I recently got out for a nice hike & fish day trip.
Weather was crisp and clear with blue skies in all directions.
I wanted to test out the latest creation, a 3 pc bamboo tenkara style rod. At just 6' it packs down & is ideal for the very small wild trout streams that I hike to.

Gear for the trip: L to R [Patagonia R1, Bamboo Tenkara by me, small fly case & tippet holder, sil- bag wallet & phone, head net in cuben bag, Golite wind jacket, bandana, monocular, first-aid pouch, self-made day pack, H2O bladder]



Wild Brookie:



This guy was just out soaking up some sun.


Overall a nice trip; learned alot about actually what it takes to hook & land a fish using this rod/method.

I must say that I am "hooked" on the Tenkara style, as it is perfect for small streams that I love to find.

Edited by scottallman@hotmail.com on 05/08/2010 07:49:24 MDT.

How did your MYOG rod hold up?

The rod held up very good. It is essentially a western style taper, 6'+, 2 wt blank turned into my tenkara style small stream wonder. Final tenkara style rod weight is 1.91 oz.

Scott,
Was the length OK? That seems short for Tenkara-style fishing.

Jason,
Yes the length was ok for my fishing/style. With a 5'2" nylon braided leader and ~ 4ft of tippet I could shoot a decent loop and also utilize nice bow & arrow cast.
The streams that I like to fish for wild brook trout are usually no wider than 5ft across.

Nice, looks like you're fishing some classic small stream brookie water. Reminds me of fishing the headwaters of Boulder creek for Golden trout where the stream is only 2 feet wide in places. The slingshot cast comes in handy in spots like that!

Where did you get the blank for the rod? Ive been thinking about making one like this but a little longer, but Im having a little trouble finding a bamboo blank for a decent price.

Edited by sosebeecole on 05/25/2010 18:26:39 MDT.

I used a local rod builder, as I do not have the expertise or tooling to create the taper & strips. If you can take it from there you should be able to find a local rod builder to provide you with what you need fairly reasonably.