The fad

[klingon]

To all those Tenkara fans who may catch a fish with "shoulders":
All the instruction, you will ever need, regarding playing and landing a "shouldered" fish is shown repeatedly on tv. Just pay close attention to how bass are played and landed during the BASS tournaments.

[bulldog1935]

jump up and down and yell a lot?

no, it's not about instructions - nice fish and 25-28" rainbows are two different classes of fish
nice fish are 16", and that's what he placed as his tenkara upper limit. Nice fish don't have shoulders.
like 30" Alaska rainbows are completely different animals than 20" rainbows anywhere -
they are Big Game.
this thing is never on - it's also why I am glad I have to click on that guy's posts if I chose to read them, because more often than not, it's a mistake.

[klingon]

Lighten up! It was a feeble attempt at a little levity.

[bulldog1935]

ok, you too.
but that's what they do, they jump up and down and yell (all very pointless), and nice fish don't have shoulders

[klingon]

Actually, what I was thinking of, in addition to all the screaming and yelling is the way they get the poor fish up on plane and when close to the boat, launch it into the air and have it land somewhere on the boat (braided high tensile line). One good thing though, nobody I know kills black bass anymore.

[OldCane]

Too much time and effort is put into in fighting over what's the best way to fish. Just go fishing and enjoy the peace and quiet and look around at God's world.

Fishing isn't supposed to be work and so the only fishing I am not interested in ever doing is pro-bass with the "winner" being the person that's used 100 gal's of gas, $20K+ worth of bass boat with twin 100 HP motors just to get 50 miles up a lake/river and then have 12 different rods and baits just to get 3 oz's more fish than the next guy. I think I'd rather work overtime shoveling horse poop!

[shoaliedude]

Actually, what I was thinking of, in addition to all the screaming and yelling is the way they get the poor fish up on plane and when close to the boat, launch it into the air and have it land somewhere on the boat (braided high tensile line). One good thing though, nobody I know kills black bass anymore.

Actually, I do. I kill every spotted bass I find in my river, as do all the people I fish with - including a couple of well known fisheries biologists. Spots are a non-native, invasive species in my river, and threaten the continued existence of our native shoal bass.

I'll bet bulldog doesn't think highly of smallies he finds in his Texas rivers either.

[bulldog1935]

now they've added white bass to the upper Guadalupe - right up to the forks, by stocking them in Kerrville.
I've seen spawning-run white bass jump waterfalls like salmon.

If (when) they make it up Johnson creek, they will eat one of the last two A-strains of endemic Guadalupe bass.

some people may be getting defensive, but no one is really fighting - just making fun of a fad - it's kinda like seeing an old fat guy come out of a bike shop with carbon and lycra. It becomes a question of who's fishing and who's caught.

[bvandeuson]

Bulldog, when we were kids we used to find schools of spawning white bass near the shore of a local lake in the spring. We could rake out a mess for dinner two at a time. Those, bullheads and walleyes were my three favorite spring fish before I got into trout fishing, and eventually fly fishing. I bet the white bass would be fun on a little streamer or wet fly.

BB

[bulldog1935]

I grew up fishing white bass jumps in reservoirs and this is what I bought my first fly rod for

I have a power point presentation on fly fishing for white bass

It presents detail on reading the spawning runs and planning when and where to fish.
My best white bass season was 170 fish in about 15 hours of fishing.
In a really dry year at a really pinched riffle, I caught 50 on consecutive casts one afternoon.
40 fish days are norm for me.

But that is not the point.
I've argued it on this forum before with a retired TPWD fisheries manager.
They don't appreciate this


endemic Guadalupe bass should be on a federal endangered list and their environment protected, but TPWD works against that, trying to replace what God did with massive stocking effort.
Due to stocking smallmouth in the '70s and resulting genetic pollution - within my fishing lifetime - the Blanco strain of endemic Guadalupe bass is extinct, and only two small A-strains of the species remain in the wild: the Cibolo strain protected by aquifer recharge, and the Johnson Creek strain isolated from the north fork of the Guadalupe by a waterfall.
But white bass can climb that waterfall and were stocked 20 miles downstream just a few years ago.
I'm going to paraphrase this, but it was stated that losing this endemic species has to be balanced with fisheries improvement for all sportsmen.


while white bass are the ultimate fecund indestructible freshwater meat fish, they are voracious piscivores.

[bvandeuson]

Bulldog,

I don't know if it's the climate, pollution, or what, but according to the NYDEC, White Bass in NY are limited in their range, but plentiful within the range. Oneida Lake where I grew up, is still a hot spot, and the White Bass don't seem to be making inroads on the many other game fish available in the lake, yet they still don't have a season, size, or catch limit. Perhaps the White Bass fry are a major food source for the other game fish, such as Walleye, Northern Pike, Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass, Pickerel, catfish and large Perch. As well-known as Oneida Lake is for Perch, they actually have a catch limit of 50. Walleye is the main sport fish.

Too bad that when I go up for vacation it will be well past the run, although regular bass season will be just starting, and there's about a 5 or 6lb smallie which hangs around the dock at camp.

BB

[bulldog1935]

of course we're totally hijacking this thread, but white bass can't spawn in water below about 65oF.
In our tailwater, they will occasionally wash over the dam in floods and we will catch them in the tailrace for a few years - literally, they only live 3 years - then they're gone from the tailwater.
Occasionally a male will live into the 4th year and be 19-22", 5-6lbs.
I've caught 5 of these in my lifetime.
When you consider a fish got to that size in under 4 years, competing for food with a pelagic school of siblings, that should give you an idea of how much they eat. 14" white bass are 2-y-o.
btw, females lay up to 200,000 eggs

[roadking97]

Well, this has been a fun read. A fad? I don't know, someone is always trying to come up with the next big thing and retailers are always looking for something new to bring in the customers. Graphite advertising keeps touting faster and lighter trying to convince fishers that they need a new rod. The big draw for me is for day hikes with freinds and family. You can tuck a Tenkara rod in your daypack or back pocket and it is easy to get into action. I would say Tenkara fishing is more akin to tightline nymphing than dapping though. One advantage I've noticed is the ability to reach over currents to get the fly to drift where you want.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a gear freak and love playing with all my rods and reels but Tenkara can serve a purpose if it is something you like, just like switch rods or extremely short rods or whatever. 95% of my fishing is glass or bamboo and I don't expect that to change anytime soon!

Mike

[RELong]

I went the Tenkara route for my 11yr old this season. He requested it and loves it.

Did I spend much? Nope. $45 dollars on EBAY.

Got a 12ft rod and used a Cortland Sylk 3WT level section and a furled leader. Drifted nymphs and streamers without an indicator & he caught fish on his own and had a blast. Even landed a 16-17" fish on his own with it. What more could I ask for?

Great rod with long reach but limited applications in my opinion. But it has its uses.

[PYochim]

I went the Tenkara route for my 11yr old this season. He requested it and loves it.

RELong,

Thanks for sharing your son's experience. A woman at work bought one for her kid who is about the same age and is using it to teach him presentation and drift.

Nice blog as well.