The Great Blue is Back!

I usually like to spend an hour or so fishing my local subdivision pond in the evenings. Very relaxing a peaceful, usually catch a mix of bluegill with the occasional bass.

Last year about this time, I acquired a fishing pal, a Great Blue Heron. For a period of about 6 or 7 weeks, I had a Great Blue Heron follow me around the pond like a puppy dog. The first time I saw this heron, he landed on the other side of the pond, about 60' across. He (not sure if it's a he or she) followed me along our respective sides of the pond, all the time intently watching the Tenkara fishing process. I caught a small bluegill, and decided to see if I could toss it underhand across the pond. I fell short and the fish hit the water and swam off. The heron was taking this all in, and then decided to fly over to my side of the pond. He landed about 25' away.

The next small bluegill I caught, I tossed his way. He pounced on it, downed it, and then headed for the pond to wash it down. After finishing his snack, he came a little closer, maybe 20' off. I ended up feeding him one more small bluegill. I had no idea what a heron's stomach capacity is, so I decided to call it quits for the evening.

The next evening, no sooner did I approach the water, in swoops the heron, and establishes a station about 15' away. Again he followed me along the shore, watching my fly on the water like a hawk. Again fed him a couple of fish that evening. This went on for the next 6 or 7 weeks, the heron ended up following me about 7' away. You could see him react every time a fish stuck my fly, and he'd get excited as the fish was brought to hand. I never fed him more than a couple small bluegill, not knowing how many fish, and what size he could handle.

As the colder weather moved in, I stopped fishing and left Mr. Blue to fend for himself.

I only saw him one day early this spring, that was the last I saw of him. Until a few evenings ago, in he swoops, just like two old pals getting together over a plate of nachos and a cold beer.

I'm not sure what surprises me the most, the behavior, or the memory the bird exhibited. Not every day does the bird see a dummy waving around a big black stick.

Fish Friendly Fly Fishing

I was thinking the other day about what is was that I found appealing about fishing with a fixed line (also sometimes referred to as Tenkara).

I was brought up as a Catholic, in the good old days when Catholics weren't supposed to eat meat on Fridays. Every Fridays, we had fish, and I hated them (since I know my mother won't be reading this, I think it was partly due to her method of cooking them). Anyhow, every Friday I promised myself I'd never eat another fish once I was in control of things. So by definition, I was a catch and release angler, I had absolutely no use for them once I caught them. Since I wasn't going to eat them, I always felt bad when I hurt a fish, it just seemed like a waste. Let me say that I have no problem or issue with anyone who wants to keep fish as long as it's legal and as long as the fish are put to good use.

Over time, I always felt bad if I inadvertently injured a fish, and felt a sense of satisfaction when the fish I released vigorously swam away upon being unhooked. Having caught alot of fish over the course of a career, I also found more and more satisfaction in the pursuit, other than the playing and capture of most fish. Granted, hopefully we still all hook a special fish every now and then that presents a memorable tussle. But for the most part, landing fish tends to get a bit routine. What I really enjoy is manipulating the fly in order to entice a strike and then trying to react quick enough to at least get a feel of the fish.

When I started fishing a fixed line about a year and a half ago, I found it very satisfying. It allowed me unprecedented control to manipulate my fly very precisely. If I want to hop my fly six inches into the air to imitate an egg layer, I can hop my fly six inches into the air. If I want to impart the slightest twitch to a fly during a drift, twitch on.

Once the strike happens, most fish are brought to hand very quickly, much faster than having to strip in line. Since I'm using barbless hooks, it's usually very easy and quick to release a fish full of energy without ever having to touch the fish. When a special fish is encountered, the battle is very exciting, but almost always short lived. Either a large fish breaks off, or again is it landed much quicker than if the fish had been reeled in and then let out to run again. I've found that stream trout up to about 16" can be reliably managed, anything larger the odds exponentially swing toward the fish.

Granted, this probably isn't for everyone, but I find it fits me and my fishing.

Tenkara as a teacher

I firmly believe that most, if not all fly fishers will benefit and become better fishers (western or eastern style) by spending time fishing Tenkara style. I am a relatively experience western style fly fisher, with over 45 years of water having passed under my fishing bridge. Having spent a considerable portion of my time astream fishing Tenkara style for the past year and a half, I have noticeably improved my skills.

I see improvements in several areas -

1) A much better understanding for the exact areas fish hold and prefer. In addition, developing the wading skills to better position myself to deliver my fly to where the fish reside and feed.

2) Playing and landing fish. The skill of actively and aggressively using the rod to play and bring fish to hand. Rather than take a passive role and let the reel do the work, one must actively play the fish if larger specimens are to be brought to hand (and released in prime condition)

3) Perhaps the most notable area is that of precise fly manipulation. Not only is one able to present accurate dead drift offerings, but one can also provide a variety of active presentations. One soon realizes that dead drift is not always the mst optimal way to present one's fly.

The long and Short of Tenkara

When I first started fishing Tenkara style, my rod of choice was a 13' rod. Subconsciously, I think my reasoning was if a long Tenkara rod (11' or 12') was good, a longer rod was even better. As I fished/explored more, I soon found myself fishing a 12' and often times an 11' rod.

I personally found the shorter rods more fun to fish, and really didn't sense any disadvantages, at least in the environments I fished.

The shorter (11' / 12') rods were noticeably lighter in hand. Almost to the point of being negligible, sometimes forgetting that I have a rod in hand, rather than feel like casting, it's more like pointing my finger where I want my fly to land.

I originally thought that since I was using a fixed line, a longer rod would provide the ability to cover more water. I personally found that not to be the case. Adding a foot or two or three to my leader and/or tippet provided just as much range as using a longer rod. I also found I had no trouble mending or elevating the line off the water.

The shorter rods seem to be a bit more delicate and responsive when fishing and fighting fish. I'm not sure if that's true or not, maybe it has to do with the feel as a result of a lighter mass and shorter lever.

Bag the Net

I have never used a net while fly fishing. Since all my fishing is catch and release, I'm not over concerned about having a fish shake off. I'm actually more concerned about getting the fish back into the river as quickly as possible.

I recently started taking pictures, and found I really could do a self portrait of a larger fish. I just wasn't able to control the fish in a manner I felt comfortable with, long enough to get the camera on and focused.

I thought about using a net. As I thought, my rod weights in at less than 3 oz. I only carry a small box of flies, and maybe a spare spool of tippet. If I went to a net, it might very well weigh more than all my other fishing equipment combined. It would certainly be the most ungainly thing I would be carrying.

I while back I saw a reference to a mitt that could be used to help control fish. I decided if it worked, that might not be a bad way to go. Both for me and the fish.

I bought some mesh material, and had intended to roughly lash something together myself. But then my wife, the Bag Lady graciously offered to sew something up for me -









Having used this for the past several weeks, I can only say, it works great! The fish actually seem to settle down, it only takes a very light touch to hold them.

The mesh bag weights nothing, I keep it tucked into my wader belt, it only takes a second to deploy.

Biggest fish landed to date using the mesh bag was a feisty 16" rainbow. I was able to cradle and control the fish just fine. I could have even takes a dandy picture, had I only remembered to bring my camera.

If it's not one thing, it's another.

Here today, Gone tomorrow

It's not easy to take a fish self portrait -

Shot 1

Shot 2A couple more shots of a few that didn't get away for the photo opportunity, all fish released of course once immortalized on electrons -

Tenkara "stringy thingy" Terminology

I have a pet peeve regarding terminology when it comes to the "stringy thingy" used in Tenkara. I realize I am most likely speaking as a gang of one here.

A significant portion of Tenkaraists refer to the main portion of the "stringy thingy" as the leader, to which they attach the tippet.

The "stringy thingy" portion of the tenkara set up I personally like to use consists of three separate parts. A line (the furled gizmo), then a leader (which may be optional) then the tippet. Just like a western set up. I personally almost always use a tapered leader portion between my line (which is usually furled) and my tippet.

I've basically settled on two set ups -

When fishing still water for bass/bluegills, I usually am fishing a ponds from shore. For that situation, I've been using a 20' furled weight forward line, and a 6' two step tapered leader attached to a 4' final length of "tippet". I really like having the extra range, I can fish out to about 35'. Although I like fishing this longer set up, it may not be for everyone, it does require a bit more concentration when it comes to casting.

Probably 90% of my fishing is for trout, wading in large rivers, fishing mostly dries/damps. For trout fishing, I've been using a 10.5' furled triangle taper line, about a 7' two step leader ending up with a 4-5' length of tippet. That about all the line I usually fish even when using a western set up, so that suits my style of fishing just fine. It cast almost automatically, and allows me very good control for mending or animating my fly. If there is a down side, it does require a bit of hand over hand to get to the fish (as of course does the pond set up).


I realize that I am probably the one breaking with actual Tenkara tradition by including a leader. So it may just be my western mindset, but I would argue, er I mean discuss that in western fishing, the line is primarily used to provide mass which in turn is used to transmit energy applied by the angler via the rod. The leader provides a transition to the tippet. It seems like the "stringy thingy" that gets attached to the tenkara rod lilian certainly functions as a line, not as a leader. So it makes sense to me that when we refer to it in English, the terminology that should be used for the main section or the "stringy thingy" is line, not leader. (regardless whether or not an actual leader is included.