Sooner or later I was going to give tenkara fly fishing a go. I ended up with a temple fork tenkara rod from the Central Alberta Trout Unlimited Dinner two years ago. I finally got Troy at TC Outfitters to order me a suitable polyleader and I was off to the river. It took me a bit of experimentation to figure out an appropriate leader length for the 11 foot 6 inch rod. The casting is easy to pick up with a rod that has a soft flex to it. Karen and I just used small dry flies and the cutthroat were quite willing. Tustling with a trout with no reel and only 16 feet of line is rather interesting. The Japanese certainly knew how to simplify fly fishing. They usually fished with a single fly and they had a small container with more flies and a bit of tippet. Tenkara rods are meant for small streams and fish up to 10 or 12 inches. I really enjoyed being able to reach over seams and get my fly just where you want it with no drag! Pocket water fishing is a hoot with a tenkara rod as well. Once a fish is on, the rod has an amazing bend to it. The rods are strong yet you have to be careful, especially when attaching the polyleader to the rod.
We did have one fun experience when a larger cutthroat took Karen's offering while tenkara fly fishing. The fish broke her off unceremoniously. The cutthroat was on the upper limit of a tenkara rod.
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