Happy Sunday! If you’re a football fan, this is a big day… Chiefs vs. Ravens, Lions vs. 49ers with the opportunity to go to the Super Bowl on the line! (Let us know who you’re pulling for below.) But if you’re not into “sports-ball” we’ve got a full slate of videos and links that should keep you occupied as well. A few of the videos are even from the summer, so hopefully some of that warmth and sunshine makes it through your computer or phone’s screen. Enjoy!
Hopper, HELLbender, and Small Woodland Creatures!
Jared from Tenkara Genki is back with this week’s installment of tenkara fishing from the Driftless area. In this video recorded last summer, he’s fishing hopper patterns in and among the tall grasses. He even encounters what he teases as “small woodland creatures.” Spoiler alert, they are not Smurfs…
Field & Stream is Back
As a young outdoorsman, I used to lose myself in the pages of Field & Stream magazine. However as print magazine interest has faded and editorial budgets have been slashed, the venerable outdoor journal turned into a shell of itself the past few years. Last Thursday, new ownership was announced, as well as a new, modern vision for the heritage brand. Certainly got my attention…
Tenkara For Small Brown Trout
Next, we’ll check back in on Tenkara Dave as he takes his Tenkara USA Rhodo out on a beautiful small stream in search of the resident brown trout. He says it was a “warm January day” but it still looked cold to me. Let’s put on a few extra layers and take a stroll upstream with Dave…
Clear Tenkara Line
I only sort of followed this, but from what I gathered, the team Genryu Izakaya couldn’t find clear tenkara lines to fish, so they produced their own “stealth line”.
“Once upon a time, there was an almost transparent tenkara line. But I guess many customers wanted a flashy, easy line that was easy for them to see, and before long it disappeared from the market. When you get a little better at casting tenkara, even without a fancy fluorescent fly or a fancy colored line, you can drop the fly where you want it to go and let it flow. It’s only a distance of 6 to 7 meters at most. Then, you can catch more fish with a line that is as invisible as possible, of course. If you don’t have it, you have to make it. It’s 50m, so you might have enough until you die. I haven’t changed mine in a couple of years.”
I don’t know if you can buy them from their online shop and have shipped outside of Japan… but it’s pretty rad to see more options on the market coming from tenkara anglers with a wealth of experience…
Worth the Wait
Not sure if we’ve highlighted the gokofly YouTube channel before, but we’re definitely going to subscribe to keep an eye out for some future content. In this latest video, persistence pays off as it takes a while to get into that first fish, but I think we all know that getting rid of the “skunk” is a fantastic feeling for any frustrated angler…
The Kwik Trip Kebari
It’s really tough to link to examples of kebari in the Sunday Morning Riffles. Most seem to be shared on Instagram with little or no context, which, I’ll be honest, doesn’t work that well for this format. However, I know a little about the context of this kebari noted on Reddit this week and tied by AJ Moore. It’s a Pass Lake variant developed for our own Matt Sment named the Kwik Trip, after the very popular convenience store chain found throughout the Driftless. Wonder if Kwik Trip might consider stocking these at the checkout right next to those gigantic Rice Krispies bars? IYKYK…
Montanans Fish for Answers
This video from PBS News Hour was highlighted in one of the tenkara-themed Facebook groups this week by our own Tom Davis. As they describe in the video’s description, “The number of brown and rainbow trout in some of Montana’s best-known and most scenic fishing rivers is at historic lows. With experts at a loss to explain it, state agencies, fishermen, businesses and concerned citizens are all trying to find answers…”
Tenkara Angler Weekly Article Roundup
Tenkara Angler keeps on moving… we hope you’re following! On Monday a reader-submitted article from Jerry Reitz outlined his winter fishing in the keystone state of Pennsylvania. On Wednesday Amanda Hoffner wrote an article about her use of “stealth” on the stream. If you didn’t see it then (see what I did there?) make sure to read it today! Last and certainly not least, Riverworks announced that they are suspending their service of converting grips on Oni rods in February… we love our converted Onis, so you may want to read that post…
Winter Tenkara Fishing in Central Pennsylvania
Article by Jerry Reitz In my opinion tenkara is very well-suited for winter fishing in central Pennsylvania, where the water is low and…
Stealth or Something Like It
If you’ve followed me on social media and have seen my pictures and read my stories, then you know I enjoy fishing…
Last Chance for Riverworks Oni Grip Conversions!
After a few years of offering the addition of highly sensitive carbon fiber grips to Oni tenkara rod models, Jeff Lomino of…
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.
Another great Sunday Michael! Thanks for pulling all this together. I find something each week I missed.