Thinking about giving the Iwana a go tomorrow. I hit a local pond yesterday with western gear and got most of my fish on soft hackles. Might be headed back tomorrow and am thinking the Iwana would be worth a try. None of the fish were even as large as my hand. Caught crappie, bluegill and bass.

This was yesterday's largest crappie:

and bluegill:


If the fish tomorrow are of similar size, I certainly should have no problems with fish being too strong.

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2012 Days Fishing - 18/366
Iwana : Series I : 11 ft ◊ Iwana : Series II : 12 ft

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I had some crappie luck myself while using the Ebisu today . . .

. . . and the largemouth bass were willing, too.

Both fish were caught and released in NYC's Central Park.




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I recently caught my first Tenkara bass on a yamame and it was a lot of fun: http://www.tenkaratalk.com/2012/04/my-1 ... n-tenkara/

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My blog: Tenkara Talk
Tenkara USA Rods: Amago, Ayu, Ayu Series II, Ebisu, Ito, Iwana 11', Iwana 12', Yamame
Other Tenkara USA Gear: Tamo, Strap Pack, 3.5 & 4.5 Level Line, 10.5 ft. & 13 ft. Traditional Line, Line Spools

I have never caught a bass before.

Compared to the trout you all have caught, how much more or less fight was the bass?

I know like Bluegill bass will take you down into the weeds so that could make catching them more difficult I bet.

Heck even the little 6" bluebill go down right to the weeds when I catch them but bet a 12' bass puts up a real nice tugOwar against a flyrod.

tj

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Tenkara USA, Director of Customer Service

Tenkara Junkie - Tenkarajankī
Now sporting all of the Tenkara USA Rods!

This Largemouth Bass was quite a fight. Made the line sing and took a couple minutes to get in the net yesterday.



This Longear Sunfish from a long time ago actually turned my kayak with me in it 90 degrees when I hooked it. About 350 lbs at sixteen feet long, (me on the Kayak not the fish) I wont soon forget that small fish.



This Bass Fought like a Tuna and I though it was a new Tenkara record. But the fish actually wasn't very big. But what a fight, and great fish on Tenkara also caught yesterday.



This Spotted Bass, caught yesterday too. Was gentle and almost passively swam into the net. I thought I caught a small fish.



I remember catching a small sunfish a while back, there was a bass chasing him while hooked on my fly, the sunfish ran like a scalded dog. Quite exciting to experience. So I guess fishing in general all just depends on alot of unforseen variables. You never know what you may catch swinging a hook around. I do love the thrill of the catch, being out in nature, and trying to find these beasts.

Tj needs the Tenkara Bass experience! They are fun to catch too.

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テンカラのイモリ
Tenkara Mushroom

Good looking fish Jermey, we need to get together with the yaks and catch a few more. I need to break in a Yamame. What did you catch them on if you don't mind me asking?

Tom

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Wilderness Tarpon 120
and a Tenkara USA Amago
Good Combo!!!

Started out with some Killer bug like variants. Caught alot of Bluegills, actually Bluegills. Then tried fly inspired by the reverse hackle on the hook side of the fly post.




That fly worked really well till it got stuck in the Klean Kanteen cover my wife made for me. I couldn't get the fly out, without ripping the felted wool. So I decided to leave the fly in there for the memory of the trip. All of the Bass were caught with that reversed positioned hackle.
We went to Center Hill Lake by way of Indian Creek.







Center Hill Lake is beautiful. Lots of fish and so relaxing, so much to see there. The coves here and there are really fun to fish. The wildlife is everywhere, we listened to several owls calling back and forth for what seemed like hours. And this duck in the middle of the last picture stopped by to check on us throughout the day. We were out for about eight hours kayaking. Saw one boat and one guy fishing on the bank, very little in the way of people and noise. A wonderful trip.

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テンカラのイモリ
Tenkara Mushroom

Yes, Tom whenever you want we'll go kayaking. I can give you some heavier duty Yamame size flies to have and try. Still can't believe the difference between Smokey Mountain Trout and Lake and River Sunfish when it comes to catching fish. There are so many places I'd love to try fishing in Tennessee. Standing Stone Lake still sounds like a good one. The fish are really getting going around here, can't wait for some Stripped Bass too.

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テンカラのイモリ
Tenkara Mushroom

Jermey a couple of questions. What size hooks did the bass hit and how did you fish the flies cast them and allowing then to fall?. I fished Treemont yesterday the dry fly bite was on, caught bunch biggest was about 10". I'm on vacation from 5/5 - 5/12 I will be camped at Elkmont in the park the last part of the week to fish with narcodog. If you want to fish let me know.

Tom

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Wilderness Tarpon 120
and a Tenkara USA Amago
Good Combo!!!

Good time for vacation, not to hot out, and fish are hungry. I'll Email ya about Kayaking for next month.

The Bass were after size small size 12 fly. I will often pull the fly away from small Sunfish after I've caught a bunch, to save / keep an area quiet where it just sounds like alot of fish are activly feeding. Tied up a few flies and set out to try them. That one on the Klean Kanteen cover just kept working, till it came to rest.

The Lake was very stirred up by a couple of recent storms. So the fish couldn't see to well, nor could I. Visablity was only a few feet. Worked my way around the coves hitting any obvious structure. Like rock slides boulders and logs. And made the fly act erratic and cause lots of vibration with the cloudy stirred up water. Made the bass make some powerful strikes. The Bass would often give themselves up also by stirring up minnows and splashing, I always watch for activity. Then sneak up like a drifting log with a fly feeling my way into the zone. I often like to sit and watch them in clear water to see their patterns. Sometimes If you watch a spot with activity for a while you can see the angle a bass is attacking from. And also see them push weeds aside from under shallow reed beds. The fish were hungry also which seemed to make things easier too.

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Tenkara Mushroom