The last few months I have spent a lot of time watching videos and reading about Tenkara, a traditional form of Japanese fly fishing involving only a long rod, a fixed length line, and a fly. I love reels (in fact I am currently trying my hand a reelsmithing), but I must admit that the idea of a completely simplified rig is quite compelling. So, this last Saturday I bit the bullet and ordered a tenkara rod, some line, and some tenkara flies. The packages have been coming in all week, and yesterday I came come to find that lovely triangle shaped box that always announces the arrival of a fly rod.

We are on a budget here at T&S headquarters, so I decided to start with the Fountainhead Caddis Fly 360, a 12 foot rod that sells for only $50. Based on reviews, I only expected a serviceable rod that I could replace if I decided to stick with Tenkara. Maybe it is the fact that the rod is make of a fiberglass/graphite composite, but I was pleasently surprised out how good the rod felt when I took it lawn casting. The slow action fits my general casting style, and the rod is lightweight so that I feel comfortable casting, even though it is almost twice the length of my favorite western fly rods.

For line I ordered a braided tapered line and a level mono line from TenkaraUSA (the main importer/producer of tenkara rods this side of the Pacific). I liked the feel of braided line, but the rod really woke up with twelve feet of the 3.5 level line.

I also ordered a handful of tenkara flies from a very good tier on eBay. While I will also probably experiment with my usual soft-hackles, emergers and dries,  I liked the look of these traditional fies. 

If all goes well, I should be able to fish the rod this weekend, if so, I will give a full report.

--Posted by Eben

So the postman was good to me this week and brought me a lot of three broken fiberglass rods I got for a song on eBay. My hope is to build on the experience I gained from the fiberglass rod repair project I just finished, and take "rebuilding" to a new level. With these rods, I want to teach myself to rebuild a rod from the blank up, which means that I will be stripping off the cork and in some cases the reel seat and fitting them with all new hardware. As the goal was to gain the experience of working on the rods, I paid little attention to what rods were in my lot, but I am nonetheless pleased that the three rods that arrived on my doorstep friday afternoon represent a variety of actions, lengths and constructions. 

The rod with the most potential of the three is the 8ft St. Croix "Power Built" which appears to be a fiberglass rod filled with urethane foam. According to the label it is for a 5wt level line or a 6wt DT line.  Of the three it was the only one in cast-able shape and it through my 6wt WF line nicely.

The cork is really brittle on this rod and already has a big chip out of it, so I won't feel guilting about redoing it, even though it probably could be fished as is. The one thing I won't be changing on this one is the reel seat. I really dig the red and gold, and the sliding band has "St. Croix" stamped nicely into it, so I t seems like a shame to waste it. I think I will work on this one last of the three.

Of the three this one is the most like a club, but that said, I don't currently have  a nice heavy bass rod, and while trout are the preferred quarry of T&S (hence the name), I always have a shot at nice smallies when I head back to New England. The rod is in pretty bead up shape, and I think I will probobly strip this one down first. From a sizable gauge out of the finish on the label, it looks like it might be the same color as the first project rod under the green paint.

I am a big fan of short rods, and this one has just enough give to it to maybe be a 4/5 wt (at leas in my dreams). The label is pretty torn up so I don't know what it is, but the cork has a strange plastic cap on it, which I haven't seen before, and the tip seems to be translucent where the paint has scratched off, which is very exciting to me.

I will probably tackle the Actionrod first, and then the 7footer, saving the St. Croix for last. I will keep the blog updated as I go.