Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
|
Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 27, 2013 - 04:20pm PT
|
Went ice climbing with Daniel Galhardo.....founder of Tenkara USA. Great guy and great salesman...gave me one of his companies rods and waxed poetic about Tenkara fly fishing. Itching to get going although i have never fly fished. I slay fish with spinning tackle when i climb in the Winds or sea kayak.
Stories or suggestions appreciated.
|
|
johntp
Trad climber
socal
|
|
|
Dec 27, 2013 - 04:23pm PT
|
There is a lot of discussion on the "Backpacking Light" website in the "fishing" forum. Never tried it myself, but it seems to make a lot of sense for the sierra and other backcountry areas.
edit: Whoa; gave you a rod? Nice gift. It is a very simplistic form of fly fishing from what I understand, and very lightweight.
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 27, 2013 - 04:29pm PT
|
Yeah...i like the simplicity that probably hides complexity. Rod is 12 ft. long, telescopes down to 2 ft. and weights 2.7 oz. and no reel of course.
Think about it....the weight of a quick draw.
|
|
guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
|
|
|
Dec 27, 2013 - 04:30pm PT
|
Is that the Korean way to FF?
Just a long pole, with a line as long as the pole?
If so, It will work OK catching BROWN BAIT in the ocean, places where the fish arn't scared of everything.
In a Trout Creek?
Good luck, the trout run and hide if a line or a pole swings over them.
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 27, 2013 - 04:33pm PT
|
It's Japanese....Chouinard is into it and Daniel says he usually catches more trout than people with conventional gear.
Oops...the wife is calling, off to a little XC skiing.
|
|
johntp
Trad climber
socal
|
|
|
Dec 27, 2013 - 04:38pm PT
|
It is kind of like cane pole fishing but with flies. No reel, just a line and tippet. Perfect for small lakes and stream fishing. Between the length of the rod and line you can get out over 20 feet.
|
|
GLee
Social climber
MSO
|
|
|
Dec 27, 2013 - 04:56pm PT
|
Jim,
Malcolm Daly's wife Karen had a Tenkara rod that she was showing to those of us in Yellow Pine during FL2012 that she must have bought in the Boulder/Denver area...
|
|
guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
|
|
|
Dec 27, 2013 - 05:16pm PT
|
Daniel says he usually catches more trout....
All fishermen make that claim.
Used one in the ocean....right over brake waters and jettys.. just drop it in, let it sink, pull up and down....small hearing just kill it..... big Halibut just love small hearing....
I would like to see one used in Hot Creek or Crooked Creek.
|
|
adatesman
climber
philadelphia, pa
|
|
|
Dec 27, 2013 - 05:51pm PT
|
Yup, Mal Daly has a rod or three of theirs seems pretty addicted to it. I picked one up at his suggestion last year, and love the simplicity and the fact that everything I need fits in a small pouch I can keep in the car. If you're in Boulder, McGuckin's has them.
As for casting distance, 20 feet sounds way short.... Usually your line length is 1 to 1.5 times the rod length, plus 6 feet or so of tippet. So for my 13' Ayu2 (which is middle of the road, length-wise), I'm looking at maybe 30 feet or so of cast distance. Admittedly less than Western gear, but it was developed for small mountain streams rather than open water.
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 27, 2013 - 06:15pm PT
|
I know that Mal and Karen are into it.....great recommendation from my point of view.
|
|
divad
Trad climber
wmass
|
|
|
Dec 27, 2013 - 06:16pm PT
|
I've always felt that fly fishing was something I wanted to get into when I got old...
I'm not old yet, but I'm gettin' there...
|
|
adatesman
climber
philadelphia, pa
|
|
|
Dec 27, 2013 - 06:22pm PT
|
eKat- Yup, TenkaraUSA.com is Daniel's site. Great folks to work with, and super helpful. They're a bit pricier than the other places selling tenkara gear, but unlike the others they have a warranty on their rods. In theory it's limited to defects, but they replaced a rod section for me that accidentally got stepped on (was given the choice of falling on a rusty post wrapped in barbed wire or stepping on the rod, and self-preservation won out).
Another good resourse is http://www.tenkarabum.com/. Never bought anything from them, but heard good things.
On a side note, I generally take the kitchen sink when I go fishing, and this pic shows my complete Tenkara outfit except for the net. It could be pared down drastically, as I don't really need duct tape, TP, first aid kit, hand sanitizer, etc. With just the bare essentials (fly box, tippet, line, foreceps, nippers), it would easily all fit in a pocket.
|
|
BLUEBLOCR
Social climber
joshua tree
|
|
|
Dec 27, 2013 - 06:26pm PT
|
Cool a Fish'in thread!
Those rods are good for open space streams. No cover or foliage. So you have to sneak up to the water. If you can see the water, the fish can see you and scram. I like to crawl up and flop my bait upstream and let it float down over a hole. I'll use flys, but when there's live bait to be found Thats the best. Grasshoppers rule! Find a "Y" stick and tie a shirt between y's and keep'em alive. Hook'em between the shoulders and they'll flip and flop on the water. If there's any fish in the water you'll get'em! And if you don't catch any fish you can always eat the grasshoppers. Yum! After you fish out a hole go roll some underwater rocks. Those little bugs work Great to. The only problem is when the Fish'in is good, you won't want to go climbing.
Now go rip some lips!
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 27, 2013 - 06:29pm PT
|
adatesman....i was raised in Philly. Can you catch shad in the Delaware with Tenkara? You sound dialed....come out to Co. and i'll take you to the Black Canyon. Great climbing and the Gunnison has great fishing. You can give me some pointers, Philly boys have to stick together.
As a kid i was a Yankee fan because Mantle hit homers and the Phillies star, Richie Ashburn, was a singles hitter.
|
|
Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
|
|
|
Dec 27, 2013 - 06:30pm PT
|
It's quicker and more satisfying to fish with Smith & Wesson...
|
|
adatesman
climber
philadelphia, pa
|
|
|
Dec 27, 2013 - 06:50pm PT
|
Dialed? Hardly... I'm a hack who only picked up fishing again last year because the park up the street stocks trout and it gives me something to do with our 3 year old.
That said, I have taken it along when canoeing on the Schuylkill with the little one, and that seems a very workable solution for rivers. (if you don't have a 3 year old splashing in the water....)
Mal's really the guy to talk to, and hopefully he'll chime in shortly as I pinged him on FB about this. He's been out with Daniel a couple times IIRC, and is a big fan of it.
|
|
maldaly
Trad climber
Boulder, CO
|
|
|
Dec 27, 2013 - 07:30pm PT
|
I've been hailed. Tenkara is nothing like dapping or dropping a line from the end of a cane pole. I can cast as precisely as I can with with my western rods and with a 13 or 14' rod I can reach out to 40 or 45', plenty far for most of the rivers and creeks around here.
What I like about Tenkara:
* it's simple. I go out on the creek with a rod, a box of flies the size of a box of cigarettes and, a spool of 5X and nippers and forceps. Don't really need the nippers because I usually bite the 5x.
* I don't need to match the hatch. Or the bugs. Or the worms. I use a single fly, a sakasa Kebari, and use the water currents and varied retrieve techniques to hook up. I can fish it in the surface, in the film or sink it to the bottom. How I use the micro currents determines where and how the Kebari rides.
* the rod collapses quickly and easily. I suck at wading because of my prosthetic foot and when I collapse to rod down to 16" or so, I can carry it in my teeth or tuck it in my wading belt so I can use both hands for wading staff, etc.
* it's made me a much better western fly fisherman. By learning all the new techniques, and learning the water much better, I now catch more fish with my western rods.
* I love how the Tenkara culture does not celebrate big fish. It celebrates the beauty of the fish and the challenge of the stalk. If you check out the Tenkara blogs you'll see tons of photos to support this. Refreshing....to say the least.
* no more frozen guides in the winter.
* only 1 spool of tippet.
* no vest or chest pack.
What I don't like:
* there's nothing to talk about with fly fishermen who want to talk about their expensive rods and feels.
* there's nothing to talk about with fly fishermen who want to talk about their latest guided expedition to Alaska or the Seychelles or Patagonia.
* Wind kind of sucks with western rods. It really sucks with Tenkara. I'm learning to deal but not there yet.
* Big fish. Fish over 18" are hard to land.
Hope that helps
Maldaly
BTW, Daniel, the owner of Tenkara USA is a 5.11 rock climber and has recently taken up ice climbing.
|
|
thebravecowboy
Social climber
Colorado Plateau
|
|
|
Dec 27, 2013 - 07:33pm PT
|
Skeptical until you shared this Mal, as I have been using a 1lb collapsible spinning rig for years. Your set-up sounds lighter and less fussy.
|
|
maldaly
Trad climber
Boulder, CO
|
|
|
Dec 27, 2013 - 09:09pm PT
|
First, Karen fished the sh#t out if all the feeder creeks into the Valley and found great holding water all over. So now there is no longer any lack of things to do on rest days or rain days. Second, you guys have to get over your short man (rod) syndrome. I use a 12' Tenkara rod on stream that are too tight for my 8' 3-Wt with fewer problems than I had with the 8'. Remember, there is no back cast with Tenkara so the casts are cleaner. I rarely foul my casts any more. If you're really freaked out buy a new Rhodo, named after the manzanita of the east, rhododendron, which overhangs everything. Makes our willow-choked creeks look like the Mississippi. It's a three stage "zoom" rod which fishes at 8'10", 9'9" and 10'6".
I. Want.
|
|
adatesman
climber
philadelphia, pa
|
|
|
Dec 27, 2013 - 09:22pm PT
|
I. Want.
As do I, Mal. Very happy you got me into this, as it's *awesome*.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!