Tenkara USA Fly Swap V

This Fall, Allan Cheateaux hosted and organized the Tenkara USA Fly Swap V. The theme for tying was “tie a tenkara interpretation of a classic western pattern.” I was lucky enough to be able to participate, tying a tenkara version of the Snipe and Purple fly. With seven participants, the swap was a great success and I now have 14 great flies to add to my fly box.

Tenkara USA Fly Swap V Participants and Flies

Hare's Ear Nymph Variant by Allan Cheateaux

Allan Cheateaux, host of the Fly Swap V, tied a Hare’s Ear Nymph Variant, using hare’s mask dubbing, Hungarian partridge hackle and copper wire.

South Platte Brassie Sakasa Kebari by Chris Kuhlow

Chris Kuhlow, of The North River tied a South Platte Brassie Sakasa Kebari on size 12 hooks.

Pass Lake Wetfly Kebari by Anthony Naples

Anthony Naples, of Casting Around tied a Pass Lake Wetfly Kebari. Altering the original western pattern by using black fur instead of a chenille body, snowshoe instead of calf tail wing and and orange tag instead of golden pheasant tippet tail.

Purple Haze Kebari by Erik Ostrander

Erik Ostander, of Tenkara Guides, LLC., tied a Purple Haze Kebari using purple thread and grizzly hackle.

Royal Coachman Sakasa Kebari by Karel Lansky

Karel Lansky of, Tenkara on the Fly tied a sakasa kebari take on his Royal Coachman using size 12 hooks, red thread and wire, brown hen hackle and peacock herl.

Glossosoma Caddis Nymph by Albertyi

Albertyi tied a Glossosoma Caddis Nymph using copper wire.

Snipe and Purple by Ashley Valentine

I tied a tenkara version of the Snipe and Purple using size 10 hooks and purple thread given to me by Chris Stewart. It was my first time using the thread, so I’m glad I got to show it off! As for the hackle, instead of my signature Purple Starling, I used regular Starling hackle.

Altogether, the Tenkara USA Fly Swap V was a complete success. I wanted to thank everyone for working hard on all their flies. I’m very impressed with all of them and I can’t wait to try them out. Be sure to check out Karel Lansky’s Tenkara USA Fly Swap post and Chris Kuhlow’s here.

Tenkara USA Fly Swap V

Punk Rock Sakasa Kebari update

Punk Rock Sakasa Kebari

We all know that the invention of the Punk Rock Sakasa Kebari was one of the most important milestones in the history of tenkara.

And for those of you who I met at the Summit after I ran out of flies and promised to send a Punk Rock Sakasa Kebari in the mail, please know that I finally got a new batch finished and am mailing them all out tomorrow.

And now for an update on the success of this fly. No less an angler than TenkaraBum Chris Stewart (a fan of the PRSK) writes:

Ashley, this is the best photo although not the best fish. Fishing the Gibbon after the Summit, I caught three trout on the Punk Rock. I also hooked two more with it that came off, one right at the net and the other after the first airborne wriggle.

A Punk Rock Sakasa Kebari in the mouth of a trout caught by Chris Stewart on the Gibbon River in Yellowstone National Park.

Have you had any success with the Punk Rock Sakasa Kebari? If so, please let me know so I can post about it here.

Couldn’t make the Summit and you want your own PRSK? Just contact me via email with your address and I’ll send you one!

Tenkara Summit 2011

After two amazing weeks filming and fishing with some of the best tenkara anglers in the world, I finally have a chance to sit down and write a little about the Summit! On Friday morning, we started off with some “Montana Benedict,” with homemade hollandaise sauce and elk roast instead of canadian bacon. Delicious! Around noon, we started our drive down to West Yellowstone. With Dr. Ishigaki, Daniel Galhardo and Chris Stewart in our caravan group, we stopped to fish the Gallatin a few times. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t want to cooperate and we started to see some lightning strikes.

Carbon rod extended into the sky + lightning = …..Bad idea?

Luckily, we did get some great fishing in beforehand and sensei caught some nice trout.

Dr. Ishigaki catches a fish on the Gallatin

Daniel Galhardo fishing the Gallatin before the Summit

The first ever Tenkara Summit was a huge success, with over 100 attendees. During the morning, we heard from some very influential speakers, including Daniel Galharo, Dr. Ishigaki, Chris “TenkaraBum” Stewart, Ryan Jordan of Backpacking Light, Tom Sadler of Tenkara Guide Daily and Craig Mathews, owner of Blue Ribbon Flies down in West Yellowstone.

Packed!!

Ryan Jordan's presentation at the Summit. Great video and slideshow.

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Flies lost to trees can still catch wildlife

This unfortunate Clark's Nutcracker suffered and almost died a long, agonizing death after becoming trapped by tippet and barbed flies left in a tree on the Firehole River. (Photo by Daniel Galhardo)

The dizzying Ten Days of Tenkara Luminaries that recently finished here in Montana contained a lot of very happy moments. But it also contained one very sad incident, which Daniel Galhardo wrote about on his blog. It’s a story that every angler should read, and I hope you’ll pass the link around.

While fishing on the Firehole River, Daniel came across a bird (a Clark’s Nutcracker, uniquely responsible for distributing the seed of the high-elevation whitebark pine tree) in severe distress. The bird had become both entangled and hooked by a length of tippet and flies that had been left in a tree. Fortunately, Daniel was able to free the bird from its predicament.

Daniel was alone on this section of the Firehole when the incident happened. Brian Flemming (shooting the tenkara movie) was the first one to see Daniel, soon after he had freed the bird. He says Daniel was visibly shaken by the experience, to the point that he ignored rising fish on the Firehole and just stared at the tree where the bird had been trapped. Daniel said he felt a sense of collective guilt — as both a member and leader in a group (fly anglers) partly responsible for the bird’s situation.

One silver lining: The bird was able to fly after being freed, and if its leg recovers from the trauma it may survive long-term. But I think I will have this haunting image in my head every time I get snagged in an overhead branch:

And I hope you will, too.

Tenkara links

Recovering from all the activity related to the Tenkara Summit. Boy, did we shoot a lot. Both for the movie and some stuff just for LearnTenkara.

Will post more photos and videos. But for now, I’m catching up on my tenkara reading on the web…

Summit links:

Daniel Galhardo’s blog

TenkaraBum (He left out some streams I know he fished.)

Four short YouTube videos that TJ Ferreira posted: 1 2 3 4. And his write-up and pictures on the forum.

Your Tenkara Summit experience.

Other tenkara:

Field & Stream. Lake trout. Tenkara. Seriously.

Jason Klass created a hypnotic video of sakasa kebaris under water.

Tenkara on the Fly reviews the 2.7-ounce TiNet tamo. Chris Stewart gave this net lots of use when he was here. (I have my eye on the flat version, since it’s easier to fit into/onto a backpack.)

New tenkara fisher catches his first tenkara trout.

Tenkara anglers make the coolest stuff: Rick Setina flybox.

“…maybe Tenkara is sexy!?” Yes.

Just plain other:

Catch Magazine has a new issue out (#19). I liked the ending of the “Jeep Creek” video.

Trout Underground interviews John Gierach about “No Shortage of Good Days” and other subjects.

Tenkara Summit pix #1

Some quick snaps from the weekend.

More to come!

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Chris Stewart with rainbow trout

I snapped this shot yesterday on the Gallatin…

Chris "TenkaraBum" Stewart catches a rainbow trout on the Gallatin River in Montana, using an Amago rod and a sakasa kebari fly.

Chris Stewart is here

So, how’s your week going? Probably not as good as mine!

So Chris Stewart shows up, I get to spend yesterday shooting him fishing Hyalite Creek (he caught one after another after another…), and then this morning an impromptu personal lesson in fly tying from Chris. He showed me how to improve my Punk Rock Sakasa Kebari, and he tied his own variation of it (purple thread, natural hackle).

And now? Off to the Madison River…

Chris rocking the Ebisu on Hyalite Creek yesterday

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Ryan Jordan lights a fire

With one spark!

Daniel, Brian and I were all impressed with Ryan Jordan’s fire-making skills.

PICTURES: Tenkara masters in Yosemite

On September 12 and 13, 2010, three Monsters of Tenkara fished together in and around Yosemite National Park in California. Dr. Hisao Ishigaki, Daniel Galhardo and Chris Stewart caught rainbows and golden trout in some of the prettiest small streams in the Sierras.

Here are some pictures from the trip:

Dr. Hisao Ishigaki borrowing Daniel Galhardo's Ayu rod for a while.

Sensei releases a golden trout

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