Posts Tagged Tenkara

Summer Shad

June 30, 2021 at 9:55 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , , ,

Shad on the Sand

The hickory shad has become an exciting quarry to pursue with tenkara.

The hickory shad (Alosa mediocris) is smaller than the American, averaging 12 to 18 inches, but the fish is just as strong and acrobatic when hooked. The species frequently schools and chases bait close to shore, making fixed line fishing possible.

A Half and Half or Deceiver tied on a smaller size 6 or even 8 hook will match the size of the bait being hammered by the hickories. The best presentation is a repeated fast-paced toss and race across the water top.

Hickory shad fight as hard as a trout with the even more aggressive head shakes common with saltwater and anadromous species. Frequent jumps are thrilling, and a challenge, as the hickory shad’s boney mouth resists an easy hook set.

Hickory Shad Wrangled to the Net

— rPs 06 30 2021

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Golden Hours

May 31, 2021 at 10:28 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , , ,

James Wu with an impressive New York City Cyprinus carpio.
(NYC 05 2021)

There is a Japanese word — Yugata — that describes the golden hour when the slanted sun reflects off the earth in a particulary vivid, golden way.

Much of the same intensity and clarity can be experienced when a carp — the golden bone of freshwater fishes — rises to a fly and comes to the net.

May and June are the peak month’s for carp fishing in the American Northeast. Time, then, to tie some specific fly patterns to match nymphs and another carp food favorite: tree flower petals.

The Author’s Tree Flower Carp Fly.
(NYC 05 2021)

— rPs 05 31 2021

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Earth Day 2021

April 22, 2021 at 11:43 am · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

Chapter One Turns 20 Today

Two decades ago today on Earth Day, a sunny Sunday, I lived the experience that became Chapter One of Philadelphia on the Fly.

Time . . . FLYS.

Happy Earth Day 2021

Thanks, Frank: The Publisher’s Kind Words.

— rPs 04 22 2021

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Top of the Rock

March 31, 2021 at 6:01 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , ,

“Top of the Rock” : the shadow of an urbane angler in Central Park.
(NYC 03 30 2021)

No fish in the net, but the level line got wet. The 2021 tenkara season has begun.

— rPs 03 31 3021

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Seaside Snow

February 28, 2021 at 10:05 pm · Filed under Tenkara News, Tenkara Philosophy, Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , ,

Too Cold for Tenkara!
(02 2021)

February: often full of hints of spring, but not this year.

Snow on the beach, like ice on the pond, keeps the tenkara trip just out of reach.

Spring begins in just a few more weeks. Then, perhaps, the real thing when fixed line fishing in close quarters can begin.

— rPs 02 28 2021

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Snow Fishing

January 31, 2021 at 1:31 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , ,

Skating a fly is easy here!
(NYC 01 13 2021)

There is a “no” in snow, and that no means no fishing, tenkara or otherwise, for the time being.

There is a “now” in snow as well, and that time now is ripe for reading, fly tying, and the other comfortable indoor aspects of the fishing life.

Anticipation can inspire preparation!

— rPs 01 31 2021

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On Ice

December 30, 2020 at 3:18 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , ,

On Ice . . .

Hielo Fino: Oh, yes, it’s winter now.
(NYC 12 23 2020)

Early rise and an eager hike to the park for a final fishing trip found its goal foiled by that signature of the season: ice.

True, the new lid on the lake was “Hielo fino” with a few teasing openings, yet not enough free water presented itself for practical angling. The season is now . . . on ice.

So, 2020, a year to remember – not so much – comes to a close. Those days of bluegill and bass, the elusive trout and carp, and exciting new experiments in the salt – fluke and more – the silver linings to an unexpected, challenging, trying time, remain to warm the imagination over the winter.

Winter Dawn: fishing gone, but beauty remains
(NYC 12 23 2020)

Farewell, 2020.

— rPs 12 30 2020

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October Surprise

October 31, 2020 at 6:11 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , ,

Surprise! I’m a hickory shad!
10 2020

October Surprise . . .

Autumn in the salt paints images of bluefish and striped bass in the fly fisher’s mind. So, imagine my October surpise when in the chilly rain my olive and white Clouser conjured up another new, and unexpected, tenkara species:

Hickory Shad

Another One in the Net!
10 2020

– rPs 10 31 2020

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September’s Small Reward

September 30, 2020 at 1:14 pm · Filed under Tenkara Philosophy, Tenkara Trips ·Tagged , , , , , , , ,

September’s Small Reward . . .

 

Pickerel weed in bloom surrounds a NYC lake in September.
(NYC 09 08 2020)

A September afternoon spent around a pond in a NYC park marked my return to a more conventional tenkara setting. After a salty summer spent exploring the coastal back bays, the sweetwater spot was familiar, the fishing exercise gentle, even easy, yet it held a surprise in the catching.

Despite my practiced casting and improved fly tying, there was the problem of the elusive fish. The water looked reasonably healthy, the solunar tables were in alignment to my time and place, yet not one fish met the net after several hours of focused fishing. No bass, no crappie, no perch, not even a juvenile bluegill.

Perhaps it was the bright sun, a high UV index, which kept the fish off the bite. I had adjusted from the start, beginning along a bank of tall pickerel weed, working the cover of the pond’s shaded bank drop offs. Not a bite, not one.

Tough fishing in the form of no catching can shake the confidence of someone who has just been on a roll, catching bigger game fish consistenly all season. But here, at summer’s end, in the backyard water, a sudden lull.

It wasn’t until I had fished an entire lakeside and back before I felt a strike around the base of the same pickerel weed where I had started.

At the end, both of line and day, a bass. One little fish in the hand, a small reward to end another summer on a positive tip.

The little largemouth that saved the day.
(NYC 09 08 2020)

Tenkara never fails to challenge, teach, and surprise. Now let’s see what autumn holds.

— rPs 09 30 2020

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Late Summer Salt

August 31, 2020 at 4:35 pm · Filed under Tenkara Gear, Tenkara Kebari, Tenkara Philosophy, Tenkara Techniques ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

Late Summer Salt . . .

A sweet spot for the salt tenkara experience.
(08 01 2020)

One rod. One line. One fly. Many, many ways and places to fish. One of these, the salt, continues to fascinate and engage a nascent facet of tenkara’s potential.

The more mellow environment of the sod bank back bay flats gives one a perfect place to wade and cast for game fish in close quarters in the salt.

The primary species remains the summer flounder, the fluke, although as August progresses, juvenile bluefish, called “snappers” by the locals, have returned to provide additional action.

The rigging could not be more simple; a Clouser minnow, Lefty’s Deceiver, or a Gotcha tied directly to the 10-20 lb. tip of a flourocarbon level line.

Fluke rig in the field.
(08 21 2020)

Practice in action reveals the best time to fish, and catch, is during a low tide when fish are more concentrated and feeding. In the case of the fluke and bluefish, feeding on spearing, mummichog, and other small baitfish.

Spearing.
(08 20 2020)

These fish fight exceptionally well on tenkara tackle. Fluke, even shorts, and bluefish, even snappers, fight like stream trout of the 20-inch class. Both species are built for strength and bursts of speed and provide a wonderful, sporting fishing experience during the freshwater doldrums of late summer.

A “keeper” fluke landed on a mudflat during low tide.
(08 19 2020)

 

Bluefish of “snapper” size.
(08 23 2020)

— rPs 08 31 2020

 

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