Tenkara on the Selway and Meadow Creek, ID Jens Hegg Monday, August 22, 2016

It has been far too long since we have been out fishing, or camping, or otherwise. On top of that I just replaced the fishing vest I've had since 5th grade with a more modern Patagonia Atom sling pack from Backcountry Lark in Moscow...and new gear deserves to be tested!

So, off we went up the Selway River to find somewhere I could fish and Katie could relax, swim and explore. The drive up the Selway to a campsite above the Falls turned out to be just the ticket. The fishing was phenomenal, and despite recent fires that came right up to our camp the area is gorgeous.

Part of the rugged Selway Falls

Selway Falls is an incredible jumble of giant boulders that looks like it would be stellar to watch at medium to high flows. As it was the low water let us see the incredible rock carved basins (carved by smaller rocks spinning in a water vortex until the carve a hole out of the surrounding rock). Flows were also low enough to let the summer Chinook ascend the falls, so we were treated to seeing them resting in the pools above the falls.

Look closely, along the shore there are multiple large salmon resting in the eddy above the falls

Some of these salmon scared me to death as I was fishing the confluence with Meadow creek. Two scared me as they slid back downstream, half their body out of the water, after failing to ascend the riffle into the creek. Both times they noticed me and started splashing right next to my leg as I was wading. They are amazing animals!

They also attract the bald eagles and at least one fell victim to the group of adult and juvenile eagles we saw multiple times during our stay.

Dead salmon with an eagle pinfeather that was laying nearby. This gives some perspective on just how large the eagles are, the fish was probably well over 20"

Our camp was perfect, with a grove of cedar trees perfectly spaced to hang two hammocks, and a family of deer that seemed monumentally unconcerned with our presence.

As I said, the fishing was stellar. I brought my tenkara rod as well as my western style rod, but the western rod never made it out of the case. The creek was cold, and the perfect size to wade and fish with a bit less than a rod length of level line and a six foot tippet. Fish were lined up like cordwood in the pools as well as in the cold water at the confluence.

I probably only fished 100 yards of stream but was catching a fish with every second or third cast in the pools. Ironically, the smallest fish were in the Selway below the confluence, apparently the big dogs had claimed the best territory in the cold holes of the creek and kicked out the little guys to the relatively warmer river (and it was noticeably warmer outside the plume of the confluence). All the fish I caught in the creek were over 10 inches, with some up to 16".

I didn't intend to become a "one fly" angler, but after tying on a couple varieties of flies without much luck I tied on a size 12, green bodied kebari that suddenly made clear just how many fish were in the stream! I used that fly for the rest of the weekend, losing one to a big cutthroat that got away and one to the top of a hawthorn bush.

The Stealth Atom sling pack was awesome. I still need to get used to using it, but the fold down worktable pocket makes it easy to store and tie on flies without losing them. The tippet spools and nipper are really well placed. I'm still befuddled as to why it goes over the right shoulder...it leaves the net on the wrong side of your body, requiring a hand switch while fighting a fish, and also makes your casting shoulder a bit tired if you carry a full water bottle. But, overall, it's a huge improvement over my old vest. The waterproof pocket is a nice touch and it carries everything I need plus a touch more if I really wanted to fill it full.

Top of the Line Fishing Net from a Racquetball Racquet Jens Hegg Thursday, May 26, 2016

As you know, I'm not much for spending money on gear. I buy my basketball shoes on the cheap, and I'm even more stingy when it comes to fly fishing. Why? Because anything sold with "fly fishing" on the box is priced twice as high as it would be in the spin fishing aisle and I don't buy the claims of superiority that companies make.

After all, I remember when IM6 was the gold standard and people still caught tons of fish...now manufacturers are making 'throwback' style super-slow action fiberglass rods as if technology from the 70's was some gold standard...and no matter the technology people are still catching tons of fish. 

So, clearly, the amount of money you spend on a rod doesn't correlate to the number of fish you catch. It might correlate to your comfort while doing it, or your sense of prestige...and a good warranty is a good idea...but it isn't the key to catching fish.

With that in mind, when a fish swam through my net via a giant hole, I decided it was time to replace it. I wanted to replace it with a good rubber net because I do believe the hype that slippery wet rubber does a better job of keeping the fish from losing scales and it's slime layer than mesh fabric. But, those nets are ridiculously expensive! There are cheaper rubber nets in the spinning aisle (imagine that!) but they were too big for wearing on my back while wading around. So...what to do?

A trip to Goodwill got this idea started. I saw a racquetball racquet on the shelf for $4 and got to thinking that it looked an awful lot like the design of quite a few nets out there. A quick look online showed that it's pretty cheap to buy a replacement rubber net. A tape measure made clear that a medium sized flyfishing replacement net would fit just right with the dimensions of a racquetball racquet frame.

Done! I snapped up an atrociously ugly Wilson Titanium racquet and went online to find a net. Here's what it became:

Ugh, that thing is ugly, but it's the right size!

Racquetball racquets also have a wrist strap connection that is nice and strong...perfect for a net keeper. 

Injected foam handle means it might float. De-string and take off the plastic rash guards. 

I used a dremel to take the handle down a bit and round it. 

Rounded. 

Used some paint stripper from the garage to take it down to bare metal, since the paint didn't stick to the original finish. 

Nice bare metal. Doesn't look or act like titanium to me, I think it's mostly aluminum. 

Painted with some enamel stray pain. 

Knotting on the handle out of paracord. My pioneering merit badge came in handy!

Cut down the string guides so the net will be recessed once it's attached. 

Nice Turks Head knots on each side of the handle. 

I went with a Fishpond net because at $25 they are decent deal for a good net. The net is lightweight, unlike some on Ebay and ones I saw in stores that look awfully chunky and heavy. 

Also, the kit has everything you need, including a needle...but just barely enough. I had less than 6 inches of dacron left at the end. 

Snap the rash guards back on the racket. 

Sew the net in with the dacron thread. Loop in to attach the net, stitch through every hole with a running stitch to keep the plastic guard in place. 

Here's what a good attachment looks like. They won't all line up this well, do what you have to to make it work. 

Looks pretty classy from the outside. 

And there you have it! A medium sized net, super lightweight and looks very classy. Possible for $30...much less if you go with a cheaper Ebay rubber net (a nylon net is even cheaper) or find a deal on a used racquet.

I'm not gonna lie, this cost a bit more than $30 if you count the stuff I used that I just had lying around. A package of paracord is $6, spray paint is $4, a dremel is pricey but you could just as easily use a knife and sandpaper...but it's pretty cheap all told. If you went with a cheaper net this could be a $15 net...even less if you don't really care what it looks like.

How to: A tenkara rod holster from a squirt gun, $5 Jens Hegg Monday, July 28, 2014

Anyone who fishes tenkara style knows that breaking down the rod is easy, and they aren't hard to carry around. There are times though when it would be really nice to be able to stow the rod. Sometimes I bring it along "just in case" while fishing on a larger river, but there isn't an easy way to secure it on my vest. It would be nice to have a travel case as well. I cringe every time I put the rod in my suitcase without protection.

There are a few rod quivers available, and there are rod cases for travel, but a combination doesn't seem to exist. Tenkara USA is the closest with their new rod cases, but they aren't for sale yet. The TrailLite Designs Ibira and it's descendants look handy. This rod holder from  Tenkara Center UK looks excellent for carrying a rod on the river but doesn't provide any protection. For travel there are some cheap and effective ideas from TenkaraBum.com, some pretty standard but cool looking rod tubes at Tenkara Rod Co. (That only come with the rod) and pretty pedestrian 3rd-party rod tubes on Amazon. There is even complete stylistic overkill from Dragontail Tenkara for those who need something for their mantle. None of these have what I wanted, something I could pack in my suitcase, take out and put on my belt and go fishing. So, I made what I wanted. The total cost was about five dollars plus some super glue and duct tape.

As I have previously discussed, I'm not the type to spend a bunch of money on fishing gear. I'm also inclined to tinkering side projects occasionally. These projects tend to jump into my head and dominate my time when I'm most busy, and when my son is at his mom's house leaving the house far too quiet. My current project had a pretty slow burn. I came up with the idea last year, just before I carved the rod cap for my current tenkara rod in another fit of procrastination. I finally made it last week in about two hours.

I found the squirt gun while driving through Royal City, WA with my son on a hot June day last year. Like Michelangelo I could see that the rod case hidden in the rough could be revealed with just a few cuts and a bit of super glue. Well, maybe a comparison to Michelangelo is a bit hasty. Still, I could see I could see the makings of a sweet rod case. 

So, with too much to do and a night ripe for procrastination, I set out to uncover the rod case within the squirt gun. The result is pretty cool. It's very light and probably protects the rod a little too well even for the most zealous airline baggage handler. The rod stays in the case with a two-stage, friction-fit system that is extremely secure but easy to remove. The rod tip is held secure inside the case with foam. No rod rattle! It drains water and has both a belt loop to hook to my wading belt, or a loop to hook it to my vest.

Read on for the step-by-step directions with pictures and ideas for making it even smaller, more light-weight, and with classier materials on the outside. 

Guest post at Man Makes Fire Jens Hegg Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Gorgeous Cutthroat from a Tributary of Priest Lake     ©Jens Hegg

My friend Chris over at Man Makes Fire asked me to write a guest post on what it's like to use a tenkara style fly rod. It turned out to be a pretty awesome article that was a ton of fun to write. Check it out, along with the other stories, at Man Makes Fire - Fly Fishing with a Tenkara Rod

Top: 1oz, 7'10", Shimotsuke Kiyotaki rod
Middle: 3.1oz, 11'8", Shimotsuke 3.6 rod
Bottom: Reddington CT 4-piece, 5wt, handle section for comparison
© Jens Hegg