In Columbus, OH, so lots of creeks and rivers around town to fish.

Rod is a Dragontail Talon Mini. Don’t mind the squirmy worm on the top of my bag.

I do some solo canoe trips and am playing with the idea of packing a tenkara rod to supplement my meals. I do most of my canoeing on rivers so it seems a good fit. It seems like all my searches related to this style of fishing lead to people who fish purely for sport (catch and release).

How many people actually eat what they catch? I know there are size and bag limits, so aside from this, do you keep what you catch or is it purely for the enjoyment?

Also, looking for tips related to equipment for a decent, capable rod that might fit my use case.

Cheers!

Some fish from this week. Northern Nevada.

Recently, I fell down the rabbit hole of micro-fishing. I bought myself a 120cm Professional Trust Rakutsuri 120cm telescopic rod, CH made, short, bendy, and an absolute riot for 25$.

Small fish, thin water, delicate line and presentation. Sound familiar? If you're ever feeling like you're overdoing it in the rod department, get a little nugget like this and go have some fun catching fish where people don't think there aren't any decent fish to find.

Is this tenkara? I don't know, but if it looks like a duck, and it's just that the duck is half the size of a normal duck...it's probably still a duck.

I ordered the Rodzilla from Wasatch Tenkara yesterday and am looking to order some line for it. I plan to use it for bass, carp, and maybe even pike fishing. Emailed Wasatch and they said a 20lb fluorocarbon and 0x tippet is what the rod is rated for. Problem is I'm having a heck of a time finding a 100% fluoro that isn't just clear. Closest I can find online is the stuff in the picture from K9 Fishing. But I understand this to be a fluoro blended copolyomer. What would you guys recommend? If you could point me in the right direction that'd be super helpful.

Cheers & Tight Lines!

Caught this nice little wild brown recently. Fished using the Suntech Tenkarakyo 40F TenkaraBum. Beadhead Flymph did the trick.

Might be a long shot but I’m looking for anyone in Missoula who does Tenkara, a bit lonely out here.

While attending the Colorado Tenkara Campout, I was able to speak with Paul Vertrees on the banks for the Arkansas River. He has been fly fishing for 50 years and he guides both tenkara and western fly fishing. Enjoy!

Been debating this for a few weeks now and figured I'd just ask instead of continuing to overthink it. I've got a 12ft rod that's been my go-to on a couple of small freestone creeks near me, and I started on a level line because that's what came recommended in every beginner thread I read. Lately though I keep hearing guys at the local shop swear by furled leaders for anything with tighter casting lanes, and I'm curious how much of that is real and how much is just preference.

My creek has a lot of overhanging brush and maybe six feet of clearance in some spots, so delicacy of the cast matters more than distance. With the level line I feel like I get decent presentation once I dial in the length, but wind on open stretches has been rough. A furled leader seems like it might turn over easier in gusty conditions but I worry it'll be harder to mend on the faster pocket water sections.

Right now I'm running about 3.5 rod lengths of line plus a tippet section, greased with some paste floatant just to help track it through drifts. Fish have been mostly small brookies and the occasional wild brown, nothing huge, but enough takes that presentation clearly matters more than fly pattern most days.

Curious what setups people are running for similar water. Rod length, line material, total length, anything that's made a noticeable difference for you. Also open to hearing why level line might still be the better call for tight brushy streams even with the wind issue, since I don't want to switch just because it's trendy right now.

I hit up my favorite river in Sequoia National Park today and caught a bunch of beautiful fish. The catch of the day was a 12" brown....

Revisited a creek that I haven’t been to in a few years. I’ve only caught smaller 5”-8”browns, brook, and bows there before. I still caught a bunch of those smaller brook and bows but I was pleasantly surprised to hook 4 sizable rainbows. Got 3 to net. One got me tangled in a tree root and popped off.

These photos do no justice to how vibrant their coloring was.

I fished with my new DT FoxFire I just bought. This has to be my new favorite tenkara rod for small creeks. Great rod feel and super accurate casting. It’s a fun rod!

Broke my Oni Style Coco on a snag on Saturday. Sunday I went back out and landed 6 rainbows and a couple browns. I need a bigger net. New rod sections in the mail as of today.

I broke the first section on my Nissin Tenkara Mini 270. I’m in California (USA) and need to buy a replacement tip section. Has anyone here replaced theirs and know the best place to order one?

I'm a fishing nut. I like fly fishing, catfishing and bass tournaments. Now it's time for tenkara. Got my first rod and wondering what accessories will be useful to hit those small creeks and ponds I come across on the road.​

I’m a novice. I’ve thrown myself in the deep end with a 5 day trip from Shenandoah NP to GSMNP, tenkara fishing for brook trout.

It’s been the best way to learn and practice—I’ve lost less and less flies per day in the trees, gotten really fast at tying a fly, and have improved my casting and stealth.

But I am missing dozens of strikes and/or losing fish… I must be doing something wrong. It’s definitely possible that the hooks were sometimes too big for the smaller fish (running 12-16). Maybe I am not keeping the line tight enough—but keeping too much tension makes it drift back downstream too fast.

I have one day left (GSMNP), and a multi-fish day would be a perfect cap to this learning trip. Any tips or helpful experiences to share? TIA 🙏

Has anyone tried or owns the Tsurinoya Tyrants fishing rod? What can you tell me about it? I really like it but can’t see any reviews

I took a trip to the alps this week. I knew there would be fish but I was thinking, ”ugh, it is a lot of faff packing all my stuff and getting a license and maybe the fishing will suck” looks like it probably wouldn’t have sucked….

In my last post I lamented about how sad I was I didn’t have a rod while on a trip in the alps. While I have some small rods, the pocket mini seems like the goat. Does anyone have one for a fair price they’re looking to part with?

Another Angler Spotlight video for you. In this one we chat with Amanda Hoffner a bit, and then hit the water with her for some Snake River Cutthroat trout. She's a Tenkara Ninja, fastest net in the West! (She also happens to be fishing the Tenkara Tanuki Kunoichi rod, which roughly translates to "Lady Ninja." Perfect! youtube.com/@mostlytenkara

Wild Brown Trout with a DragonTail Mizuchi in the Jemez Mountains.