer service team, visit www.tenkarausa.com or call 888.i.tenkara (888.483.6527)