More luck than brains...

I woke up this morning in a bit of an adventuresome mood and decided to try my ersatz version of Tenkara fishing. I put together a level leader using about 9' of 20 lb test flourocarbon and a 5 lb tippet of the same material. I tied this leader, which seemed more stiff than yesterday's attempt, to my rod tip using a kiting knot; the larkshead.

Tenkara type attachment method

Everything looked good to go so I headed off to a streambed that was backed up with water from the Assiniboine River to try my luck. The first spot I walked into looked good and I headed down to the pool. Ouch!!! I felt a sharp pain in my arm at the same time I noticed the swarm of wasps around me. I managed to find some speed not normally available to a 67 year old and escaped with only one bite. A more faint-hearted (level-headed?) person might have headed home at that point but I was out to catch fish and would not be deterred by a few angry wasps. A few more spots yielded nothing and eventually I found myself at the junction with the Assiniboine. I had always caught fish here and was optimistic about my chances. Although my casts were getting better my catch results weren't. While twitching back my fly after a number of casts to various points around me I saw a nice 8 or 9 lb carp swim leisurely by. It suddenly dawned on me; had that fish taken my fly, and I have caught a number of carp on a fly that size, it would simply have swum away with my rod tip. Dohhhh!!! Disaster was averted and I was grateful the fishing gods were generous today. Looks like I may have to invest in one of those Tenkara rods after all.

Assiniboine River back-up into streambed

Oh yes, I did promise to share my links to the forum(s) describing how to make Tenkara leaders.

http://www.tenkara-fisher.com/showthread.php?133-Handmade-taper-line&highlight=line+instructions
http://www.tenkaraonthefly.net/2011/07/diy-tenkara-line-furling-update.html