In this past week’s edition of Sunday Morning Riffles, I mentioned an Italian net maker named Giorgio. Not knowing much about him or these beautifully crafted nets, I reached out to him through his Etsy shop to learn a little more. The following are Giorgio Fattori‘s words describing his fishing background and inspiration for these wonderful tamos. I always find it enjoyable to hear directly from a craftsman about his work, so I believe you will enjoy our visit with Giorgio as well.
I started fly fishing in 1985, after using other fishing techniques since I was a child. I continued fly fishing until four years ago, then due to back problems, I stopped fishing.
In 2007 I wrote a fly fishing manual with two other fishermen friends (Valerio Santagostino and Beppe Saglia) for Hoepli, a prominent publishing house. In 2018 we were asked to create the second edition of the book. It was at that time I decided to learn about tenkara, to have additional material for the new fishing manual. Helped by friends who had been tenkara fishing for years and by doing careful research on the internet, I managed to create a chapter on this fishing technique, which immediately fascinated me due to its simplicity.
Since then I have started tenkara fishing, as it is compatible with my back pain, and I even had the opportunity to meet Masami Sakakibara in person during one of his trips to Italy!
The practice of tenkara made me appreciate the close relationship that is created between the fisherman and the environment in which he moves, respecting the fish more. It is precisely from this new relationship that I decided to make my own handcrafted landing nets, so as to minimize stress for the fish once hooked. In fact, I saw many tenkara fishermen bringing the fish to shore, dragging them over the stones which didn’t feel consistent with this type of fishing. The use of a tamo allows the angler to keep the fish in the water, thus reducing its stress.
Always with respect for the fish, I decided to apply a simple dehooker to my landing nets which allows you to remove the hook from the fish’s mouth without touching it with your hands. In this way the practice of catch and release is applied practically without additional stress for the fish. And this is also why the Kanji of “respect” is present on my tamos, in addition to that of “tenkara.”
The production of the landing nets is completely artisanal (handcrafted) and each example is different from the others. To make the handle I use woods that are particularly resistant to contact with water, such as mahogany, walnut, beech, acacia, ebony, and ash.
Using Japanese saws I create the shape of the handle which I then refine using Japanese wooden knives (Kiridashi).
With different sanding papers I make the wood smooth and the grain appear, then I proceed to create the part where the net is mounted. To do this I use 2 or 3 millimeter wooden strips, assembling different essences to obtain an aesthetically valid circle suitable for the wood used for the handle.
After leaving the strips to soak for two days, I bend them using a circular ring to which I fix the strips with clamps.
Once folded and dried I proceed with gluing using aliphatic glue (Titebond III). The process is quite long, but in two years of producing and selling tamos I have not had any complaints about the glue holding.
Depending on the customer’s preferences, once I have finished gluing the various components, I proceed with waterproofing the tamo naturally or with synthetic paints.
Finally, I mount a rubber net that I purchase from River Peak in Japan. They are nets made specifically for catch and release fishing, therefore made of rubber and with 3 mm mesh, which does not damage the fins of the fish when they are in the landing net.
During the tenkara gatherings in which I participate I always try to highlight the importance of respecting the fish and how the correct use of a tamo is important for correct fishing, both tenkara and fly or spinning.
My Etsy shop has some ready-made tamos in stock, but I prefer to make them in a personalized way according to the customer’s needs. This means that in addition to the two sizes most used here in Italy (25 and 30 centimeters in diameter, with an equally long handle), I can make landing nets of larger dimensions which are useful if the targeted fish is longer than 60 centimeters, as found in some Italian reserves. and certainly when fishing in the USA.
Such beautiful nets and a wonderful backstory. It really makes you appreciate all of the fine details used to create those stunning and functional tenkara tamos. If you’d like to learn more, or possibly purchase a net of your own, please visit Giorgio’s shop on Etsy, or follow his Facebook page. I also would like to thank Giorgio for sharing his story and craft with us.
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Thanks for the follow up Michael.
My tamo arrived yesterday and it is gorgeous.