Go With The Flow – Tenkara Waters With Stronger Currents
Written by Martin Montejano
The flows on one of my favorite rivers are just about perfect, the fish are biting, and they should be hanging in the stretches of riffles and deep pools until the end of the season!
While I plan to spend most of my time over the next few months fishing around the boulders and cobbles that line the bed and banks of the river, I will be reinstating a few practices that I’ve found to be helpful on tenkara waters with stronger currents.
Familiar Waters – Tenkara Techniques
Written by Martin Montejano
While the month of June offered great fishing in higher elevation creeks, some of those tributaries’ flows are starting to drop, and the fish are moving lower in the watershed. For the time being, I am back to fishing some of the more familiar waters in my area.
Coming back to the creeks I fish regularly helps shift my perspective from going after smaller fish to practicing some presentations and habits for fishing bigger waters in the next few months. While the creeks don’t often hold big trout, knowing popular holding spots for fish helps me to practice different tenkara techniques.
Tenkara USA Team Highlight – Meet John Geer
Tenkara is who we are.
Hello! Welcome to the second 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.
Meet John Geer, Dealer and Customer Services
John Geer brings decades of fly-fishing with him. He works with our dealer network and Tenkara Guide Network, manages our repair department, and supports TJ in customer service.
Into The Mountains
Written by Martin Montejano
As Spring turns into Summer and the last of the snow in the higher elevations begins to melt away, I redirect my focus to the smaller streams and creeks nestled in mountains. Long drives up windy roads offer gorgeous scenic views leading to quiet and often isolated tenkara fishing spots.
Whether the stream is lined with trees and bushes or winds its way through an open meadow, I always recommend taking a stealthy approach. Extra precautions and planning of your movements while on the water will bring you more success when the streams may be crystal clear. Whenever you can, avoid getting in the water. I often try to stay around the outside of the pools and move through them after they have been fished. Try to avoid crossing the creek if you can, but when necessary, cross in a shallow set of riffles after you have cast into all the spots that may hold fish near where you’re crossing. Doing this will help to mask your movements and avoid spooking fish in nearby pools before you get a chance to fish them.
Dry Fly Fishing Season
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.
Tenkara USA Team Highlight – Meet TJ
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!
No Lines Attached – Become The Kebari – Tenkara Fly Fishing
TJ’s fooled trout
Countdown to Spring Tenkara Fishing
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.
Your Guide To Winter Tenkara Fishing
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.
All About Tenkara Nets – video and podcast episode now available
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
Tenkara Cast: Covering Water
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.
NOTE: Our warehouse is still open, but it will be closed for one day on Friday, April 10th. Orders need to be placed by Thursday at 11am MST to avoid delays in shipments. Shipping resumes on Monday, April 13th, but the situation continues to evolve, so get a rod on sale while you can.
mounTEN: Issue Seven, April 2019
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!
