Creek Exploring & Tenkara

@stephen alley , our friend Josh, and I headed out to our local creek with our tenkara rods to do some wading and see what we could catch. We've decided to start logging the species we catch on these rods. They're versatile and easy to pack. Plus you can carry a really light set up that make even the small fish a lot of fun, and then a heavier duty rod if you get into some sizable catches.

We started out on a small feeder stream and caught a few shiners. This stream was incredibly cold because it grows from a small trickle to this in a short distance due to a bunch of springs.



We then got to the larger creek and started catching a variety of fish. This creek has a lot of different features. Cliff faces on the opposite bank, islands with deep channels, and a variety of bottom conditions and depths in the main portions. This makes for some good fishing and lets you mix up your strategy. Outside of our catches we didn't get a lot of pics, but here's a few what upper portion looks like.





We caught a variety of shiners, some creek chub, sunfish, and some undocumented red eye. We also saw some small bass, and on two occasions really dark fish in the 8"-12" that were really moving. We couldn't ID them but they moved quick and had really dark coloration. I've also seen some gar in there, but not this trip. Here's some of the catches.

 

The big surprise for me during the day came when I started casting in this pretty deep section that was bordered by a downed sycamore. I had casted half a dozen times and was thinking it might be a good place for sunfish when all of sudden the fly got slammed. As soon as I set the hook I could see what was on the end of the line. It wasn't the smoothest landing, but I finally got the trout in hand. It was right at 11" or 12", but a slim fish. Regardless of size any trout in this stream by this time of year is impressive.



I had packed some red pepper, salt, olive oil, and some previously harvested wild garlic in my Finn bag thinking we'd be grilling up some blue gill if anything. The trout was a welcome surprise. We found a section of bedrock, made a spit, got a fire going, and got down to the business of lunch.



I carried my Jame Gibson neck knife for the trip. As always it processed firewood, cleaned the trout, sliced Spam, and whatever else I needed it to do flawlessly.



Dats a spicey trout!

We also made some ramen and grilled some Spam. We cut back to some bigger holes we had fished earlier in the day and pulled a few more out before calling it a day. Next time I think we'll go cross country to our lunch spot and explore up from there.

 

Patrick told me Tenkara's customer service is about like Mike Perrin's!

 

Definitely remedy that.

 

Hey, nothing wrong with a little honesty from a company.

Try Trane, 100% American made with all essential parts from China and you get to speak with one those non English speaking reps when you call. Highly recommend.

Anyway, @R Stowe, great pics. Any snakes on this adventure?

 

Ha. Tenkara USA? Josh has one of their rods but others are from different brands. I just got that 8ft. from Wetfly and it's about perfect for tight streams and still giving you some reach.

 

@DYSPHORIC JOY not a one. I've seen a few down there. But this time no turtles, only one hawk, no herons, and just beaver tracks. It was oddly quiet for that creek.

 

Thanks and agreed. I still fish ultra light and traditional fly, but to me tenkara is just another means to an end. That's a great trout!

 

Go for it. There's affordable quality rods out there.

 

Wow! Those are great. I've only tied a few, but just with random materials and rough idea of what I was looking for. That hackle work is great.

 

Haha. After a few good fish flies get messed up, so those just have a forced patina.

 

I've been skunked as well. Tenkara, fly rod, spinner, etc.

As for casting the line off that's surprising. Did you use the regular hitch that attaches the line to the rod? I've had some pretty heavy duty snags that ended up in a broken tippet but not a detached line.

 

Sure. I really like my Wetfy Kodomo 8ft. You can find that one on Sierra Trading post in a starter kit for around $70. I fish a lot of small streams and don't mind to wade so this length is good for me. I've also fished a lot with a Tenkara USA Iwana. It's a little pricier but a good rod.

My buddies and I also ordered the shorter versions of the one from the link below for the really small streams and fish. James Gibson showed me one he ordered from EBay and we got those. This is Amazon but seems really similar. That would be a good option to see if it's for you. Just pick up a line in a similar length and some tippet.

https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Secti...rd_wg=ksPEx&psc=1&refRID=EYNS33A1D3ZMMJWSBAHD

I hope that helps.