Care to Tanago? The Devolution of Fishing

Fishermen and women go through stages in their lifetime; an evolution map charting their delving into the sport. Most are very similar.

You work at catching any fish you can. Then you target specific fish. Trout. Bass. Tarpon. Carp. Then the biggest versions of said chosen fish you can get your greedy little hooks into.

Some will then deviate via the gear. Ultralight. Only fiberglass. Only Dry flies. Shall I shudder and say tandem rigs? Like monkeys into man we walk the span that most fly fishers already have and will tomorrow. It's evolution.

But it looks like there's a growing number of anglers that are devolving.

I've heard whispers around the Internet and read forbidden texts about a style of fishing where it's not the biggest and the baddest but the smallest and humblest that are the quarry.

Tanago.

I first heard of it on a blog post talking about a Daiwa rod that, to my naivety, I thought was a new Tenkara rod. In a way I was right. But then again I couldn't have been more wrong.

This post linked to one by Tenkarabum(TB). After reading that one I was both shocked and befuddled. Did someone really land a blacknosed dace?? 

TB referred to them as minnow rods and I think that is a very apt description. Very soft rods to feel the power of very small fish.

I can see the appeal. Sort of.

The appeal is that these rods open up those waters small enough to step over; with an environment that is just barely friendlier to life than the surface of Mars. Or those waters that you know get stocker trout but have been overfished and only the fingerlings are left.

Waters you wouldn't have given the time of day to you could now court, romance, maybe even love.

But I would worry about getting that one fish on that is to powerful for these petite rods. A fish that can't be controlled could easily be played to the point of a fatality. And I feel that would be the irresponsibility of the fisherman.

But on waters you know couldn't support fish over the certified size of a dink: oh, the fun to be had!

I don't know if I personally am read to dive into this subspecies of Tenkara quite yet. And as for the bait casting version of this; all I can ask is what kind of bait do you use to catch slightly bigger bait?

But I do look forward to seeing if this mentality of fishing works its way out of the shadows and more anglers embrace devolving.

Fly of the Week: Tenkara Fly by Davie McPhail

If you fish Tenkara, you know instantly what I'm talking about. And if you don't I'm sure you've seen them; the funny lil dry flies with the hackle the wrong way.

Well, here's a video from Davie McPhail that shows you how to tie one of those funny lil buggers, and he takes it to the next level with a couple of nice details that I think will work great. Enjoy!

Tenkara, Browns, and a setup for the UL Championship

I really didn't intent to go fishing today. And when the impromptu urge hit me, storm clouds where heavy in the air and the first few patters of rain were hitting my windshield. I had errands to run at the Big W store and I had to pick up a few things from my old house, so I figured that the evening was a wash. (Get it? Raining....wash...... ba dum bum.)

But when I walked out of the old house, the skies were a bright blue, the sun was shining and the storm clouds were almost completely over the horizon. I took it as a sign and decided that the stream at my old honey spot would be just what I need to wash out the bittersweetness I get every time I move more of my things out.

Tenkara fishing and the Magical Shrinking rod

When it rains it pours. And for once I'm not talking about the weather.  PA seems to be done with it's biblical flooding, at least for now. I'm talking about the kick to the ribs while your down that life gives us all every once in a while.

I will spare all from the boring details but I will mention the cherry on top; last night my wallet went MIA. My bank cards, my license, my permit to carry weapons, my Social Security card..... all the way of the dodo.

So I took off work and spent all day today canceling this card and getting another of that license and by then end my brain was swollen. And since I had an impromptu day off, I decided to spend the rest of it cursing at fish.

Tenkara, pink PFD's and jigs made of corn.

I bought my 3 year old a new rod the other day, as her current rod (of Dora Explorer make) took quite a beating last year and I'm pretty sure it no longer works. So I bought her an electric blue and hot pink (yes, the color combination that hurts your eyes the worst) Shakespeare. For $15 it's kind of a nice rod.

As soon as we bought it we had to try it. We only had about 10 minutes, so I tied on a jig with a pink head and chart body and we sat at the closest stream and tossed the jig. No takers but that's ok.

Tenkara: the first cast

I cast the Tenkara rod for the first time tonight. I had a few issues, but I'm pretty sure most of them were my fault.

For starters, I tried to use a knotted leader likeI normally use for fly fishing. On the western rig, they turn over really well. On the tenkara, not so much. I made a 13' knotted leader, using 2x/4x/6x. Cast after cast the leader just piled up.

Tenkara has arrived.

I'm already impressed with Tenkara Fly Fish, the company I ordered the Fountainhead 11' Tenkara rod from. I ordered it on Saturday. By Sunday I had an email saying it would be in the mail on Monday. And today I had the package at my door. That's some speedy deliver, especially since some of the big box stores, oh, let's call them Cadela's, usually takes around two weeks. 

Tenkara is on it's way.

I've decided to bite the bullet and give these new fangled Tenkara rods a try. I ordered the 11' Caddis Foutainhead rod  since it was, quite frankly, the cheapest one they had and I have a little trepidation about getting new and exciting things. It has to do with explaining to the Misses why I need yet another rod while I have all those "collecting dust." Trying to tell her they, like whine, get better with age didn't seem to work too well.

So keep an eye out for a review on both tenkara fishing and these little-known Tenkara rods on the scene.

Tenkara on a Budget

I'm sure many of you have heard of Tenkara by now; it's the simplistic, Japanese version of what we know as fly fishing. Essentially, what you have is a 12 foot rod, the fly line that attaches to the end of the rod (no reel!) a leader and a fly.

These are good for smaller streams (presumably with no overhang.)

There is the offering from Tenkara USA, which I've been hearing rave reviews about, but it's about $150 for the rod itself. You then need the special line, etc.