11-29-2011, 04:23 AM
Hey FG, I fished several times last winter in below freezing temps & never had an issue with the cold--way less hassle than clearing the guides every cast. I broke the last segment of mine within a few weeks of getting it (pretty common--replacement segments are around $20) from trying to muscle them back in. Since then when extending the rod I set the larger segments pretty well because they can take a good push to get them back inside, but for the last several segments I set them very lightly-- just enough to get them to stay extended.
So far my favorite lines are a tapered heavier mono line, and a lighter tapered fluorocarbon line. Haven't tried furled lines but would enjoyexperimentating with them. Unlike traditional fly fishing, there's not a lot of gear to try so getting different lines helps when I start jonesing for something new.
One last thing about Tenkara regarding small streams: I fished a section of Big Cottonwood Creek this summer where there was a beautiful pool of water below a couple big boulders. It was too deep to wade into so I stood on the bank shoulder to shoulder with trees. 8-10 feet in front of the hole was an overhanging tree trunk at about 5' high. With the long rod and short line I cast side armed keeping the line over the water and rolling it under the trunk up against the boulder--absolutely no way I could get a fly any where near the hole with traditional gear. I pulled 4 beautiful brookies out of there which was cool, but it was also super satisfying fishing a beautiful piece of water with relative ease that was impossible to fish for me without the Tenkara rod.
Mike
[signature]
So far my favorite lines are a tapered heavier mono line, and a lighter tapered fluorocarbon line. Haven't tried furled lines but would enjoyexperimentating with them. Unlike traditional fly fishing, there's not a lot of gear to try so getting different lines helps when I start jonesing for something new.
One last thing about Tenkara regarding small streams: I fished a section of Big Cottonwood Creek this summer where there was a beautiful pool of water below a couple big boulders. It was too deep to wade into so I stood on the bank shoulder to shoulder with trees. 8-10 feet in front of the hole was an overhanging tree trunk at about 5' high. With the long rod and short line I cast side armed keeping the line over the water and rolling it under the trunk up against the boulder--absolutely no way I could get a fly any where near the hole with traditional gear. I pulled 4 beautiful brookies out of there which was cool, but it was also super satisfying fishing a beautiful piece of water with relative ease that was impossible to fish for me without the Tenkara rod.
Mike
[signature]