Happy New Year’s Eve! Funny how I was just wishing you a Merry Christmas last week and we’re already turning the page on 2023. The Sunday Morning Riffles have returned to close out this year in style… While we’re going to feature some newness in the tenkara and fixed line community, we’re also going to use this as an opportunity to reflect a bit on Tenkara Angler’s busy 2023. Enjoy!
Winter Tenkara in Utah
Our friend Dave Blackhurst recently started his own YouTube channel. In the very first video he takes the Tenkara USA Ukiyo out on a chilly, snow banked stream in Utah. He’s also added a video about a tenkara tamo and some Las Vegas area petroglyphs. Give Dave’s channel a visit (and please subscribe if you like what you see)…
The Fly Fishing Show Schedule is Out
If you’re lucky enough to live near one of the stops, attending The Fly Fishing Show is always something anglers look forward to each year. Whether it’s the casting demonstrations, the fly tyers, the opportunity to meet fishing “celebrities”, or to look at all the gear…. ok, let’s be honest, it’s to look at all the gear… it’s worth circling on your calendar. This year’s schedule is out and many of your favorite brands such as DRAGONtail and Zen Tenkara are already making their plans known…
A Year in Review with Genryu Izakaya
The Genryu Izakaya team do a wonderful job detailing their headwaters tenkara fishing trips, camping, and on-stream cooking through their frequent videos. This fun three and a half minute installment is a quick look back at some of the highlights of the past year. You’ll find some beautiful fish, tasty food, and lots of lighthearted humor. This is what tenkara is all about…
Sageheart Tenkara on Let’s Go Fish Podcast
This actually came out in the beginning of December, but I must have missed it at the time. Martin Montejano of Sageheart Tenkara spent time with the folks over at the Let’s Go Fish podcast. It’s a relatively short listen, but well worth the time during your next drive or run…
Jared Takes On Sawanobori?
Sawanobori is a term used in Japan to describe in-stream climbing, sometimes steep waterfalls and rock formations, while ascending a stream to its headwaters. In the latest Tenkara Genki video Jared goes fishing in Michigan and follows a tributary stream up through several plunge pools in search of the local brown and brook trout. In one portion he scales a small waterfall to see what might be lurking above…
Handmade Tamos from Italy
I really need to do a little bit more research on these, but noticed that a gentleman named Giorgio has started listing some of his handmade tamos (nets) on Etsy. They look quite nice, with what appears to be great attention to detail. For those who like wood, and the “hoop” shape of traditional tenkara tamos, these might be something to consider…
Southern California Small Stream
Angler M. Keegan Uhl recently documented a small stream tenkara outing with his kids. Running through several riffles and pools, they encounter several southern California rainbow trout. We’re looking forward to more of his tenkara videos…
Tenkara Angler’s 2023 Top 10 Article Roundup
Tenkara Angler only posted one original post this week, Tom’s look at Winter Fishing Clothing and Gear that Works. It’s definitely worth a read if you fish in the winter elements, there are so many good suggestions. With that noted, we wanted to take this year end opporutnity to highlight our Top 10 most popular (new) posts of 2023. In other words, the posts written this past year that had the most views. Obviously, those published in the first half of the year will have an advantage over newer articles, but I think all of these earned their spots due to merit. This is a great way to catch up on some posts you may have missed, or possibly re-read some oldies, but goodies. One thing’s clear, you all like Tom’s rod reviews quite a bit!
Interline Tenkara Rod
In this article we speak to Satoshi Ogitani, an angler from Fuji, a city in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan in the foothills of Mount Fuji. Ogitani-san has been fly fishing for over 30 years and is fortunate to conveniently reside near several catch and release streams that hold substantially sized trout. What makes his style of fishing uniquely interesting is that it involves the use of an interline rod – a rod where the line…
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DRAGONtail TalonMINI Pocket Tenkara Rod Review
For a reason that I don’t fully understand, pocket rods seems to be all the rage in the tenkarasphere. I have owned and fished quite a few packable rods, and although they nest into a short and compact package, they are no where as compact as pocket rods. But whether I understand them or not is not the point, pocket rods are just plain popular. To answer the clamour, DRAGONtail will soon be releasing their…
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A Tribute to Cheap Tenkara Rods
Article by Mike Lutes Several years ago, early-ish in the run of Badger Tenkara, Matt Sment handed me a SeaQuest tenkara rod to test out. It was a 12 foot rod, 6:4 action. Chinese manufacture. Pretty standard stuff and not too dissimilar from many of the more affordable rods that were popping up on Amazon and eBay. I did like the cork grip better than some of the competitors, so extra credit for that. I put…
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Anglo & Company Kowasa Pocket Tenkara Rod Review
A good pocket rod is hard to find. They are frequently way too stiff to be fun to use, or they are way too fragile for make them worth using. Like I said, a good pocket rod is hard to find. Well, one pocket rod that is both fun to use and robust to survive is the Anglo & Company Kowasa. Anglo & Company is a small Japanese fishing rod company located in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo,…
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DRAGONtail IceWING zx390 Tenkara Rod Teaser Report
I recently visited Brent Auger and Brandon Moon of DRAGONtail Tenkara and had a chance to get a detailed look at a new tenkara rod prototype code named the “IceWING zx390”. Like their highly successful DRAGONtail Mutant zx380, the IceWING zx390 is a triple position rod. But unlike the Mutant, the IceWING uses their proprietary method of incorporating a small amount of fiberglass into the graphite at strategic locations along the blank. This gives the…
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Sunday Morning Riffles – 12/24/2023
Merry Christmas Eve… The Sunday Morning Riffles are back celebrating another week of fixed line fly fishing… So, in the spirit of the holidays, consider this an early present to enjoy with your egg nog, yule log, or whatever pulls your sleigh. Ho ho ho, we hope you enjoy! The Native King of Southern Appalachia Going to start this week’s fixed line content with a plug for a video that isn’t fixed line fishing at…
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Fixed-Line Fly Fishing Tactics: Thinking About Flat-Water Nymph Fishing
Cons: Flat-water can be challenging, frustrating and intimidating. Flat water is not usually seen as “tenkara-perfect” and typical tenkara rigging and techniques may not always be effective. Pros: Flat-water can be challenging (yeah that’s a pro too). Flat-water is often overlooked by other anglers and that can mean less angling pressure; which can be a huge blessing on popular and otherwise crowded waters . Learning to effectively fish in flat-water can greatly increase your fishable…
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Buyer’s Remorse
I must admit, that on occasion, I have bought an item that later on I regretted buying. Most of the items that fall into this category have not been overly expensive, not like a car or a house, nothing like that. But still, after the purchase, I thought to myself, “Why did I do that?” Buyer’s remorse refers to negative emotions—such as regret, anxiety or guilt—that consumers may experience after buying an item. It’s typically…
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There’s No Place Like Home in the Minnesota Driftless
Trip Report by Dave Noll On March 2nd, 2023 I headed out to what I consider my home stream. It’s about a 3/4 of a mile walk in and because of all the snow we’ve had I hadn’t fished it this year. After a couple of hundred yards the last footprints disappeared and I was headed into territory that hadn’t been fished for quite awhile. I got to the end of the public access and set…
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Introducing the Daiwa Expert Tenkara Rod
A new tenkara rod from Daiwa is set to be released in March of 2023. Called the Expert, the rod has a crossover design with the handle having maximum exposure of the rod blank, to increase sensitivity. According to Daiwa (using Deepl translate): “In tenkara fishing, where anglers repeatedly make hundreds of casts a day, the feel of the grip is an important factor in determining the success of the catch. This is why we…
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Do you have something you think is worth mentioning in the Sunday Morning Riffles?
Pop us a note at staff@tenkaraangler.com using the subject line RIFFLES to let us know.
Really enjoying the Sunday Riffle! Thanks for doing this for us.
Until we met again Michael.