Maybe we should start featuring more of the images our customers share with us in their experiences with tenkara. The one that Larry Yien, the legendary archer, just shared with us on our Facebook page is probably a good one to start with.

This week Larry went fishing with tenkara for the first time. While he wasn’t going to a mountain stream, that didn’t deter him from bringing along his new toy, the 13ft Ayu Tenkara USA rod. Larry describes the experience to us:

“As I fished on the river with my cousin yesterday I reflected on my daily life and my current state and it became evident that “Tenkara has changed my life!” Going through life with enjoyment and fulfillment also urges me to grasp adventure and also day by day events with a simpler and more straightforward approach. Efficiency, integrity, and commitment come forth as we are rewarded with a more pure expression of self.

To summarize our day on the water, we started with surface plugs on the water as well as traditional fly rods with fast sinking flies but then made a quick switch to black bass in the tules. My cousin and I both set up tenkara rods and started our tenkara adventure. In the first hour we hooked some pound size fish but probably had more missed opportunities learning how to set and some broken tippets, failed knots, the usual suspects. But within it all I had this glow and stoke that I was fishing tenkara.

We passed this one patch of tules and my cousin saw a fish he swore was 5 pounds, I caught a flash. My cousin put his cast right into the area he saw the fish, I made my shot a few feet from where I saw the flash and I saw something turn and take. But more importantly my rod loaded and the fish was on!

The fight was epic and he was literally moved me and the boat with his runs. I’ll spare you the details unless you ask… but it took somewhere between 5-10 minutes for him to surface and after a few more dives I had him in the net. It would have been fun to have him in a tenkara net but I don’t have one yet. My cousin put him on his digital scale and he weighed in at 6 pounds even! What a beautiful fish, I revived him in the water and let him swim off into his waters.

Included are some of my pics via ipod. My cousin has a few more with me fighting the fish with my Ayu II and he still needs to send those to me. I’m not sure anyone has reported blackbass on a tenkara rod but I wanted to share some pics and a bit of the story.

Thanks again guys, I truly appreciate your support and kindness as I start my journey with tenkara and about tenkara.

Cheers,
Larry”

In a subsequent email exchange Larry says:

“Wanted to share with you that both me and my cousin went from a low point where we pretty much decided that tenkara wasn’t suited for black bass fishing and better for high country streams and creeks, to a point where it was working and we were landing fish. To the high point when I landed a fish that blew our minds and beliefs, amazing that a tenkara rod could hold up to a 6 pound bass.
…
I still smile when I think about whether the tenkarausa net would have worked on that bass.

I’m glad you can share in my joy with this fish. It thrilled me on so many levels. Biggest bass I’ve ever caught and my first outing with my Tenkara rod too. And Yvon’s quote still rings through my mind “…replace complex technology with knowledge, hard work and skill…”

Let us know if you’d like to have an experience featured here on the blog.