Tenkara Adventurer

3 Months in Ukraine (& Happy New Year!)

2010-12-31T09:05:00.000-08:00

Wow... It sure has been a long time. Well, after not having posted for 3 months I'm sure not too many people will be reading this! Internet access at my training site was spotty at best, but now I am blessed with dial-up!

I guess this will be a generall "all's well" sort of announcement post. So, with that said, all is well! I've successfully finished training and moved to my permanent site where I'll be teaching English for the next two years. I'm in a beautiful little town in far western Ukraine, and I think I'm going to be pretty happy here. I probably won't be able to fish whenever I want, but I am within reasonable distance of the Carpathian Mountains for weekend trips.

I'm really excited about teaching in the New Year. I'm lucky to have some very enthusiastic students, so it should be a lot of fun. I suppose my New Years resolution is to work hard and enjoy everything Ukraine has to offer!

Happy New Year!

Tying With Zenmai

2010-09-05T05:07:00.000-07:00

Zenmai is a traditional tying material commonly used in tenkara flies (kebari), you might hear Americans (including myself) referring to it as "fern fuzz," since that's really all it is. In spring, when fiddle-head ferns sprout they are covered in a light cottony fuzz that makes a great natural fly-tying material.

I collected a small supply of zenmai this spring to experiment with, but found it quite difficult to work with. The stuff just wouldn't behave and twist nicely around the thread like the wool dubbing I'd gotten used too. My results weren't bad, but the material wasn't easy to work with. I'd also been puzzled by the look of traditional tenkara flies with zenmai bodies, since mine just didn't come out quite the same. My efforts to use zenmai as a dubbing generally created fatter, fuzzier bodies, while most traditional tenkara flies have smooth bodies without many stray fibers. I was curious about this since Japanese tiers were obviously doing something different with the material, however I didn't really investigate it since between tying my own flies, and sending samples of zenmai to a few other tiers, I quickly ran out.

Zenmai I collected in Massachusetts this spring

However, back in July I was fortunate to recieve a small sample of zenmai gathered in Japan at high altitude late in the season. It's a bit different than the New England zenmai I collected in the spring; for one, it's a bit more fragile (the fibers crumble easily), and it's much rustier in color.

Japanese zenmai

For a long time I've been hesitant to try it out, and with all the other things going on in my life it's been on the back burner. That is, until yesterday, when I had an idea. I remembered that while the fibers won't readily twist around a thread as a dubbing, they will twist around themselves, making a loose little piece of yarn. To get the yarn twisted a bit more tightly I decided to try wetting the fibers, which worked amazingly well, resulting in a relatively strong and more tightly twisted yarn which can be wrapped around the hook shank. The result is still very loose since zenmai is just not as strong as wool or synthetic yarn, so an overwrap is neccessary to hold it together. I've used wire and thread, and found that since the zenmai is so compressible, a thread overwrap is really invisible. Wire sets in deeply as well, but is still visible enough to give a bit of flash to a fly.

I might be reinventing the wheel here, since I really don't know what techniques are traditionally used in crafting zenmai-bodied flies. However, this was a neat discovery that allows me to more easily tie flies with zenmai. If anyone has any further thoughts or experiences with this, I welcome your comments!

I'm still working out some kinks, but here are my results so far:

Nikko Kebari - modelled after flies featured on My Best Streams

Hook: Mustad S82-3906B (a shorter wet-fly hook would work better)

Body: zenmai, overwrapped with thread and gold wire

Hackle: hen pheasant

Another kebari - tied after one by Yoshikazu Fujioka featured on TenkaraUSA's blog

Hook: Mustad S82-3906B snipped a bit shorter

Eye: loop of 3x tippet whipped to the hook shank

Body: zenmai, over-wrapped with thread

Thorax: peacock herl

Hackle: hen pheasant

Road Trip Photos

2010-09-04T05:47:00.000-07:00

Here are a few highlights from all the photos I took on the trip:

Early Morning in Montana

Mount Shuksan

Looking over the edge at Grand Coulee Dam


Reef-netting for salmon

Sunset over the Salish Sea

A Little Fishing in the North Cascades

2010-08-24T21:24:00.000-07:00

Mount Shuksan, North Cascades National Park

Last Friday my dad, my grandparents, and I took a drive into the North Cascades to check out Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan from Artist's Ridge. On the way down the valley we stopped at Nooksack Falls, where the North Fork of the Nooksack River plunges 88 feet into a narrow slot. I found out later from the interns staffing the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association table at the ranger station that trout are present above the falls, although they didn't know much about the population since their organization is dedicated to restoring threatened salmon runs. That piece of information, coupled with the tenkara-perfect water I'd spotted above the falls was enough to tempt me back for a fishing trip.

Nooksack Falls

North Fork of the Nooksack River above the falls - fast, pocketed, and clear

Sunday morning my cousin Sam and I headed back up the Mount Baker Highway to see if we could find any fish in the Nooksack. This was Sam's first time out fishing in a long time, and his first experience fishing with flies (and tenkara too!), so I was pretty happy when we got into fish fairly quick. We found the little stream bread rainbows to be quite ready and willing to take a sakasa kebari once we got a little farther upstream from the crowds at the falls. As it worked out Sam got the first fish - incidentally his first on a fly, and his first with tenkara!

We had a blast of an afternoon boulder hopping, fishing, and soaking in the scenery. The river was absolutely fantastic for tenkara, with an ideal mix of plunge pools, shallow bouldery runs, deep slots, and pocket water. As mountain streams go, this was probably one of the most beautiful that I've had the good fortune to fish. It was great to have the chance to teach Sam a little fishing, and having some plain old fun in the outdoors with my cousin.

Sam fishing the tail of a long pool

Western Road Trip, 2010

2010-08-11T23:25:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Wenatchee, WA! I've taken off on a cross-country road trip with my Dad to visit family out West before leaving for Ukraine. It's been a great drive, and I'm looking forward to the doing this trip again someday when I can really take my time and explore the sights. So far we've followed US 2 fairly closely across the Upper Peninsula of MI, MN, ND, MT, and ID with detours for Glacier National Park (Logan Pass is just surreal...), Grand Coulee Dam, and Dry Falls. Tomorrow we'll be going up to Highway 20 and heading west over the Cascades to Puget Sound.

Tenkara & Smallmouth

2010-08-03T15:16:00.000-07:00

This Sunday a friend and I headed out to a local smallmouth bass hot-spot, and this being the first time I've fished for smallies in years (and the first time ever with flies), I just had to give tenkara a shot with them. We arrived at the river around 8am to find it running low, and relatively cool:


Little bit different scenery than what I've gotten used to on the small streams...

Lot's of stoneflies had recently hatched

After going fishless in the first riffle I spotted a big boulder with a deep pool behind it. In the tail of the pool I landed probably the largest, hardest fighting fallfish I've yet to encounter. Then, on maybe my third cast to the right of the boulder something hit the fly hard, and immediately lept clear of the water. A few more leaps later and I landed my first tenkara smallmouth (incidentally the first on a fly as well). I'd forgotten how much fun these guys are!

The fishing slowed down over the rest of the morning. I did manage one more smallmouth, and maybe 5-6 more little fallfish, but unfortunately my freind was skunked.

Overall I have to say tenkara seemed to work great for the smallmouth - I'll be giving it another go. These hard fighting river-bred smallies are really a blast to catch with tenkara tackle and technique. Next time I may try a larger more colorful fly, and see if my catch rate improves, although the one I fished did seem to work ok:

The fly for the day - a sakasa kebari

Hook: Mustad C67S, size 12

Hackle: dyed black male pheasant

Body & collar: black 6/0 uni thread & peacock herl

"Typical Tenkara" & Okumino Itoshiro Kebari

2010-08-02T17:43:00.000-07:00

I've taken a lot of inspiration from Yoshikazu Fujioka's tenkara site, especially his fly tying pages. These pages are invaluable for anyone interested in tenkara flies as they really demonstrate the diversity of regional patterns. For the fly tyer, Fujioka-san's site is a great source of information, and a good place for anyone looking to get started tying tenkara flies. His simple directions for the sakasa kebari (kebari = fly) and "typical tenkara" kebari provide a solid foundation upon which you can build your own variations.

In appreciation of Fujioka-san's work, here are a few of my recent efforts:

"Typical Tenkara"

Hook: Mustad S82-3906B, size 12

Body: yellow Lureflash Superbug Yarn & gold wire

Hackle: pheasant downy feather

This is my interpretation of what Fujioka-san calls a "typical tenkara" kebari. Traditionally one would use zenmai (aka "fern fuzz," and something I really should get around to devoting an entire post too!), but to conserve my supply I've used a synthetic yellow yarn which makes for a decent stand in. I've substituted a few other materials as well. From what I can tell the ones on Fujioka-san's site are lightly dubbed over gold tinsel, I used an over-wrap of gold wire instead. I also substituted a downy under feather for the "pheasant's alula" he calls for, only because I haven't been able to figure out exactly which feathers those are on the bird just yet. It still makes for a very nice nymph-like fly though.

Okumino Itoshiro Kebari

Hook: Mustad C49S, size 14

Body: peacock herl

Hackle: pheasant downy feather

This is another regional pattern, and uses a rare material - those annoying under feathers you're constantly throwing in the trash! The use of which inspired my take on Fujioka-san's "typical tenkara" kebari described above. This is a really interesting and unique fly, hence why I wanted to give it a shot. To tie it, I found that wrapping the under feather around the thread, then wrapping the two together around the hook works best. The stems of the under feathers are extremely fragile, and initially very frustrating to work with. Once you get the hang of them they aren't too bad though.

I'm excited to fish these flies, I'll let you know how they work! I'm curious how the hackle will behave in the water...

Sunday Morning

2010-07-26T20:18:00.000-07:00

Placement

2010-07-24T04:50:00.000-07:00

Since receiving my medical clearance, things have happened pretty quick. Tuesday morning I checked my application status online, discovered that my placement review was complete, and that an invitation packet was in the mail, awesome! It arrived Thursday afternoon, and I have 7 calendar days to accept. So come Monday morning, I'll officially be bound for Ukraine on September 24th!

I hadn't initially thought of Ukraine as a place I'd like to go, but after doing more research, and reading about the experiences of other volunteers, I have to admit I'm getting excited. Ukraine is a big country, and I won't find out where I'll be assigned until after the three-month pre-service training; there are lot of possibilities with a country the size of Texas. In any case, I think the Ukraine will offer exactly the kind of experience I'm looking for. I'll likely have some wild experiences, challenges, frustrations, and hopefully a lot of fun too. I'll doubtlessly learn a lot.

I'm pretty amazed that this whole thing has finally come to fruition. I'm still amazed I made it through the application and interview for that matter. After 6 months this is no longer hypothetical, I've been accepted to the Peace Corps, and I am going to Ukraine.

Now I have about two months to start learning Russian, get my financial affairs in order, pack, and say good-bye to my friends and family.

Peace Corps Medical Clearance

2010-07-19T16:52:00.000-07:00

As many of you probably know from reading my profile I graduated from college this spring, and am currently applying to serve as a volunteer in the Peace Corps. This has been a long process. Way back in March I submitted my initial application, interviewed in Boston, and secured a nomination for a position teaching English in Eastern Europe, for which I'd depart in September, 2010. Little did I know at the time that that was really only the beginning of the application process. Since April I've been working toward my medical clearance. And today, after over two months of doctors visits, paperwork, and waiting, I found out that the Peace Corps Office of Medical Services has finally granted my clearance!

I'm a healthy 23 year old, so there was never much doubt that I would eventually be cleared. Yet, I have to say that I've never been through such a thorough evaluation of my health. All the paper work, and nerve wracking snafus (especially over the last two weeks), have really kept me on the edge of my seat. Gotta say I'm very relieved. Now I'm on to the final step - placement, which, like the initial application and interview, is also a competitive process.

So hopefully within the next few weeks I'll be able to tell you all whether or not I'll be serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and where I'm going!

A Little Fishing & Some More Time at the Vise

2010-07-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately I haven't had many opportunities to fish lately. I did get a chance to go fishing on the Swift today, as always, the river was beautiful, but crowded. But unfortunately, I remembered the camera, but not the battery that I'd left charging on the wall the night before. I was kicking myself for that since I missed some dramatic shots of a foggy, steaming river in the early morning sun. It really was a beautiful morning on the water.

I didn't fish all that hard, and spent a lot of time watching fish from the bank. I observed some very active sub-surface feeding by the big rainbows, it was fun just watching them flicking around in the current snatching tiny morsels. As far as fishing went, I didn't get any interest on the sakasa kebari, but had a few strikes that should have hooked up on a size 18 CDC biot comparadun when I borrowed my friends 3-weight fly rod for some casting practice. I was happy to find that my form is still there! Although I do have to consciously think about mending and line control.

Thanks to the generosity of a friend, I've been experimenting with some different hackles this past week. Mostly I've been tying with partridge, which I'm finding is great stuff. Here are a few examples of what I've been tying lately:

Morning on the Swift

2010-07-08T12:10:00.000-07:00

With all the heat we've been having these last few weeks, a Saturday morning trip to the ice-cold Swift River in Belchertown, MA was in order. The Swift is a nicely maintained tail-water fishery; big, healthy rainbows and browns are usually easy to find, but not always easy to catch.

A discharge rate of 38fps was a good sign, but my friend and I only managed one fish between the two of us. Although that one fish could certainly be "fish of the year;" my friend had his work cut out bringing in what turned out to be a heavily muscled, hard fighting rainbow of around 16-18 inches on his 3-weight.

As far as catching more fish, the fly-fishing-only (FFO) section upstream might have been a better bet. Problem was there were at least 10 cars parked at the trailhead, quite a crowd for less than a mile of river! I can imagine the famous Y-Pool was getting fished pretty hard. As it turned out we had this little section of the river to ourselves, which was just fine by me, it's prettier than the FFO section anyway:


The remains of a timber dam built on a stone foundation

Slack water above the old dam

Some company streamside

Pheasant Tail Sakasa Kebari

2010-07-06T18:57:00.000-07:00

Here's another "just for the heck of it" variation on the sakasa kebari blending some elements of Frank Sawyer's Pheasant Tail Nymph with the Japanese reverse hackle tradition. The idea of using pheasant tail fibers for the body of a sakasa kebari struck me the other day when I found my long unused pheasant tail in my drawer of tying stuff - why not give it a shot? As a fly pattern Frank Sawyer's original PT nymph has seen so many variations already, I can't imagine mine is too much of a corruption! I think I've even seen a western soft-hackle version tied with partridge at the local fly shop, come to think of it.

TenkaraBum Horsehair Line

2010-07-01T06:13:00.000-07:00

Horsehair has a long history as a material for fishing line in the West, and I presume in Japan as well. I think I might have first heard about horsehair tenkara lines when I read Yvon Chouinard's article in Fly Rod & Reel titled "Simple Gifts" in which he describes fishing with a tenkara rod and horsehair line, or maybe it was when I found Michael Hackney's blog, Eclecticguy.com. In any case, there has been a fair bit of quiet hype around horsehair in American tenkara since the sport was introduced to the US on a large scale by TenkaraUSA last spring.

There were a few reasons why I wanted to try a horsehair line, for one thing, I wanted to try it out for myself and see why some folks like it so much. I also saw it as a way to get closer to fly fishing's origins, both in the West and in Japan, since I'm somewhat of a history buff. So when Chris Stewart began offering horsehair lines through TenkaraBum.com, I jumped at the chance. For $25 plus shipping, Chris made me an 11' 2" furled and tapered horsehair line customized for my rod.

Chris has been working with horsehair for quite sometime, I don't know for exactly how long, but at least since he got into tenkara, and likely before then given his interest in western angling history, and British loop-rod fishing in particular. He knows what he's doing; I've tried to replicate his results furling my own snoods (the furled segments which are knotted together to build the line), but Chris' line has a consistent furl that I haven't yet been able to match.

Overall the line is very nicely put together, and the taper is well designed -- the line turns over like a rocket without being too heavy. Besides the tapered design, this is because horsehair is dense. It is denser than nylon mono, and even fluorocarbon. Thus for the same weight of line horsehair has a narrower cross section, and so experiences much less aerodynamic drag. I really noticed this when I switched back to my furled nylon-mono line from TenkaraUSA (this is not a bad line either!). The two lines are of roughly the same weight, but one can really feel the extra drag with the furled mono line, the turnover is slower, and the line loses impetus in the cast much faster and one has to load the rod more heavily. Chris' horsehair line on the other hand only needs a gentle flick to completely unroll all the way to the fly. I found roll-casting in tight spaces to be fantastically easy, and normal tenkara casting to be a real pleasure.

However, there are a couple things you should know before you fish horsehair. Like many materials, horsehair is fantastic within it's limits. If you exceed those limits, it will break. It's not that horsehair isn't tough or durable, it just doesn't have as much tensile strength as modern line materials. This is made problematic by another property of horsehair, namely that individual horsehair strands will stretch at different rates. So, if you try to yank your fly out of the bushes, you could break your line, or break a strand in one of the segments. If you hook a really big fish, you could also break something. I'd recommend using a light tippet (at least 6x) to protect your line. Lucky for us, Chris will repair broken lines for a reasonable price ($5 per broken or missing segment, $1 shipping). I'd recommend taking advantage of this offer. I was fortunate that I live less than an hour from Michael Hackney, who makes furled western fly-lines out of horsehair. So thanks to Michael, when I broke my TenkaraBum line I was able to get it fixed, and learn a furling method just in time for my backpacking trip in the Pemigewasset. Based on my experience furling so far, the reason I'd recommend having Chris repair your line (at least the first time) is that furling horsehair snoods takes practice and a little skill to get really good results, so wait till you know what you're doing!

The whole line coiled up.

Chris' attachment of the loop

The tippet ring is a nice touch. This is the section Michael Hackney and I replaced, Chris' original furl was a bit tighter.

The line is composed of furled snoods neatly knotted together.

Tenkara Flies Analyzed

2010-06-25T04:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I posted about my experiences with soft-hackled sakasa kebari, and what should I see this morning on TenkaraUSA's blog but a post on Fujioka-san's study of traditional tenkara flies!

Take a look, there's not a whole lot of information, but it will give you a general idea of the different sorts of flies commonly used in Japan:

http://www.tenkarausa.com/blog/

I'm particularly intrigued by the stiff hackled flies. Soft-hackles are just so logical to me for wet flies! As I find with a lot of new knowledge, this little study makes for more questions than answers.

Thoughts on Flies

2010-06-24T06:01:00.000-07:00

Lately, a lot of discussion has been stirred up revolving around simplicity and minimalism in tenkara. Much of the talk concerns the "one fly" approach that is so characteristic of traditional tenkara practised in Japan. The extent of this practice wasn't fully understood in the US until recently, when Daniel Galhardo (TenkaraUSA founder) had the opportunity to spend two weeks fishing in Japan with a few of the most respected tenkara anglers alive today. Daniel's reports on his experiences are proving to be an invaluable resource for American tenkara anglers who want to know more about what he calls "pure tenkara" - tenkara as it is traditionally practiced in Japan. So in order to explore the "one fly" approach I've only been fishing variations on one fly, the sakasa kebari:

My bread-and-butter sakasa kebari: black thread and pheasant hackle on a curved shank hook

The sakasa kebari from what I gather, is one of the most common types of flies used in Japan. I'd hesitate to call it a "pattern," since there are so many variations, it's more a broad style of wet fly tied with a distinctive forward sloping "reversed" hackle. In it's simplest incarnation all you need for a sakasa kebari is a hook, thread, and soft-hackle, making it a very quick and enjoyable fly to tie (great for beginners). It's also a blast to fish!

My addiction to sakasa kebari started small, I tied a few when I was learning how to tie since they looked easy, and they were interesting. I didn't fish them much until May of this year, and I haven't missed my dries and nymphs yet.

I've found that using one fly pattern changes the experience of fishing. It forces you to focus on presentation, and with tenkara wet flies that means achieving the right "swimming" action. I also find that not having to think too much about fly choice can be a big relief, especially if you're one to worry about it - and once you start catching fish you'll forget about all that, believe me. After having spent about a month fishing only sakasa kebari flies, I have to say that "one fly" hasn't affected the amount of fish I catch, if anything I've actually caught more fish. I haven't found it limiting in the least.

Hopefully with this post I can illuminate the "one fly" approach by offering my current interpretation of it. To me, "one fly" means fishing one fly pattern, or one style of fly. That doesn't mean I'm limiting myself in terms of sizes, colors, or hackle materials (only to keep the fly tying interesting!), but each fly will be tied by the same method. With the sakasa kebari the general idea is to build a fly with a forward sweeping hackle that will have a lot of action in the water when pulsed or twitched past a likely spot.

This weekend I fished four different sakasa kebari in two streams for wild brook and brown trout. I started off fishing a new stream on saturday with a size 12 fly tied with red thread and pheasant hackle:

I drew a few strikes from a good sized brookie, but failed to hook up before landing a small trout in the next pool. After fishing a little while I came to this deep pool below a dam:

Here I decided to switch flies and try something else I'd tied in the past week just for kicks:

Again, this fly uses pheasant hackle, this time with black thread and copper wire for the body. I wanted something with a little flash for stained or cloudy water, just to make the fly a little bit more visible. It did the trick here, I proceeded to hook and land maybe 8-10 little brookies from that pool! But really, who's to say the first fly wouldn't have worked either?

I had a little time on Monday afternoon to fish, so I headed to another of my favourite streams. Here I decided to use my starling hackled sakasa kebari:

I caught three brookies in a few different pools using this fly before I found a good sized brown that just wouldn't get hooked after several lackadasical strikes. Maybe something a little meatier would help:


Fresh from fishing: "takayama sakasa kebari," size 12, black thread, pheasant hackle, peaccock herl and thread body

The second cast drew a violent strike, and I landed this guy after a hard fight on the Iwana:

To close out this post, here are a few more simple sakasa kebari variations:

When it comes to these flies, one has a lot of freedom as a fly tier. Try out different body materials, threads, dubbings, peacock herl, etc. Experiment with different hackles, personally I like soft hackles for their liveliness in the water. Pheasant, starling, partridge, snipe, and so forth should all work well. Just don't forget that it doesn't take anything fancy to catch fish with these flies.

My Fishing Kit

2010-06-22T04:30:00.000-07:00

Lately I suppose I've jumped on the minimalist bandwagon in American tenkara. However, there are some very good reasons to go this route. For one thing there is a lot less to carry when you only bring a rod, line, lanyard and fly box out on the stream. And for backpacking, you really do need to minimize what you carry. For day trips, or quick morning/afternoon/evening trips, you'll just have less stuff to deal with, which should hopefully allow you to spend more time fishing, and less time messing with gear. I've found that fishing this way is pretty neat; I've caught just as many fish, and discovered for myself that one really doesn't need more than a few flies, some tippet, nippers, a line, and a rod to catch wild trout on fast flowing streams. Although I do miss having a convenient place to put my camera!!

Lanyard

For backpacking I needed a simple solution to carry my essentials: tippet, nippers and knot tying tool. I didn't want to spend much money, since I wasn't sure I'd like fishing this way all that much. I also wanted something lightweight. Paracord seemed like a good choice for a simple lanyard, it's smooth, not too thick (but not too thin either), durable, and readily available. Besides being a good material for a fishing lanyard, paracord is one of those things that is indespensible for its versatility and utility. You really shouldn't head into the backcountry without paracord or an equivalent cordage, since you're at least going to need it to hang your food at night so the bears will have a harder time getting into it.

I strung on a spool of 6x, and 8x tippet (for my horsehair line), along with my Dr. Slick nippers. I fell in love with these pretty quick since they combine nippers, a knot tying tool, and a hook file all in a small, lightweight package. I carry the rest of my gear (fly box, line, hemostat) in my pockets.

Fly Box

I've tried a couple of different fly boxes lately, and I think I've settled on one. I read about this on Troutrageous' blog, and decided to give it a shot. It's a simple box you can make yourself using magnetic tape or sheeting, and an Altoids tin. Simply stick the magnetic sheet in the bottom of the tin and you're done. It's compact, light, and holds enough flies for a day's fishing. Best of all, the magnetic sheet keeps the flies in place, and prevents them from jumping out when you inevitably bobble the box trying to open it with your hands full.

For off-stream storage, I'm using plastic Dewitt-type compartment boxes from Stone River Outfitters in Bedford, NH. I originally bought these to use on stream, but decided I wanted something smaller. These boxes, even the six-compartment one, hold a ton of flies. I've got a long way to go toward filling my big one with tenkara flies!

Gear Review: 5.10 Canyoneer II

2010-06-14T20:16:00.000-07:00

Since getting around on a mountain stream can really be an athletic pursuit in itself, I've been looking for a really good wet-wading shoe for some time. For one reason or another most of the options I came across didn't exactly fit the bill, except Japanese sawanobori shoes (sawanobori = "shower climbing:" the sport of ascending/descending mountain streams). Since purchasing goods from Japan can be difficult given the fluctuating exchange rate and import/export duties, not to mention the language barrier, I set off to find an alternative here in the US. I eventually decided to try out the Canyoneer from 5.10. These shoes are designed for canyoneering, which is a little like an American version of sawanobori.

5.10 Canyoneer II

I had my first in depth experience with this footwear during my trip into the Pemigewasset Wilderness in Northern NH. Overall, I think they are a great choice for wet-wading in mountain streams, with some caveats.

First, the bad: they aren't all that comfortable to hike in, although they aren't the worst choice for that use either. A couple of features also make them not so comfortable to wear for long periods without some sort of sock (I'll be purchasing a pair of neoprene socks soon): the insoles were a bit rough on my soles, especially once my feet were are all pruned up and soggy. In addition the high-topped neoprene collar that goes over one's ankle is a bit hard and abrasive, again not too comfortable on bare skin; socks, even thin cotton ones, make a big difference. The buckle closure system is a little funky, and doesn't allow to much room for fine adjustments, but it works and is extremely secure.

Now the good: the traction afforded by the stealth-rubber soles is outstanding, as long as the rocks aren't slimy. Having not used a rubber soled wading shoe or boot before, I was really impressed. I actually found switching back to my trail shoes for hiking a bit dangerous since the traction with the Canyoneers had really spoiled me. The traction you're used to with the typical rubber on trail-running shoes or hiking boots doesn't even compare. I was able to ascend slick rock surfaces like these with confidence:

My general take on the Canyoneers is that they will be a great choice for day trips in good weather, way better than my boot-foot hippers or even my wading boots. They are supportive, offer great traction, and are comfortable enough with socks. For backpacking, they're just a bit too bulky and heavy to carry, and besides, they aren't really designed to be worn on a long hike with a pack either.

Pemigewasset Wilderness; June 10-11

2010-06-13T09:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I was right about having stories to tell from this trip, but they aren't so much about fishing.

I left my cousin's place in Northern NH on Thursday morning, expecting a few showers throughout the day, and decent weather for the weekend. Since I'd left a little late that morning I wanted to be sure I'd arrive at my planned camp-site with enough time to get my tent set up, eat some food, and fish a bit before it got dark. Well, it turned into quite a slog in the rain. I arrived on schedule at 3:30pm, but I was cold, and pretty well soaked from the hike. Wet wading in the rain when it's 62 degrees is a sound recipe for hypothermia; fishing didn't last long before I decided it was time to get dry.

After a damp night, I awoke Friday morning to blue sky and sunshine:

The nice weather lasted maybe half an hour... I'd planned on climbing Mount Garfield (4,495ft elevation), which I'd estimated at maybe half a day's hike round-trip from my campsite. The blow-downs and wet conditions on the trail made the ascent a bit slow:

The south slope of Owl's Head in mist

One of the many downed trees on the Franconia Brook Trail

I arrived at 12:30 or so to find the summit totally socked in, as I'd expected from the drizzly conditions on the way up:

The view form the summit of Mount Garfield

I took advantage of the cell phone reception on the summit to get a weather report. It was dissapointing to hear that more of the same drizzly stuff was on the way for Saturday and Sunday, this time with the potential for strong thunderstorms, and hail at higher elevations. The weather changes fast around here, on wednesday the forecast had predicted sun and temperatures near 80 for Saturday... With the deteriorating prospects for decent weather over the weekend, I decided to I'd be better off somewhere nice and dry, and began the hike back to my car.

What happened next was one of those embarrassing and inconvenient, but not necessarily dangerous back-country blunders: I descended the wrong side of Garfield in the fog, and lost about 2 hours. The upside was I got a great view the second time up and over the mountain:

Once back on the summit I was able to make a call and get a ride from a more nearby trailhead (thank you Jan!). Without that I probably wouldn't have arrived back at my car till after dark. After a nice, cozy, and dry night I headed back out to do some fishing:

While I didn't manage to catch anything, I did see a few fish, which was encouraging. I also found some great pools on the Pemigewasset River in Franconia Notch:

The Pemigewasset is a beautiful river to fish, I hope to get back up there in nice weather, or even in bad weather (with waders and a better rain jacket!). Hopefully I'll have time for another multi-day trip in July!

To sign off, here are a few more assorted photos from the trip:

Jan's hydroponic tomatoes

Wilderness Trail crossing Franconia Brook

Garfield Pond, 3860ft

Starling Hackle Sakasa Kebari

2010-06-08T04:51:00.000-07:00

I tied this up last week, I'll find out if it catches fish this week when I head up to New Hampshire's Pemigewasset Wilderness. I'll be spending four days tenkara fishing for wild brook trout, you'll probably see a series of posts sometime next week on the whole experience. I'll doubtless have stories to tell, photos to share, and equipment to review.

Anyway, this fly was inspired by Stewart's Black Spider, but only insofar as it incorporates starling hackle. I actually did buy the starling skin to tie the Black Spider, but with my new-found addiction to sakasa kebari style flies, I couldn't help but tie a few with the starling. Here is another look at the result in the vise:

Size 14 hook, starling hackle (two feathers), and black 6/0 uni-thread

A Rainy Day in June: Quest for the Pork Barrel

2010-06-07T20:25:00.000-07:00

It's always interesting to talk to a real local; someone who's grown up in their area and knows it well. Somewhere in Central Massachusetts west of Northampton there is a legendary location known as the the "Pork Barrel." Thing is, I'm not sure anyone really knows for sure what it is or where it is, but people do talk about it. And yes, it does have to do with fishing. It might be a pool on a certain river, or maybe a pond. It's out there somewhere, and it's supposed to hold a lot of fish.

We went out looking for it today. It was a casual search, and I'm quite sure we didn't find it.

We got started around 7:45am, parked the car, geared up, and headed down to the stream. I decided to try out my horsehair line from the Tenkarabum. My first impressions: horsehair casts better than anything else I've fished so far, hands down. If it were tougher, I'm not sure that I'd want to fish anything else. I'll have to see how it does with dries, but I'm confident it will perform admirably.

In the first pool I hooked two small brookies of about 5 inches, one after the other. By that point it had started raining, but luckily it was a warm day so we didn't mind getting soaked through. I continued to fish the sakasa kebari, but we all went fishless for a few hours as we moved farther upstream. I finally managed to find a nice sized brookie at the head of a shallow pool. I'm pretty sure this was the only fish of any size caught the whole morning:

I hadn't fished in the rain for quite some time - I'd forgotten how much I love being in the forest during a hard rain.

The hike out

Looking down hill toward the River, somewhere in the woods

A Few Photos From This Morning

2010-05-31T15:44:00.001-07:00

Early morning is without a doubt one of the most beautiful times to be out on the stream:

Surprisingly enough on a stream this size, I caught my largest tenkara trout yet in the above pool on a size 12 sakasa kebari; a grizzled, one-eyed brown of maybe 14-16 inches. I imagine he's been king of the pool for some time, feasting on brook trout parr.

This section of the stream has many springs and seeps coming forth from the ledge banks:

Brookies, Browns, & the Sakasa Kebari

2010-05-29T21:34:00.000-07:00

A friend and I met up to fish the Swift River this afternoon, we didn't end up staying there too long though. The river was high, and there was not a fish to be seen, so we let the threat of thunderstorms chase us off.

We made it back from the river around 5pm, and I decided to fish the stream down below my friend's house to try out some new flies and maybe perfect my technique with the sakasa kebari.

To set the stage I have to describe the location: it's a beautiful brook flowing through a steep valley veiled in hemlocks and white pine, steep cliffs and rock outcroppings shape much of the brook's course. It is home to wild brown and brook trout which inhabit a few deep pools in surprising numbers. I've been fishing this stream for about a year on a regular basis, so I know a few of it's pools quite well; even on the worst day I can usually find a fish or two.

I negotiated the steep slopes down to the brook, got myself set up and approached the first pool I would fish that evening. I tied on a Miller's River bi-visible that a fellow fly-fisher had given me, now, this is supposed to be a great fly for brook trout, but I'd not had the occasion to fish it yet:

I quietly approached the tail of the pool and cast to a midstream boulder that usually holds a nice size brookie; and ... nada. By the time I'd worked my way to the head of the pool I'd not had so much as a strike. I scratched my head and moved on to the next pool. Again, I made a cautious approach, but only garnered a lone strike by a small parr who took the fly under for a brief moment. A few more casts with no interest and I felt it was time to switch gears [sorry Casey, I'm sure the fish meant no dis-respect to your tying skills ;)].

For the last few weeks I've been trying to fish the Sakasa Kebari flies more often in order to learn, hopefully catch some fish, and get a better feel for traditional tenkara. It's been a mostly fish-less few weeks as I've gotten the hang of manipulating these wet-flies. When I tied on my new kebari I wasn't expecting to catch anything due to a) the low flows and b) my lack of experience with wet flies, especially these ones. Well, I tossed it out there, let the fly sink for a second, began gently pulsing the line and fly, and lo and behold a nice sized brown smacked the fly right as it reached the surface on an upward pulsing retrieve.

The pool that yielded the first brown trout of the evening

The next 30 minutes were probably some of the best trout fishing I've ever had. After that first brown I proceeded to the next pool and caught 3 more trout, had numerous hits, and had a fish or two wriggle off. I was in heaven, absolute wild trout nirvana. The sense of success with a new method and self-tied flies made it just that much sweeter.

This deep pool usually holds a good number of brook trout, and a good sized brown, or two.

The magic fly for the day...

"About" Section Updated

2010-05-23T20:45:00.000-07:00

I sort of felt like there was a bit missing from my single paragraph on the "About" page of this blog, so I went and wrote a bit more:

"Tenkara fishing is simple - it's fly fishing the way it used to be. Before things got complicated. Before you needed a truck to haul your gear and a second mortgage to pay for it. It's fishing with just a rod, a line and a fly. You don't use a reel, but then again, you don't need a reel when fishing small streams. And it is the ideal technique for fly fishing small streams."

-Chris Stewart, Tenkarabum.com

I've begun this blog as a place to write about, and share, my experiences with tenkara fly fishing. I got started fishing tenkara during the summer of 2009 when I became interested in small stream fishing. This was shortly after Daniel Galhardo launched TenkaraUSA, the first American tackle company dedicated to tenkara. Somewhere along the line I came across a reference to tenkara; I was intrigued, and soon I'd read everything I could find on the subjecct. Since August '09, when I received my first tenkara rod as a gift, I've hardly touched my fly rods - but that doesn't mean I've given them up! I love tenkara because it is a simple, fun, and exciting way to fish small mountain streams, using only a rod, line, and fly. While the tackle may seem limiting, it is liberating in many other ways, providing more than enough utility in fishing the kinds of streams on which it was born.

Tenkara originated hundreds of years ago in the mountains of Japan as a means of catching trout for food. As such it bears resemblance to European fly-fishing methods practiced before the advent of running line and the reel (one of these methods, pesca a la Valsesiana, is still practiced in Italy). It seems that form follows function when it comes to catching trout in mountain streams; a long rod, with fixed line and simple wet flies will do the trick.

In this day and age the appeal of tenkara lies in it's simplicity, portability, and advantages in fishing small mountain streams. It's entirely possible to put together a complete fishing kit with tenkara that weights less than 5 ounces, making it appealing to lightweight backpackers, or anyone who wants a compact tackle set-up to stow in the trunk for those impromptu visits to the stream. Many see the simplicity of tenkara tackle as a relief from all the gear, gadgets, consumerism, and sensational marketing that characterize the industry of fly-fishing. In this sense tenkara imposes a focus on the simple act of fly fishing and it's basic elements; strategy, approach, and presentation.

When it comes to fishing, it is presentation where tenkara's small-stream advantages lie. The light line and supple rod allow for delicate and accurate casting, while greatly facilitating subtle, life-like manipulations of wet flies and nymphs. The ability to hold most of the line off the water with the long rod makes for great drag-free drifts with dry flies in pocket water. These characteristics of tenkara encourage a presentationist approach to fly fishing, where technique supersedes imitationism and fly selection.

New Look

2010-05-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

The other day troutrageous1 (troutrageous.blogspot.com/)suggested I check out Blogger.com's "Blogger in Draft" feature for more advanced design tools, such as the ability to use CSS code to edit your blog's template. So now Tenkara Adventurer has a new look! This will probably change as I learn more about using CSS; there are tweaks on the horizon. For now I'm using a stock template and background picture, hopefully what I come up with look just as good, or better.

Tying the Sakasa-Kebari

2010-05-19T18:56:00.000-07:00

I began tying this fly this past winter. I consider myself a beginning fly-tyer, and this has been an easy, simple pattern to tie. Despite having tied a lot of these, I haven't fished them enough to really catch much. I'd become so used to a dead drift presentation with dries and nymphs that manipulating wet flies in the water was a strange new world. In short I lacked confidence with these flies for awhile. Lately I've been fishing them more frequently, and I'm starting to get the hang of it. The basic idea is to lightly twitch or pulsate the fly in the water, just under the surface. The soft, reverse hackle will open and shut enticingly, giving the impression of struggling or swimming prey.

Yoshikazu Fujioka's page on the fishing and tying traditional tenkara wet flies

And Chris Stewart's

For my sakasa kebari I use 6/0 tying thread (you can probably use any color you want), hackle from the hen pheasant, and if I feel like it I'll add a dubbed body, or maybe a collar of peacock herl. I've been using Mustad "Caddies, Curved - STD/1XS" and "Wet/Nymph Egg, Caddis - 2XH/3XS" hooks as they have a slight resemblance to the curve shanked hooks used on many traditional Japanese patterns. Currently I am tying these flies in sizes 8 & 12.

I start by wrapping a thread body, creating a small head behind the eye of the hook, behind which I'll tie in the hackle.

Traditionally hackle from the hen pheasant was used, so that is what I have been using as well, although any soft hackle will do. However, pheasant has the advantage of being very cheap. Feathers form the neck or breast work well, although many of these feathers have a very short useable length, so in order to get the right bushiness I will often tie in two :

Tie the hackle in by the tips and wrap backwards toward the hook bend:

Tie down the stems, I like to take them down the hook shank a little ways with thread wraps to give the fly a little more profile in the body. Then make some thread wraps over the last turn or two of hackle to neaten it all up and keep the hackle pushed forward. At this point, you can either make a body from thread wraps, dub the body, or herl the body. Here I'm going to use a traditional Japanese dubbing material, the cottony fiber which covers some species of fern when they sprout:

To finish the fly, tie off with half hitches, and add a little head cement to the knot:

That was my first attempt at using the fern fiber dubbing. It's an interesting material, I'll post more about it as I gain more experience with it. For now I've only used it once, but I will say that the stuff I gathered was more challenging to use than wool or synthetic dubbings.

Afternoon of May 17th 2010

2010-05-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

I wound up not having to work on Monday afternoon, so after tying up some flies I took the chance to get out on a local brook. This brook was about a mile hike from the parking lot, along the course of another brook which flows through a beautiful gorge with several waterfalls:

This brook also has an incredible series of long, deep slow flowing spring pools. Unfortunately for the fishing the high waterfalls coupled with the boulder piles the stream occasionally flows under likely render these pools fairly inaccessible to fish. I also wonder about the water quality, especially regarding it's acidity. This is probably the most tanin stained brook I've ever seen, it's literally as dark as bog water. A lot of rotting vegetation collects in the pools, contributing to the acidity. I also found layers of hemlock needles decompoosing in anoxic conditions under layers of sand, producing methane gas, which is toxic to most fish.

In any case, I was having so much fun scrambling down the gorge and taking photos that I didn't make it to my destination with any time to fish!

When I did get there I found quite a contrast to the first brook, the water was clear, cold, and the rocks were covered in cased caddis larvae:

It looks promising! I'll return another day...

Here are my photos on Picasa

New England Tenkara Outing, May 15th 2010

2010-05-18T16:28:00.000-07:00

I've finally gotten around to writing a blog post on the New England Tenkara Outing I organized with the help of some others on the TenkaraUSA forum!

Since last summer I've been having a great time with tenkara, so this winter I decided it would be fun to organize a fishing trip for people interested in tenkara in my neck of the woods. It would be an opportunity for a few people to become acquainted with this new (to the US) method of fly fishing, and get out on some beautiful mountain streams; the kind on which tenkara originated in Japan.

The trip was a long time in the making; planning began in February if memory serves me well, with an initial date of April 17th pencilled in. Well, the weather did not cooperate at all, and the outing was postponed due to the threat of snow and heavy rain that weekend. May 15th turned out to be the ideal postponement date in terms of weather; clear skies, temps in the 60's, and a breeze light enough to keep us cool without making casting too difficult.

We met up at the parking lot for the Dunbar Brook Trail at 9:30, and were out on the stream fishing by 10:30 after everyone was introduced and set up with tackle. There were five of us in attendance, which turned out to be a good number, I don't know if we all would have gotten in much quality fishing with a bigger group.

Michael from the Eclectic Angler got the first fish, in the first pool, probably on the third cast of the whole trip. It seemed like an auspicious start to the day. The stream was absolutely magnificent, with pool after pool, and plenty of small pocket water. We found many of the pools to be incredibly deep; easily over 8ft. Despite the profusion of great brook trout habitat, we only caught one more fish between the 5 of us on Dunbar brook.

After lunch we decided to try out the Deerfield River right down the hill from us on Dunbar Brook. This section of the Deefield above the Fife Brook Dam is much smaller, chock full of boulders, and experiences less severe releases from power stations upstream. All in all another beautiful place to fish. We pounded the Deerfield for a few hours, and just as we were about to leave Casey hooked this magnificent brown trout:

Despite not finding much in the way of fish, we all had a great time. I enjoyed getting out and fishing this beautiful spot a bit more extensively, and getting a chance to meet a few people I'd only known over the internet. Introducing Robert and Casey to tenkara was also a lot of fun. Both love fishing small streams, and I hope they'll get some enjoyment from tenkara's simplified approach.

As a final note, here is my Picasa web album for the day.

The Old Favorite

2010-05-13T18:21:00.000-07:00

I finished up early with work today, so of course I took the chance to get out on the stream. For some reason this year I haven't had much luck with trout on dry flies, or wets for that matter. Guess I've been in a funk. It was time to turn that around, so I headed over to one of my favorite brooks. This is the first brook where I met with small stream success; for whatever reason a lot of things just "clicked" on my first trip here. In hindsight, I'm not really sure why! The stream is tiny, bushy, and loaded with fallen trees. It's really a tricky place to fish in terms of casting, and really not all that well suited to tenkara. Furthermore, the mosquitoes down in this swampy little brook are downright deadly. On the other hand, it really is a beautiful place to fish:

I bushwhacked down to the stream and arrived to the heartening sound of rising trout. I tied on a parachute adams and got started. The fish didn't seem to enthused by the adams, but the bugs were just too fierce to bother stopping to change flies. I found that I needed an absolutely perfect presentation to get any interest. Along the way I noticed deer, raccoon, and heron tracks on the banks, and came across some absolutely huge crane-flies. All in all I managed two small trout before the mosquitoes got to be just too much; I'd passed on the bug spray, that was a mistake!

Dunbar Brook

2010-05-08T10:15:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I made it out to the Deerfield River with a few friends, we spent the morning fishing Dunbar Brook, and then the afternoon on the Deerfield. Surprisingly we only managed one fish between the three of us all day!

For your viewing pleasure here's my Picasa album for the day: