Yesterday I finally got to fish with another one of my New England blogger friends, Adam Klags. He is a tenkara angler, the traditional fixed line Japanese version of fly fishing. He has fished tenkara where it was meant to be fished, in the mountain streams of Japan, as well as many parts of the U.S.
Being that I had very little knowledge about tenkara and how it works on a small stream like the ones I fish on a regular basis. There were some circumstances in which the long rod was the perfect tool and some others in which a shorter fly rod like my own would be preferred. It was enjoyable to watch, and Adam also has a pretty solid number of very interesting stories. It was a very fun day on the water.
The first stream we fish is a mystery to me. I've caught browns, rainbows, and brookies here, but never consistently. I was hoping that this time we would get into bigger bookies. Unfortunately we found what I found in the sea run brown trout spot the other day: ugly little stocked browns. That's OK, they were fun to sight fish for. But I have seen some goliath brook trout in this stream and I would have like for one of us to have latched into one of those.
The next stream was going to be more productive in that regard pretty much no matter what... the only catchable fish in it's upper stretches are brookies. For the warmest part of the day we had some pretty decent brook trout fishing. I used primarily dry flies on that stream, and I got some decent natives to come up to the surface for the Ausable Bomber.
The nicest brookie of the day was a colored up male that came up for my bomber in full out predator mode. The same pool then produced four more beautiful brookies for Adam. It was definitely the highlight of the day's fishing.
We were impressed by the number of redds in this stream. No doubt the population there will have no problem remaining healthy and strong.
We made on last stop but I suspect it had become too late in the day. The sun had fallen and the bite seemed to shut down. I caught one fallfish and a few common shiners, but a few pools we fished should have been holding decent fish and we blanked. We left under the rising super moon... an awesome end to an enjoyable day on some small streams.
I am glad to see the brookies holding their own in that beautiful stream. Rain coming tomorrow the weather man tells me. Streams could sure use it.
ReplyDeleteThey used it but it was just not enough.
DeleteThat was a good fishing day. I've never heard of tenkara for trout, but a similar rig is used for panfish. Guess we all adapt to what works.
ReplyDeleteTie, fish, write and photo on...
It is not really at all similar. "Pole fishing" as used for crappie and bluegills as well as course fish in the UK is nothing like Tenkara which uses a slightly modified fly cast.
DeleteHey Cliff, yeah Tenkara is defined as mountain stream fly fishing for trout. Technically speaking, it isn't Tenkara if it isn't trout. Hera fishing is for Herabuna carp, Hae fishing is for mountain chub, etc etc. Each fish has its own style and tackle in Japan. Pretty cool. Tenkara rods vary greatly in the US too, but many of the companies here didn't really do the "homework" and so one must be cautious if one wants a truly nice quality japanese rod, to choose the right one. They are much more complicated than crappie poles, but ultimately a similar idea for sure. Its really a fun way to fish.
DeleteDid you try fishing above the pond? -Dan
ReplyDeleteI haven't fished that section in a while, though I really want to. I know this is when the big brookies there are most accessible.
DeleteWhat a great day we had! Thanks for showing me around some of your local streams, it was a blast!
ReplyDeleteThat first big take in the dry fly pool was fun, I still have the image of that fish twisting sideways to come down on your fly from above. Great moment..