New Tenkara Level Lines now available in 2 colors and 3 different weights.

We have been working with the manufacturer in Japan for about a year to come up with these lines and are excited to finally be able to offer them. We have decided to make our new lines available in two opaque colors, which are highly visible under the greatest lighting conditions, and also in 3 different weights (2.5, 3.5, and 4.5).

To keep it simple just get the Orange 3.5. But, if you are interested in playing with different line weights and colors, we have decided to make the options available to you. Tenkara Level Line review by Teton Tenkara.

These lines are available exclusively through Tenkara USA and its dealers.

Over the last several days we have held a company retreat here in Boulder. We decided to get our team together in person to discuss future strategy and product development. One of the goals of his time here was to create better line management solutions. We spent quite a bit of time analyzing options and how things worked and what things we wanted to solve. As we observed very closely how line holders are used, we came across some interesting insights. One of these insights was how one user was getting horrible line twisting, yet I (Daniel) never experienced line twisting problems at all when using the tenkara line holder. We asked ourselves why and started observing what was happening at every level of detail we could. Then it hit me that while the other user held the line between two fingers, I had been using my entire hand while winding the line. That was the only difference we could notice. And, it seemed that switching to using a whole hand actually helped with the line twisting problems some people may have.
I would like to hear your experiences with line holders and other line management systems. And, especially, I would really like to hear if you had problems with line twisting and were able to get rid of that by using the whole hand as I show in the video below.

Ishimaru Shotaro

Tomorrow morning I will be heading to Japan for my 4th visit. It is part of a journey I have so far called “my search for tenkara”. On my first visit I discovered the method (and as a result decided to introduce it outside of Japan). My second visit served to learn the techniques and what makes tenkara a complete method. The third visit, 2 months spent in a mountain village, allowed me to dive deeply into tenkara. I have met, interviewed and fished with several of the long-time masters of tenkara, learning directly from them what tenkara is. I also spent time with some of the so-called “3rd generation” of tenkara anglers, young tenkara anglers that have been pushing the sport forward (albeit in much subtler ways than what we may see here).

As I prepare my suitcase and finalize my schedule, I have to ponder, what else is there to seek? What else can I learn about tenkara? What are the things that would be of interest to the readers of this blog?

Although what I learn and share about tenkara can be seen as a “business”, this trip like all others are part of a personal journey. Everything I do, I do because it interests me greatly on a personal level. What I experience, what I learn, and what I capture are as much for my own enjoyment and self-enrichment as for sharing. I visit Japan and fish with long-time practitioners of tenkara because I like sharing tenkara as it is practiced in its country of origin. I am not good at inventing new things, tinkering with accessories, or making up a new method. I much prefer to tell a story, and to share what is waiting to be shared.

I have scheduled time to fish and spend time with teachers and friends. I have also scheduled time to visit tenkara rod makers, tenkara line suppliers, and even tenkara fly tiers. I have also scheduled time to simply fish. And, finally, I have made sure I have time that is not scheduled, which will allow tenkara to take me where it will. I’ll try to share as much as I can throughout the trip.

As I prepare to embark on this trip, I have to ask you, what are the things you’re most interested in learning? Seeing? Reading?

Maybe we need to revise the term “fixed-line fishing” slightly. While it is accurate to describe tenkara as a “fixed-line” method of fishing, it should be noted there is more flexibility and versatility in tenkara than most people think. One example of that is how I normally use our tenkara level lines.

Read the rest of this entry »

I normally fish tenkara level lines, but today, something possessed me to dig up my traditional tenkara line and give it a workout.
“Traditional” may not be 100% accurate as tenkara lines were made from horse tail, not today’s modern materials.  But the furled style is traditional. What Tenkara USA calls a “traditional tenkara line” is also known in Japan as “tenkara tapered line”.

Read the rest of this entry »

A huge thank you to all of you who contributed with product reviews!

You contributed a total of  218 reviews during the contest period! This is really helping give our products your voice, and hopefully will help those taking up their method make their decision more easily. And, the reviews feature has already been serving as a great way to capture your feedback on our products. Some of the feedback is already making its way into our products, and at least one review prompted me to create some additional instructions/tips for the tenkara line holder.

Of course, we would still very much like to continue receiving your reviews of our products to make them better and help others. Please give us your honest review on our products by signing on and visiting the desired product to comment on it.

Without further ado, here is the table of winners. I’ll be emailing the winners of the complete sets and t-shirts to get more info, but will be mailing the other items shortly. Congratulations and thank you!

Quite sometime ago we talked about the beginnings of a fascinating film project, the Manzanar Fishing Club. This project documents the stories and history of Japanese and Japanese Americans who were imprisoned at the Manzanar internment camp (Eastern side of the Sierra Nevada) but would risk their lives to sneak out of the camp and pursue freedom in some moments of fishing.

We’re happy to share that the film has been completed and is opening soon in several theaters. I had the pleasure of watching a pre-opening showing a couple of months ago and it is a touching story that is very well told by the film-makers and those who tell us their personal stories.

The angler pictured above was an angler from Japan who would disappear for days at a time to go fishing in the mountains nearby. In this particular stance he was gone for 2 weeks, leaving the camp with absolutely nothing on him, and for 2 weeks surviving off the harsh terrain of the Eastern Sierras. The fish he proudly displays are golden trout, which were only found miles and miles away from the camp.

We will never know whether he, or anyone else who suffered the injustice of being imprisoned, was aware of tenkara or not. It is actually irrelevant. If tenkara really means from heaven, then I’m certain they practiced their tenkara. Those who fished outside the camp found their tenkara, their moment of freedom and their gift from heaven, on the streams on the other side of the barbed wires.