tenkara

[Mike Way]

Has anybody messed around with this tenkara stuff? Im mostly wondering about the rods how is the action do the fish put up a good fight? Alot of the area that I flyfish for gills is close to shore so the short line length isnt an issue and I know the flies will work because theyre all basicly soft hackles and those are usualy killers.

[jim cosgrove]

never bought any but have researched it and it looks pretty cool but pricey.have seen some on ebay from china that go by telescopic carbon fiber rods .they seem very light and can bend in half.i think they go up to 18 feet.might be a blast on the beds.the tenkara of america rods were all over 100 bucks but seemed well made.i think it would be fun tho,you could also use live bait on these set ups i think.i think it would be fun to just dap the surface with a live cricket.

[Joe Angelucci]

Jim

Need to be careful, not all telescopic carbon rods are tenkara. The main difference is that you cast a fly with a tenkara rod. Most tenkara rods are between 11 and 14 feet. I also pole fish with Japanese carbon rods. They are great for bait fishing but would not cast a line with a fly. You can certainly dap and I use that method a lot. 

[Mike Way]

yeah the ones I was looking at were about 150-200 for a setup. mostly wondering if it would be more fun than a 3wt flyrod thats 100 for the combo.

[Joe Angelucci]

Mike

Just to put it in perspective, tenkara is considered 000 weigh fly fishing. Sage's 000 weight rods list for about $650.00 

[Joe Angelucci]

Mike

I've been tenkara fishing for over a  year.The action on the rods are amazing. You can feel the fight in small and large fish. IMHO, there is nothing like the direct connection between yourself and the fish. No reel , no drag just you and your ability to play and land. Never felt under gunned and landed over 200+ bluegill with this method. 

 I use a Fountainhead 11 foot Caddis Rod ($55.00). If you like level lines, you don't need to purchase the special Tenkara lines. Just use 12 #  flurocarbon .285 dia. This line is equal to a #3 tenkara line.  My favorite set up is using  11 feet of level  line with 4 feet of  #6 tippet.I use a tippet ring and  usually fish dry -  #12 - 14 Adams or Black Gnats.

Hope this helps,

JDA

[Mike Way]

ok thats sounds like a good deal, is there a reputable website to find them?

[Joe Angelucci]

Just Google Fountainhead Tenkara . If you have any questions, just let me know.

[Joe Angelucci]

Larry
That's exactly what moved me to try tenkara. I still fish with a 9 foot Mr Crappie telescopic pole and use it to dap flies. I limit my line size to either 1 or 2 lb. test and fish with dry flies. Sometimes I have to use a #10 shot to swing the fly out if it's windy. The micro weight allows for better placement.
JDA

[Joe Angelucci]

Larry ,since you mentioned it, I plan on using unwaxed dental floss as a blow line to actually Dap a dry fly like they do in Scotland. Google dapping to see what I mean. 

 

[Joe Angelucci]

Very cool. Dapping in the US is usualiy the direct placement of a fly on the water. Traditional  dapping is using a long pole  to carry the fly via the wind, on a blow line and very short leader. I would think it has to give a more realistic presentation.

Let me know how it goes. I'll be trying my grand experiment about mid March.

[Joe Angelucci]

Larry

You're going to have a blast. The flies that worked best for me were the #12 Adams and #12  Black Gnat. I also purchased a few new flies for this season. I'm going with  #12 Sawyer Killer Bugs and #12 Stewards Spiders. I'm also thinking of picking up a few Orange Scuds

[Dwayne Denison]

Joe, who sells the fountainhead rods. This is very interesting to me.