r/Tenkara

I struggle with tying so having something usable even if ugly feels great

Haven't done any fishing in quite some time, but decided to pick up a tenkara rod and other bits and bobs and give it a try. Good thing I bought a HELLbender for lunkers like this.

Caught this little bluegill fishing from the bank of a local pond using a Trout Magnet Mini Magnet. Shortly after this I got tired of dealing with the increasing wind literally blowing my lure out of the water.

I also tried a creek with brown trout last week using some actual tenkara flies, but came up with bupkis. I blame the very high, very fast, very murky water from all the rain we've been having. Definitely not my own inexperience and lack of skill.

Hey guys,

I'm brand new to tenkara fishing. Purchased a seiryu rod, the Suntech Kurenai II AR 45F, which should come in the mail soon. I generally fish when backpacking in high altitude alpine lakes in the sierras. I've been taking my 2pc ultralight rod/reel for years and have caught a couple dozen trout in the 6-10" range. Currently, trout magnets work like magic and I don't have a problem catching them on chartreuse, bubblegum or gold colored lures. I fish when they surface at dawn or dusk.

Purchased this rod for a simpler, more compact and lighter alternative to a rod/reel but this is a whole new world to me so I am not sure what flys to purchase. Google search gave me a few recommendations that I included in my picture. Are #18 good for small trout? Please talk me into or out of what I have in my shopping cart.

Thank you guys!

Texas Hill Country, Bass on Hoppers. Hard to beat 🙏🏼

With runoff season I hit ponds for bass and panfish, and finally broke in my Suntech Kurenai II AR 33 last night. The panfish is one of maybe a dozen, a few of which put a hefty bend in the rod. It really feels like they can pull such a light rod rod from your hand.

The real pucker moment was landing this bass. I had to take my shoes off and wade in because I couldn’t steer it from a nice bit of algae with a bunch of line in it. Thankfully the 7X stood up to my handlining despite all the junk on the tippet, plus a feisty bass at the end of it!

Tiny but mighty!

No trout this trip, but I found a little campsite with a creek and managed to catch these little guys on size 14 floaters. So much fun!

Took my nephew and son out for a quick urban pond excursion this morning. I wasn’t expecting crappie but my nephew hooked one (first time fixed line fishing) and I got this one on a black wooly bugger. Fun fish and put a bend in the rod!

Caught my first wild brown trout on tenkara at Wistmans Wood, Dartmoor National park.

Dear community,

I'm a newbie to Tenkara and would like to receive some input on my casting technique. I bought a MaxCatch Triple Zoom rod (8'10''/9'9''/10'6'', 7:3 action) kit and I'm using a regular what looks like a #14 (?) sakasa kebari fly. The rod is extended to the max (10'6"), furled line is 11', 4x tippet is around 4'.

I feel that something is noticeably off. I've never fly fished Western-style in my life and, thus, there's no muscle memory to re-train. On the other hand, I've got nothing to compare with and no friends of mine are interested in fly fishing.

Have watched dozens of videos on YouTube on how to cast, have read some intros and guides. My main complaint is that the fly doesn't land like it should (or how I think it should). It smashes the water, it lands off target, it drifts towards the rod tip projection too hastily. The fly line doesn't unroll naturally (ideally I'd want to control it like a gymnast with ribbons, if that's a good comparison) - if I don't apply enough force it limply collapses, if I handle the rod too hard it starts drawing weird curves with terrible presentation results. It's hideous when it's windy (as seen in video).

What I have managed to achieve so far is the consistency - I miss the target by the same distance every time and the line's drawing the exact same shapes each cast. (I'm still practicing before going out to a river).

I understand that buying a cheap chinese rod that came with an unknown furled line and similarly doubtful tippet isn't the best way to get started with Tenkara, but I just don't want to spend extra on a hobby. It's not THAT cheap though, it's not from Temu, if you know what I mean. I'm thinking about buying a 10' furled line from DragonTail to match the rod length (likely be fishing either on 9'9" or max extended) and a level line (3.5#). But I fear something's wrong with me and not with the tool and hoarding extra won't improve the outcome much.

So here's the video of my practice (sorry for being boring). I'm varying the force and the abruptness/smoothness of the casts there. The videographer decided not to include the backcast unroll in the frame, but I'll tell you most of the time it's drawing squares back there (what a symmetrical rod!). Noticed that the line handles better when I grip higher up the handle.

Please, take a look and suggest. (Just don't tell me that the rod is crap)

Thanks for your time.

Baby Bass with a tenkara rod from temu .