Tenkara Headcount

[Joe Angelucci]

Just curious, did anyone fish this season with a Tenkara Rod. I used a Fountainhead Caddis rod twice and had a blast. 

[Joe Angelucci]

I use 20 # backing myself in bright orange or 15# fluro. My tippet of choice is 2# test.  I like dries in the #10 -#12 range

Never caught a bass but hundreds of bluegill in the 6-8 in range. Tons of fun.

Best of all, your actually casting, just about 18 feet.

[Mark Sleeper]

Hi looking at a tenkara  Iwana rod, the kit that is ready to fish, any one have one of these, the rod is 12' and I'm looking at furled leaders for it any feedback would be great thanks Mark.

[Joe Angelucci]

Never used a TUSA rod but I'm told they are excellent quality. I was never a fan of furled leaders but most people who use them swear by them. I prefer level lines since I like to tinker with line  length.

JDA 

[dick tabbert]

This is a pole I seen many years ago. Never found any info on it but the basic idea looked sound to me. If anyone else know anything about it please feel free to jump in. I done the best I could in in a short amount of time to duplicate it to the best of my ability.

[Joe Angelucci]

Never seen one like that. Is it designed as a rod and reel or just a pole 

[dick tabbert]

Joe it is just a pole the line only loops through the eye and around the little piece of pole beyond the eye. I thought at the time when I 1st seen it what a unique to change your line out in a matter of seconds.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Was it just a solid end loop, or was it maybe an elastic loop?

[dick tabbert]

Just a pole what ever length the only thing on it was the eye on the end. Your line was already prepared with the loop tied in it  and you could change it out quickly maybe you wanted to go from 10lb test to 2 lb test. I remember the one I seen was a very wimpy pole.

[Joe Angelucci]

Dick

The only set up I know  like the one described is an English Whip. Not uncommon for a whip to have an elastic band and loop. The band functions like drag to work against the forward motion of the fish. I'll post a picture when I find a good one so you can compare

[Steve Wilson]

   After perusing some of the tenkara sites and youtubes today, I have become rather curious about a couple of pieces of equipment the masters use.  

   One is the very forward facing hackle on the flies.... is it a cultural thing or could it provide more action to the fly ?

   The other is using the eyeless hook with the silk loop..... could it be adding a different action to the fly ?

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

The reverse hackle is synonymous with the "sekasa kebari" tenkara fly. This literally means 'backward'.
It is designed to
a. pulse and give a swimming action when twitched
b. act like a parachute under water, which allows you to keep the line tighter - off the water's surface.
For the record, there are several types of flies in tenkara, roughly equivalent to our dry flies and soft hackles.
The silk loop is traditional, as tenkara arose before the advent of eyes hooks
Much the same was seen in Western circles, with the silk and gut of the day
attached to eyeless hooks.
If the silk loop offers any advantage, it seems only to the purist. Even the Japanese use eyed hooks today.

[Joe Angelucci]

Dave

Spot on and a great over view. Tenkara is designed as a top and middle water column method. Tight line is very important for strike detection and presentation.