This past Sunday my father and I hit Yellow Creek in Bedford County Pennsylvania for some trout fishing. We considered a trip for Lake Erie steelhead but I was anxious to try out the new AMAGO tenkara rod from Tenkara USA. Also, wanted to give the new Tenkara USA 13-ft traditional line a workout, try out the new L.L. Bean Gray Ghost Studded, Rubber-Soled wading boots, and fish a new (to me) fly pattern. I had a full slate of tasks – oh and I wanted to relax and enjoy some fishing too.
Tenkara USA Amago:The Amago is a 13.5 ft rod. It’s the second longest rod offered by Tenkara USA, only the Ito is longer. The Amago is rated as a 6:4 action (a “medium” action rating on the Tenkara Action Index) – I don’t have enough experience with enough rods to comment on the relative action too much – but I’ll say that I found the Amago to have plenty of backbone. Unfortunately I didn’t hook into any huge fish, but it handled some 14-inchers with no problem at all, bringing them in quickly. I found that it cast both the new heavier, Tenkara USA Traditional furled line and a fluorocarbon level line with ease (more on lines later). The Amago is a beautiful rod. The unadulterated black matte finish is perfect – all rods should be matte black in my opinion. When I unpacked the rod at home for the first time and extended it to its 13.5-ft length I had to laugh – that’s a long rod. However, on the stream I was glad for the extra length. I have to agree with those that say to choose the longest rod that you can use on any particular stream. However, if the streams that you fish have a lot of over-hanging trees, then a 13.5-ft rod will likely be too long. Yellow Creek, in the area that I fished, is a medium sized stream, maybe 40 feet across on average, with mature trees lining the banks, with very few low-hanging branches over the stream. It’s a perfect tenkara stream and the 13.5-ft Amago matched the stream very nicely.
I do have one complaint about the Amago though – the grip design. The Amago is a long rod, and I found that the grip design did not work for me as well as I’d like. The Amago has a relatively small grip diameter, and except for the end, it is pretty much an un-contoured design. Maybe other anglers will have a different experience, but I found that the small diameter and flat profile did not fit my hand well and by the end of the day I was suffering from some hand fatigue. I couldn’t seem to find a hand position that allowed my index finger to rest along the grip (see pic to right), and the result was that I had to squeeze the grip more tightly. I believe that the Amago would benefit from a larger diameter, more contoured grip, like a reverse half-wells grip, similar to the Iwana II series.
In conclusion, the Amago makes a nice addition to my tenkara rod quiver. Because of it’s length, I would call the Amago a “specialist”, not as versatile as a 12-ft rod. Unless you fish larger, mostly wide-open streams I’m not sure I’d recommend the Amago as your sole tenkara rod. If you’re looking to expand your selection to a big-fish, big-stream rod then I would surely recommend the Amago. That said, I’m in the process of investigated ways to modify the grip to fit my hand better. I’m thinking of wrapping with leather or neoprene to create a larger diameter contoured grip.
Tenkara USA Traditonal Line (new version): Recently Tenkara USA changed up the design on their traditional tenkara lines. They are made of a new material (kevlar I believe – don’t quote me though). The new line is supple and very visible (which can be a good thing when tenkara fishing). On this day I fished the Amago with the 13-ft line (it comes in a 10.5-ft version too). So how does it perform? Well, this was only my second outing with the line – but I think my decision is in. First the good. The line is highly visible, and casts very easily with little effort. I had a little wind and it handled it well (I still haven’t fished it in very windy conditions though). As a major plus it does not get all hinky and uncoiled when snagged. If you’ve fished the older Tenkara USA lines or other furled leaders or lines you know what I mean. The new line doesn’t have any problems like that. Now the bad. The line is heavy. In tenkara fishing it is desirable to be able to keep the entire line off of the water at a distance. Light lines are easier to keep off the water at longer distances. But light lines are harder to cast, especially with wind. Achieving a perfect line design is a is a balancing between these two opposing goals. This line is tilted a little to far to the heavy end for me. I found it very difficult to fish at a distance. I would cast out, lift my arm high to keep the line off of the water and the line would tend to drag back toward me. I just couldn’t fish at a distance. Secondly, the line sinks pretty rapidly. In some circumstances, such as with overhanging trees, you may not be able to keep the rod high enough to keep the line off of the water. In these cases I find that I like a line that floats (like nylon level line or a floating furled line) or doesn’t sink too quickly (fluoro isn’t too bad). This new line sinks pretty rapidly. And that combined with it’s high visibilty makes for fish spooking in my opinion. So for my fishing preferences and fishing locales this line is just not ideal. And on this day my fishing success was much greater with a fluorocarbon level line. This line’s going into the pack to be reserved for windy days.
L.L.Bean Gray Ghost Wading Boots:The Gray Ghost wading boot by L.L.Bean is a rubber-soled boot. I have the studded version ($139), but you can get it without studs too($119). I don’t have too much to say except that I love these boots. I have no complaints. They are comfortable, light and most importantly I didn’t slip once even on mossy rocks and other slick substrates. The look well made – but only time will tell how they hold up.
Purple flies and my “One-fly”: That’s right purple. I’m not sure where I first heard tale of purple wet flies, probably it was with the Snipe and Purple traditional soft-hackle. Here’s a good video from Davie McPhail on tying this. With respect to tenkara flies the first time I heard it mentioned was probably by ERiK Ostrander of TenkaraGuides. ERiK ties a fly that he calls the Purple Haze Kebari (watch him tie it). This is where I got the inspiration for my purple kebari, which is essentially the same thing except that I used purple Pearsall’s Gossamer silk thread instead of sewing thread as ERiK does. So does it work? Well, all day long there was a sparse hatch of tiny (maybe size 26) BWO’s coming off and in one big pool (see the pic at the top of the post), there were some fish taking emergers (they were pretty much ignoring the floating duns). I took a few on tiny emerger patterns and then figured I’d give the purple kebari a try. In short order I brought two more sippers to hand on a size 16 purple kebari, even during BWO hatch activity – make of it what you will.
However, the real winner of the day, and I’d have to say, the year was the good old brown-hackle peacock wetfly. My version is basically a classic wetfly pattern – however most other dressings have a tag of red wool or red hackle tips – I use a brown hackle-tip tail in mine. I’ve been using this simple pattern as my go-to tenkara “one-fly” for the past two seasons and it has been very productive for me. I generally use them in size 12 through 16. Many tenkara fishers in Japan have a signature fly pattern that they fish almost exclusively – I am officially declaring my signature fly the brown-hackle peacock.
The pattern is simply:
brown rooster hackle tail
peacock body
gold wire rib
brown hen-hackle collar
tied on a heavy wet-fly hook.
Disclosure: I bought the Tenkara USA Amago and Traditional lines at a slight discount from retail. I purchased the L.L. Bean wading boots at full retail.
A little while ago I headed to a small stream in my little corner of the world (Southwestern Pennsylvania). This brook is a vassal stream of the mighty Youghiogheny River. The Youghiogheny or Yough (pronounced Yock) begins in West Virgina then flows north through western Maryland and continues northwesterly to join the Monongahela River southwest of Pittsburgh. It is generally believed that the Yough got its name from a native American term meaning “A Stream which flows in a contrary direction”. I think that’s a great name for a river – and I can relate to it, as I often feel like I’m traveling in a contrary direction compared to those around me.
So I parked in the lot, grabbed my stuff, 11-ft Tenkara USA Iwana, small fishing waist pack, larger pack for lunch and coffee thermos, and headed off down the trail full of expectations. The air was filled with the scent of pine and fallen leaves, so different than the suburbs. Often I exit my house to be confronted by a smell like burning brakes. I think this is from the steel plant over the hill – but I can’t be positive. Smells are so integral to our experience and so evocative and yet so often overlooked when we consider our experiences. When I think of the time that I lived in Maine I think of two smells – the sweet, astringent aroma of balsam and the slightly corrupted smell of ocean aerosols and lowtides. Other smells evoke other times and places.
Eventually I could hear the stream off to my right and down in a small valley. I could hear it but it was totally obscured by hopelessly, monstrously tangled rhododendron – the kind of rhododendron thicket that has you crawling on your hands and knees, praying that the snakes and bears are indeed more scared of you than you are of them. It was going to be tough fishing. The first bridge crossing that I came to revealed two anglers wading midstream – well that’s one way to tackle the brush I guess – but I hate to wade these types of streams at any time and especially in the fall, you know spawning trout and all. I don’t want to sound too judgemental and high-minded on this point though as some may question whether I should have been fishing at all at this time of the year – well that is a fair question, and frankly I have mixed feelings. I don’t do it so very often and I figure my impact is pretty small in the grand scheme – but nonetheless…at least I was not trampling all through the stream (maybe just a rationalization on my part). So with this section of the stream accounted for I moved on upstream to give the others some room.
Finally I found a few openings that I could navigate a bit easier. Now came the challenge – casting an 11-ft rod in tight brush. Easier said than done. Approaching the stream close enough to cast was a clumsy, crawling, scrambling over things, affair. Finally getting to the stream side I had no confidence that I didn’t spook every fish within 50 feet. So I would sort of weave the rod out over the stream and using a bow-and-arrow cast send the fly to the water (hopefully). Success was not forthcoming. I’m pretty sure that snagging the low-hanging branches and the subsequent shaking to free the fly was not helping in the stealth department. As expected this was tough going but fun anyway.
A little further on I finally found a spot where the stream spilled into a “large” pool and the canopy opened enough to allow a short-stroked side-arm cast of sorts. Still not easy but better. Crawling up to the stream and casting I finally found success on a size 14 Parachute Adams – a beautiful resplendent male brookie in full fall array. That’s what it’s all about. Certainly not the largest trout I’ve caught – but ranking right up there on the satisfaction scale.
The celebration didn’t last long. Somewhere in the landing of the fish I managed to snap the second segment of the tenkara rod. Kneeling down I had laid the rod across my thighs and, I think, my elbow came down on the rod to break it. Total user error – I want to make clear – not equipment failure. So that was the little bit of fishing that I was allowed that day, oh well it was a nice spot to sit for lunch anyway. As a footnote Tenkara USA has an easy system for getting the rod repaired. You can order the replacement parts online (for a very small fee), and so within a few days I was back in business for a lot less $$ and time than many other rod warranty deals, which usually require you to send the rod back.
The powers that be over at the Troutrageous! Blog have generously given me a place to make some noise about Tenkara in America (read it here) as a part of the Tenkara Tuesday series – go check it out and while you’re there spend some time reading all of the Tenkara Tuseday posts and the other great content on Troutrageous!.
I am sometimes attracted to something – to an image, a song, a phrase, even a word – and my mind rotates this thing around and around. I’ll find myself thinking about it all day long – maybe not always on the surface, but maybe buried under the day’s dust and detritus. At these times I’ll try to decipher what this obsession means – it is not always possible. Sometimes however an idea comes into focus and differentiates itself from fuzzy background noise of my brain. That’s what happened with this photo.
When I looked at this photo it seemed full of meaning and metaphor – but I couldn’t quite put words to it. Then an idea began to incubate and finally hatched. This picture made me think of poise and potential; of initial and boundary conditions; of chaos and prediction. In short it made me think of the current and future state of tenkara in America. Is tenkara that erratic boulder, sitting on the edge, poised and improbable? Will it fall in to the lake? Will it remain on the edge? Is tenkara that scraggly Charlie Brown pine tree, growing on the inhospitable purchase of that rock ledge, doomed to a crooked and stunted life, but still somehow hanging on, still nobly struggling? Is it the melt water from the glacier, distilled on high in rarefied air, dropped on us from out of the blue, then melted into the greater lake of fly fishing? Who knows. It will be interesting to watch the development, one thing is for sure - it is impossible to know. But I’m glad to play a bit part in the movie.
Tenkara is not just a style of fly fishing, it is a way of life. Just like our musical or cultural interests inform our clothing and hairstyle choices (I’m still trying to forget about my 1980′s new wave hair style), so tenkara affects anglers. The tenkara angler has an extra spring in her step and a attentive, piercing, hawk-like stare (think of Clint Eastwood as “the man with no name” ). If the tenkara angler’s wearing mirrored lenses then there are probably mountains reflected in them – or at least what passes for mountains in his neck of the woods (think of Eric Cartman). He probably has a lighter load than your usual western angler – simplicity is after all a sort of mantra. It is a small club and we often find ourselves preaching the word and spreading the gospel of tenkara whenever we can - but to quote Mark 6:11 – “if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”, so I’m not going to get too upset with those that are not ready to accept tenkara. But if you come along while I’m fishing my with my tenkara rod and you show the slightest bit of interest you are going to get the full speech and demonstration. The tenkara angler is likely to have something of the do-it-yourself going on too – maybe it’s a DIY rod holster or fly box or lanyard, or net. Maybe it’s just re-purposed items – I’m fond of my Altoids tin fly box, which says several things; 1) that I’m a rebel without a cause and want to be outside of the mainstream of fly fishing (I’ve always been a bit angsty); 2) that I like strong mints and fresh breath; and 3) that I’m cheap (or maybe I should say “frugal”). The tenkara angler is also likely to have strange notions. There is this idea floating around in tenkara circles that matching the hatch is not important (gasp!) – or at least not as important as some folks think. Also, maybe dead-drifting is over rated and imparting action to the fly is something that you ought to try. On these points I am not willing to go all in, at least not all the time. I do know that I’ve had great days fishing general attractor tenkara flies. I also know that I’ve had days when the fish demanded a hatch-matching emerger or nymph. So maybe the truth is this; you can simplify your fly selection, improve your technique and catch fish on general patterns more often than you believed possible. But also that sometimes you’ll do better to match the hatch – I suspect that as in most things, the truth is complicated and that it lies in a dark place, shrouded and unclear – and only in moments of clarity and grace do we see it. I can say this for certain though – I catch a lot of fish on my tenkara rods. Well let’s qualify that (a lot for me may be just a few by your standards)- I catch at least as many fish, and probably more that I did on western gear. Is tenkara superior to western gear? Maybe sometimes – or maybe not. Those who are so confident of tenkara’s superiority may never have seen a truly expert western-style fly angler seemingly vacuum up every fish in a stream. The real question, in my opinion, is “Does it matter if tenkara is a more effective fish catching method?”. My personal answer is – no. It absolutely doesn’t matter to me whether tenkara is “better”. Back in the day I decided to try fly fishing because it seemed interesting. I liked the idea that I could learn some new skills, learn to identify insects, learn to tie flies. Fly fishing seemed to be more in step with the natural world. Fly fishing is, to me, a more aesthetically pleasing experience. Tenkara is more so. So I chose tenkara for its aesthetics and its philosophy. Tenkara makes me more submissive to the fishing environment. The fixed line of the tenkara rod makes me evaluate the fishing terrain in a more careful way than I did previously. I need to move more. I need to position myself more carefully. The tenkara rod, without a reel is so light in the hand. It feels more like an extension of my body. The tenkara cast is slower and more subtle, more natural, easier to learn. You cannot power the tenkara cast – you need to work with what the rod gives you – the line is so light it doesn’t load the rod in the same way. If you try to force it you will fail. What about those crazy reversed-hackle sakasa kebari wet flies flies? Well – they work. Are they magic? No. I fished my minimalist sakasa kebari in Rocky Mountain National Park with great success. Would any other wet fly worked just as well? Who knows. It is not just about flies though. Obviously you need to know where to cast, how to sink the fly and how to detect the strike ( more about these things in a later post). I fished tenkara with a friend new to the method. I caught, with the same fly, 6 or 7 to every one that he caught. I’m not bragging (ok maybe a little). He is a experienced fly angler, but new to tenkara. What was the difference? – technique.
Tenkara can be used in a variety of situations – but it really shines it certain types of fishing. Specifically, high gradient, small to medium sized trout streams, with little overhead cover. These types of boulder strewn, rushing rivers harbor fish that must act quickly. The actively fished sakasa kebari, with its pulsating hackle attracts fish in the few moments before the fly rushes past the trout. The long rod makes picking the pockets on these streams an absolute joy.
The trick on tumbling, flashing, mountain streams that find themselves hurried on by excessive gravity is to get the fly noticed. That means two things – get the fly in front of a fish and perhaps add a little extra attraction. That attraction may be movement, flash or color among other things. Trout are pretty good at spotting a meal floating by, after all if they weren’t they’d starve – so I tend think presentation.
Rocky Mountain National Park has all water types though from smooth meadow streams to rushing mountain streams, to ponds and lakes. Tenkara is great on these meadow streams too – the lack of nearby overhanging trees is especially appreciated.
Oh one last thing – tenkara and RMNP are the perfect combo for new fly fishers. Tenkara casting is so easy to pick up, the kids will be fishing in minutes.
Need some Tenkara flies? Check out the TenkaraBum for flies by myself and others, as well as Tenkara lines, nets, other accessories, reviews, how-to and more...
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I found that it cast both the new heavier, Tenkara USA Traditional furled line and a fluorocarbon level line with ease (more on lines later). The Amago is a beautiful rod. The unadulterated black matte finish is perfect – all rods should be matte black in my opinion. When I unpacked the rod at home for the first time and extended it to its 13.5-ft length I had to laugh – that’s a long rod. However, on the stream I was glad for the extra length. I have to agree with those that say to choose the longest rod that you can use on any particular stream. However, if the streams that you fish have a lot of over-hanging trees, then a 13.5-ft rod will likely be too long. Yellow Creek, in the area that I fished, is a medium sized stream, maybe 40 feet across on average, with mature trees lining the banks, with very few low-hanging branches over the stream. It’s a perfect tenkara stream and the 13.5-ft Amago matched the stream very nicely.
Maybe other anglers will have a different experience, but I found that the small diameter and flat profile did not fit my hand well and by the end of the day I was suffering from some hand fatigue. I couldn’t seem to find a hand position that allowed my index finger to rest along the grip (see pic to right), and the result was that I had to squeeze the grip more tightly. I believe that the Amago would benefit from a larger diameter, more contoured grip, like a reverse half-wells grip, similar to the Iwana II series.
Now the bad. The line is heavy. In tenkara fishing it is desirable to be able to keep the entire line off of the water at a distance. Light lines are easier to keep off the water at longer distances. But light lines are harder to cast, especially with wind. Achieving a perfect line design is a is a balancing between these two opposing goals. This line is tilted a little to far to the heavy end for me. I found it very difficult to fish at a distance. I would cast out, lift my arm high to keep the line off of the water and the line would tend to drag back toward me. I just couldn’t fish at a distance. Secondly, the line sinks pretty rapidly. In some circumstances, such as with overhanging trees, you may not be able to keep the rod high enough to keep the line off of the water. In these cases I find that I like a line that floats (like nylon level line or a floating furled line) or doesn’t sink too quickly (fluoro isn’t too bad). This new line sinks pretty rapidly. And that combined with it’s high visibilty makes for fish spooking in my opinion. So for my fishing preferences and fishing locales this line is just not ideal. And on this day my fishing success was much greater with a fluorocarbon level line. This line’s going into the pack to be reserved for windy days.
L.L.Bean Gray Ghost Wading Boots: The Gray Ghost wading boot by L.L.Bean is a rubber-soled boot. I have the studded version ($139), but you can get it without studs too($119). I don’t have too much to say except that I love these boots. I have no complaints. They are comfortable, light and most importantly I didn’t slip once even on mossy rocks and other slick substrates. The look well made – but only time will tell how they hold up.
So does it work? Well, all day long there was a sparse hatch of tiny (maybe size 26) BWO’s coming off and in one big pool (see the pic at the top of the post), there were some fish taking emergers (they were pretty much ignoring the floating duns). I took a few on tiny emerger patterns and then figured I’d give the purple kebari a try. In short order I brought two more sippers to hand on a size 16 purple kebari, even during BWO hatch activity – make of it what you will. 
