Micro-fishing Idaho Style

A few weeks ago I fished a small stream that runs through my boyhood hometown. The stream is small and very tight and I had trouble fishing it with even a 9 ft rod. After that outing I ordered a Shimotsuke Kiyotaki 24 from Chris at Tenkara Bum.  I have been dying to try it out ever since receiving it.

The Kiyotaki 24 is a very short rod coming in at 7' 10". Even at that, Chris carries one that is even shorter! When I took the Kiyotaki 24 out of its case my 17 year old daughter said, "look, it's Harry Potter's wand". It sort of looks like a wand when compared to the other rods I have.

(Tippet cassette for size comparison)

The rod itself comes in a plastic carton, like a lot of Japanese rods. It is amazingly light. The carton says it weighs 29 g, but mine actually weigh 31.9 g (oh, horror!) without the tip cap. The lilian is attached with a micro swivel, just like some of my Daiwa rods, and the handle has stripes of anti-slip gripping. For a more detailed description of the rod please see Chris's website.

As for the Kiyotaki 24's action, I'd call it about a 7:3. It is fairly brisk, especially when compared to the other micro rod I have -- Soyokaze 9'.  This made me wonder how the Kiyotaki 24's on the water performance would be.

To test the rod out I headed to my local trout stream so see if I could catch a few of the little resident cutthroats. After driving 15 minutes I pulled over and walked down into canyon to find a suitable spot. The stream is small, 3 feet wide at most, and this time of year it is very low. There are not a lot of trees causing a canopy, but there are willows everywhere making casting a challenge. Most of the open spots are less than 10 feet wide, so using a long rod to cast in under the branches is almost impossible. I thought this would be a great place to catch some small fishes.

A fairly open section of stream

The local environ

I started with a #3, 8 foot line with 16 inches of tippet. At first I tried a sakasa kebari-type fly but the water was just too shallow to even drift the fly! So, after a few tries, I changed to a #12 parachute Royal Wulff. I added an extra foot of 5X tippet (Chris recommends 6X but I didn't have any on me) and started casting to the little pools under the willows. After a few minutes a trout rose and took the fly -- Bam!! I raised the rods and set the hook. Suddenly I realized that I had not hook a fingerling or minnow but a descent sized trout! The fight was on! The fish shot back under the willow branches, but I am happy to say that the little rod had plenty of power to carefully horse him out and into my hands! It was not a micro fish but a 11 inch cutthroat!

My first "micro-fish" with the Kiyotaki 24

Most of the next hour was similar. I had a great time trying to keep the fish off my fly. It seemed that at almost every likely spot I hooked and landed a fish. Most were 6-7 inches, but another one came in just under 12"!

Almost 12" cutthroat on a micro-rod!

My assessment of this little rod is this: It is fun!! It casts well. It fits in your pocket. It weighs next to nothing. It has plenty of backbone for little (and sometimes not so little) fish. I definitely like it and will use it where my other rods can't go! Maybe I better use 6X tippet like Chris recommends since Idaho micro-fishing is not always so micro!!

JuJuKebari

According to InternetSlang.com, juju means magic or luck. Maybe it does because I have had great luck or juju with this fly. The JuJuKebari is a play on Charlie Craven's Jujubeatis or Jujubee midge where the fly's abdomen is tied with white thread and then over this Super Hair of various colors is wrapped.

Super Hair. From FlyFishUsa.com

The JuJuKebari has taken fish for me when no other fly could induce a bite. According to tenkara one fly theory, the fly does not matter as much as the presentation. I suspect that this is mostly true, but sometimes I think the fly really does matter! This was pretty evident a couple of times this summer. Let me give you some examples.

One of those times I had been exploring new water. I drove up along a creek that had been seriously dewatered by an irrigation diversion. As I was driving I came across a closed girls camp which was entered by a bridge crossing over the stream. Under this bridge was a fairly deep pool into which numerous trout had congregated. Being so close to the camp I suspected that these trout were pretty heavily pressured and likely would not take just anything. The water was gin clear and there was no cover to hide a cast so I had to literally crawl on my hands and knees to get within casting distance. I tried on a #3 line (I probably should have used a #2 line but I didn't have any at that time) and a long 6X fluorocarbon tippet. Since the water was so clear I could easily see each fish and their reaction to to presented fly.

At first I tried a small Utah Killer Bug. The trout would look at it but then quickly turn away and go back to their stations. Numerous casts did not yield a bite. I changed to a sakasa kebari-type fly. Still nothing. I even hit some of the trout on the nose and still no takers. I was both miffed and intrigued by this challenge so every 10 casts or so I would change flies. Obviously I should have put the trout down by all of this casting/presenting. Finally I tied on a #10 JuJuKebari. On the third cast and drift a 12 inch cutthroat took the fly. I quickly pulled him out of the pool into the small stream and fought him there -- so to not disturb the other fish. After letting him go I made a few more casts and took two other fish. Was it juju? I think so. The other thing I noticed about this fly is that it got down to the fish quickly when compared to the other kebari that I had tried. Maybe this is part of its juju.

The first cutthroat. The sun was really bright that day!

Another example. The other day I was fishing a freestone stream and was catching fish here and there with a UKB, as usual. I would take a fish out of every 4th or 5th pocket. After a while I decided to try a JuJuKebari. I took three fish out of the next pocket. More juju? Maybe so.

The water

One of the fish

So what is this fly and how do you tie it? Like Craven's Juju flies, this is a two thread fly. One color is used for the head and the other (white) is used for the abdomen. The white thread is essential to the fly. The white thread underbody makes the Super Hair transparent and sort of glow. Also this fly has a clear abdominal overcoating that also adds to the translucence of the Super Hair. For the overcoating I use Loon UV Knot Sense and cure it with a UV cure lamp. I could have also used Loon UV Clear Fly Finish but I don't have any. One thing about Knot Sense. Even after curing it can feel a little tacky so I put a thin layer of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails over it to finish it off. This is not absolutely necessary but I think it makes the UV coating more durable.

You can use any sort of color combination for the abdomen by varying the number and color of Super Hair strands. Also, the collar can be varied as well: natural peacock, UV dubbing, flash dubbing, etc.

#12 JuJuKebari with peacock collar. Abdomen: 1 red, 1 white, 1 brown, 1 black Super Hair strands

#10 JuJuKebari with synthetic olive-brown collar. Abdomen: 1 red, 2 brown, 1 black Super Hair strands

Hook: TMC 2499SP-BL, #10-12
Head: Uni-Thread 8/0, black
Hackle: natural partridge
Collar: Peacock, flash dubbing, natural dubbing, etc.
Abdomen under body: Uni-Thread 6/0, white
Abdomen: Super Hair strands of various color combinations
Abdomen overcoating: Loon UV coating, cured at vise with UV lamp. (Optional): after cure, apply a thin coat of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails.


This seems to be a productive sakasa kebari-type fly. Give it a go and see if it works for you too. If it does, let me know. I'd love to hear your stories.

The Joy of Tenkara

Daniel Galhardo from Tenkara USA recently posted an entry of the Tenkara USA blog regarding joy in tenkara.  His post got my reminiscing about my own tenkara experience and how it has revived my own joy in fly fishing.

Like many of you, I have fly fished for years, nay, decades. I have a small arsenal of fly fishing gear from rods, reels, lines, waders, nets, vests, chest packs, streamside accessories, etc. I had been fishing the usual waters in southeast idaho and enjoying it but my enthusiasm for fly fishing had been waning over the past few years. My children, now all grown up, even noticed my self imposed reduction in fishing time and often commented on when I was going to get back into fly fishing.

Some fish from the past years

Then last year about this time I stumbled upon tenkara. I say stumbled because I was doing a Google search on small stream fishing and happened to see the word "tenkara". I wondered what it was so I clicked the link and it took me to Tenkara USA. What I saw at that time baffled me. A long rod, no reel, and really funny looking flies -- what was up with that?!  I smirked, rolled my eyes and left the site.

A couple of months later I again came across the Tenkara USA site by accident (or by providence). This time I actually took some time to watch some the of the Tenkara USA videos. After seeing Daniel fish, and listening to his explanations I became intrigued. After a few more site visits I bought my first tenkara rod, a 12 foot Iwana.

I took it to my regional river that is open and ice free all winter and tried fishing with it. I was amazed at how light the rod was, especially for its length. I was also equally amazed that I could keep all the line off the water so that I didn't have to deal with an iced up line or tip-top, as was my usual winter fishing experience. I caught 15 rainbows in an hour fishing nymphs! I had never had that fish count in that amount of time before! I was pleased, to say to least.

No snow this past winter

Well, it now seems like I have been fishing tenkara forever. I have bought and sold many rods, experimented with all sorts of lines, and started fishing sakasa kebari rather than just traditional nymphs.   Tenkara has revived my love of fly fishing. It has restored my joy in being on the water. It has opened up many more waters to fish and made those waters, once technically out of reach, very productive. It has been a great journey.

My kids say they are happy to see me fly fishing again. They never seemed to want to fish with me (maybe it was because I wasn't very patient when I was younger-- I have tried to mellow as I have aged), but last winter my second daughter was home from college for the weekend and I asked her if she wanted to go to the river and try tenkara. She said "sure", so we drove out there on a freezing cold, 20 degree F, grey day. I put her in some of my older neoprene waders and bundled her up as best as I could. If we had been western fly fishing she wouldn't have stood a chance, she could barely move! We waded out in to the river and got to a hole were I knew there were fish. I handed her the Iwana, gave a little instruction on how to cast it and what to watch for as the line moved downstream and told her to "go for it". She made a few casts and let the line drift with the current. On the fourth or fifth cast the line hesitated. I shouted "set" and she lifted the rod tip and was into her first fish. She ended up catching about 6 rainbows in 30 minutes. Tenkara made all the difference.

My daughter, the ham!

Her first fish -- a 10" rainbow trout.

So it looks like tenkara and I are going to be best friends for quite some time. Thank you Daniel, Chris (TenkaraBum), and the many others who helped introduce me to this refreshing and unburdened way of fly fishing.

What is your tenkara story? Is it similar to or different than mine?

Autumn Colors and Knee Pads

The mountains are changing here in the Intermountain West. The maples are turning red and in the high country the Aspen are turning yellow. The days are warm but the nights and mornings are crisp and cold. The smell of autumn is in the air. This makes fishing a wonderful experience for all of the senses.

Autumn, however, also means low and clear water. This year has been especially dry so the undammed rivers are spooky low. This is not limited to the Utah-Idaho region, but a lot of the country is experiencing record low precipitation.

from US Drought Monitor

Low and clear water makes fish skittish and easy to spook. To combat this it is often best to get down on your knees, not to pray --although this may help some days, but to lower your profile. The less there is for the fish to see the better in general.

Low and clear water requires absolute stealth

I first started using knee pads when I lived in Colorado and after I read Fishing the South Platte River: An Anglers Guide by Roger Hill. In there, Mr Hill shows that lowering your profile can often mean the difference between a successful stalk or not. I have used knee pads ever since, whenever the situation has required it. I also have a pair of knee pads in my car ready to go.

Pools can hold a surprising number of fish during low water situations

Using knee pads can take a little getting used to. They can bind your waders at the knee making them uncomfortable. They can twist or rotate if you "knee walk" while stalking a fish. Some types of pads can slowly ride down so that when you kneel they are too low on your shin to do any good. Still, despite this, they protect your waders and your knees.

I have used all types of knee pads. Some I like and some I don't . The best knee pads that I have found are BLACKHAWK! neoprene knee pads. These are the pads used by the US military. They are contoured to fit your knee and they have a patch on the inner surface that keeps them from sliding or rotating on your waders. They have multiple layers of Velcro straps to attach the pads. Finally, they have the softest, gushiest pads that protect your knees. In short, I have found them to be the answer for my knee pad quest.

from BLACKHAWK!

BLACKHAWK! knee pads in action

Another alternative is to make your own pads by attaching them directly to your waders. I am too much of a weeny to do this as it would void the warranty of my waders. That said, attached pads are probably the best overall answer since they definitely would not go anywhere, but stay put and protect your knees.

Here are some fish from the other day that I caught while on my knees. I probably would have spooked them if I hadn't been down low.

A 12 inch Bonneville cutthroat

A 14 incher taken with the Sagiri

14 inch rainbow taken with the Daiwa LL41SF

Little brookie. Small but pretty.

New Waters

This weekend I drove to a part of Idaho that I have never been to before. I had a conference to attend in McCall, Idaho and so I thought I'd take my tenkara gear with me. I did some research on the area surrounding McCall, which is on the southern shores of Payette Lake and the North Fork of the Payette River high in the central mountains of Idaho. The main attraction is Payette Lake itself,  but there are miles of hiking and mountain bike trails, high mountain lakes, numerous golf courses, etc to explore and enjoy.  Having never been there before, I wasn't sure what tenkara water would be close at hand.

The Yacht Club on Payette Lake

I knew that I wasn't going to have time to hike to any of the lakes so I concentrated on the streams. On the drive from Boise to McCall you follow the North Fork of the Payette River. This is famous for its white water but not its fishing. Upon entering the canyon I could see why -- one constant, mile after mile, high grade cascade. If you want to drown this would be a good place to try.

So, with the Payette River below Payette Lake out, I decided to try the same river but upstream of the lake. No go. There was hardly any water. I mean, a wide rocky river bed with only a narrow course of water inches deep. Bummer.

After consulting the map I saw a creek, not to far from McCall, that looked potentially promising. I drove over to it to check it out. Goose Creek is a small creek, 20 feet wide, and it actually had water in it! That was a good start. It is in the Payette National Forest so no private land. That was good too. The water was clear as it tumbled over and around reasonable sized rocks with plenty of pocket water. I like pocket water. Pocket water = good tenkara water.

A typical stretch of stream 

I extended the Daiwa Sagiri and tied on a #10 Utah Killer Bug. I wet waded out and picked a pocket to target. First cast hooked a small, 8 inch rainbow. Nice. Second cast, hooked a smaller 6 inch rainbow. I was OK with that; small but really fun. Nothing on the third cast. Fourth took another small rainbow. I also caught trout on Purple Haze, Soft Hackle Grey, Red and Black, and Red tail sakasa kebari. Further up stream, where the creek narrows to about 10 feet wide, I used the Soyokaze 27SR. It was too short for the water but it was great fun with these fish.

I fished for a little over an hour. I think I caught about 30 fish, but I really didn't count. There was nothing of any size but the fun was real and pure. Those little trout made my trip. I believe they were native Columbia River Redband trout. They had all of the classical markings. Goose Creek is one of the streams that eventually flows into the Columbia River via the Salmon River system.

Is this water a destination stream? No, the fish are way too small for that. But if you happen to be in the McCall area and want to get away from the tourists and expensive shopping then drive to Goose Creek.  Use a rod designed for smaller fish and you are sure to have some fun. I count this new water trip as successful!

Put a Cork in (on) it

Like a lot of folks, I have been fly fishing for a long time. Almost every fly rod I have used has had a cork handle -- my Grandfather's old telescoping metal fly rod has a wood handle; it's the only one I've ever used that didn't have a cork handle. Then I started tenkara. I bought a Tenkara USA Iwana 12 foot rod; it had a cork handle. I bought a few more rods; they had cork handles. Then I bought a Daiwa Soyokaze 31SR rod and low and behold -- no cork handle!



Daiwa Soyokaze 31SR

A 12 inch cutthroat with the Soyokaze. I know, the fish is upside down and pointing the wrong way-- sorry.

Little did I know that cork could become such a controversial topic. After I received the Soyokaze, and espoused its virtues in a blog post, there started an online discussion regarding what is a tenkara rod and what is not. I hope that my post did not add to the fire, as that was not its intent. I just thought it was a fun little rod to fish! Since that time there has been discussion after discussion after discussion on what is tenkara and what constitutes a tenkara rod.

I must admit that cork is nice. I have some nice tenkara rods with cork handles, but I really like my rods that are cork-less. For the most part, they are very much lighter than the cork rods, with the exception of the Tenkara USA Ebisu which has a red-pine handle and is modestly heavy. Also, the cork-less rods fit into my sling-style carriers better that their cork robed cousins. This is a little thing but notable nonetheless.

As of right now I have 4 rods without cork (not counting the Ebisu). They are the Shimotsuke Kiyotaki 24 (7'10"), Daiwa Soyokaze 27SR (9'), Daiwa Soyokaze 31SR (10'), and the Daiwa Sagiri 39MC (11.5'-13' zoom). I really like all of them. The Sagiri is my current favorite for small to moderate waters. It is amazingly light and very versatile. I also really like its casting action. I bought all of these rods from Chris Stewart at Tenkara Bum.

Top to Bottom: Ebisu, Sagiri, Soyokaze 31, Soyokaze 27, Kiyotaki

A closer view

Some may ask: "Do they (rods without cork) hurt your hand after a while?" All I can say is "No" they don't. I do get a numb area on the lateral surface of my right third digit using the tripod or "tenkara" grip, but I get this using my cork rods and non-cork rods alike. I used to get this numb spot using my western rods as well (I have always preferred the so-called tripod grip, even when fishing western). In retrospect, I actually like that there is no cork on my "tenkara-questionable" rods.

Daiwa Sagiri 39MC with a flopping cutthroat

Sagiri in action

Fish ... what it's all about!

So what is the downside of going cork-less? I don't know, I haven't found one yet! Are they slippery when wet or fish slimmed? No. Are they uncomfortable? No. Are they more expensive? No. Are they colder in freezing weather? I don't know, I'll let you know in about, oh, 6-8 weeks. Can you grip them as well if you have an arthritic hand? Umm, maybe. How about if you hook a really big fish? I don't know, after all they are mountain stream rods not a 7wt steelhead rod.

If you haven't tried one of these rods, and are curious about them, maybe you ought to try one. If we say, "I won't use them because these aren't tenkara rods" without trying them then how can we roll our eyes at a western-style fly fisher who says they don't like tenkara when they have never tried it.

Don't misunderstand me. I am not stating that these rods are tenkara rods. I have not asked anyone if these are tenkara rods or if they can be used for tenkara. All I am stating is whether they are tenkara rods or not they sure fish tenkara-style awfully well! If they are not tenkara rods don't tell them -- it may hurt their feelings!

What do you think? Have you tried a cork-less rod for tenkara-like fishing? Do you like them? Which one(s)? Am I the only tenkara fisher who is uncorked?!

Long Furled Lines for Large Dries

After fishing small streams over the past few outings I decided to hit some water that is known to have large trout. I always try to venture to this spot this time of year because if the day is right and the fish are on you can catch some pretty nice Yellowstone cutthroats.  To get the big boys you have to offer something that will entice them to come out from their hiding places -- streamers or hoppers.

The water in this mountain river is slow and very clear. Stealth is an absolute. One misplaced stumble and the fish are sent flying. I have fished this water in past years with western gear but just the line hitting the water can put the fish down.

The water

Today, the sky was overcast; that was good -- fewer shadows. There was no wind in the earlier part of the day but it came up when some afternoon storms skirted the area -- that makes the flies harder to cast.  To get the fish's attention I chose a #4 yellow-brown foam hopper. To get such a large fly to hit its target I went with the 13 foot Hirame and a 18 foot furled mono line from Streamside Leaders.

The fly

The line

This furled line can easily throw such a large fly without any issues at all -- even with 6+ feet of tippet. Since the line itself is 18 feet, with a 6 foot tapered (0X-2X-4X-5X) fluorocarbon tippet the total line length comes in at 24 feet. The Hirame throws this line straight and turns the big fly over really well. For a while I was even fishing a hopper-dropper setup with a Beadhead Prince nymph dropper 8 inches off the hopper. Even with that extra length and weight, the line would turn over. I was impressed. Of course, because this line is heavy I could not keep all the line off the water as with a level line, but I could keep more than half off. That really helped prevent drag from the complex currents.

I didn't catch a lot of fish today but those that I caught were worth it. One fish was over 18 inches! The Hirame handled it perfectly.

If you want a line that can turn over some seriously large flies, I'd recommend the Streamside Leaders furled mono line. I have three of them in 13, 15 and 18 foot lengths and they all perform perfectly!