2 Guys, 2 Broken Rods, 2 Ravines - Reflecting on a New Jersey Late-Winter's Day.

I have a growing list of small streams to scout in New Jersey this year, and so I headed out to check some out with Sugi, who is kind of new to Tenkara. I figured the first one would be ideal given that it has just the right gradient and all the makings of a perfect wild trout stream, and that he'd be "reeling them in" in no time...

However, as we all know, things aren't always as good as they appear in this beautiful ravine... at least not every time. It was a cold day but the sun was strong. The ice was just beginning to melt off and the water was both very high, and freezing cold. That was the first sign that things weren't going to go as planned on this day.

After seeing some absolutely perfect water on the walk down, we started fishing some likely pools and plunges. I was in a good mood and with good company. But my mood went just a little bit south after catching nothing, as well as getting no hits, pool after pool. 

Even after staying really low, moving slowly and being sure to watch our rod's shadows, we still had nothing to show for it other than a broken rod section from an odd snag. At this point I was rather disappointed given where things had gone. I decided not to fight it and just enjoy the scenery. I spooled my line and gladly accepted Sugi's call for a lunch break.

I was particularly happy about the idea of having some home made Onigiri (rice balls) that Sugi had generously brought along to share. The Nori he had for wrapping them was extremely good, although harder to work with than the stuff I have bought on occasion. It didn't matter if it tore a bit, the taste was excellent.

To my absolute delight, he also pulled out some home made Tamago (slices of slightly-sweet cooked egg mixture) as well as some Japanese sausage. Suddenly the lack of trout seemed less stupid and I began to formulate a plan for the rest of the day.

I decided the best move would be to change locations and find a stream that didn't flow out of a pond that was melting out at the moment. I figured just a few more degrees and a tiny bit less flow would put us on the fish. I decided we'd hit the next closest spot from my list, which is a well known area that was severely damaged from an epic and historic stalled-storm not too many years ago.

This ravine is a beautiful place, and had some spots to park and grill along a small dirt road that wound part of the way along the stream. Speaking of which, this stream is very small. It runs fast and roars down the hill quickly, often seemingly forced between impossibly-narrow walls of rock that can barely contain its energy.

I found a small wild brook trout in this pool almost right away, and I watched as he wagged his head in the crystal clear water, being pulled to the surface by my small stream rod. However, he had the upper hand and threw my barbless hook as I allowed some slack in the line by mistake.

Exploring farther up it was clear that the storm had scoured the banks of this ravine and washed out so many of the places that create safe havens for wild trout. It appears that work has already begun to repair some of the damage, and I have read that a large scale project has been approved and may or may not have already begun at this point. 

Additionally, travel along the stream is almost impossible, as witnessed when a rod cracked during a hard fall. At least bones remained in tact! That made 2 broken rod sections in one day. Ouch. Talk about bad luck. A copperhead snake slithered ahead of me and I remarked to myself "what the &@$%!" but nobody was there to hear it. The snake sure didn't care. Nature is pretty cool.

The fishing is so difficult and the damage so obvious on this stream that I probably will not return here for at least a decade, if at all. The stream needs no additional pressure from me. But even so, the new plantings and smaller bushes that have taken hold, after the proud evergreens that used to protect and shade these plunge-pools were ripped clean from the earth by the storm, made it almost impossible to get more than 1-2 seconds of either guided or dead drift, if any drift at all.

I stowed the rod and walked the stream in awe of its raw power and beauty, which was almost in complete contrast to its size and location. But that's what makes these places magical. We must do our best to protect them and help them recover when either human impact OR natural disaster may be at fault. Possibly, with a little bit of care, investment of time and funds, as well as some luck, this very spot could once again bring joy and fishing success to a younger generation... It reminds me that the things we do in this life affect the lives of those who come after us. Always a good thing to keep in mind.

NYC Tenkara Angler's Club Inaugural Group Trip on the Naugatuck River

Happy to report that the 1st ever NYC Tenkara Angler's Club trip was a success, and well attended at that! It was really reassuring to see so much interest and from a broad range of people. We had a really nice group of 8 people and met at the river at 10:30AM on a Sunday.

We started as a group near the bridge. This run can be productive and I found a fish within the first few minutes. It was a decent size rainbow, maybe 14 inches or so.

What nice colors on this rainbow. I assume it was a hold over stocked fish.

Nick Park tries out his new Tenkara Rod Co Mini Sawtooth rod with a Furled leader. It casts much better that way than with a level line. Go for at least a #4 level line if you don't use furled leaders.

Bruce and Connie fished above us in the run, and had made the Trek from NJ to join us on the water. Connie ended up landing a nice fat rainbow farther up the river after we split up to find more good water to fish.

Chris (of Tenkarabum) was hunting for some of the broodstock landlocked salmon that are stocked in this river each year. A 20-foot carp rod would certainly have little problem landing the fish. There is plenty of overhead space to allow for the longer rods on this river. Single barbless hooks only, with no extra weight on the line make for difficult deep water salmon fishing.

I was using the Suntech Grayce II, which zooms from 4.7-5.2 meters. I spent a lot of time practicing my cast... having a good early stop is important when fishing with a long rod... the rod does so much of the "work" for you. Its wonderful to see all the line shooting out in front of you, almost like the "spey casting" of fixed line fishing. 

This shot shows how high the water was... usually you can see plenty of rocks in those plunges. This made for difficult fishing. The weather was nice, getting into the high 40's when the sun came out. These berries were lingering from their late fall birth and grabbed the eye... a maze of blue and grey amongst the leafless twigs.

My favorite run was flooded out... in fact the entire river was running crazy high. The water was extremely cold, around 39 degrees. Usually this run is good for a few fish, but there was nothing biting on this particular day. Even the heaviest of flies wasn't doing the trick.

Below, Nick drifts a fly through a notorious Salmon lie. We likely weren't getting deep enough for them or the trout, given the fact that the water levels were so high. The long walk in from the parking lot leaves some of these spots with slightly less pressure, but the fish didn't seem like they were feeding much anyway.

Walking along the trail there's always a lot of debris and unfortunately, more trash than most rivers I fish. In many spots one can see the damage done from ice dams, floods and civilization alike. Nature attempts to reclaim but alas, we've come to naming areas like "Car door run" and "shopping cart pool..." you get the point. I always carry some trash out when I head back to the car.

Although only a few of us landed fish, it was a fun day and a great opportunity to meet some new people and fish with a new group. I am looking forward to our monthly club outings. If you're interested in joining us on the water, send an email to info(at)nyctenkara.org and we'll get you on the mailing list. Or find us on facebook at - www.facebook.com/groups/nyctenkara/

Oni Type III & Tenkara Rod Co. Mini Sawtooth - out for a day in NJ

I decided to take advantage of a break in the wintery weather to hit a couple of small streams and a larger one this last weekend. I figured most of the snow and ice was melted out and that while the water might be high, it would likely be a great day of fishing.

A good friend who doesn't fish came along since I promised a good amount of walking away from the roads, as well as picturesque picnic spots for lunch by the water.

Starting on a smaller stream with good flows, I was into some fish right away. I presume at least some of the fish I caught had been stocked since they did stock the water the small stream flowed into. I started with the Oni type III which was perfect for the job with its progressive mid-flex profile.

To both mine and my friend's delight, I was into fish right away, and pretty consistently on the first stream. It was textbook brookie water, with plunges, small waterfalls and a lot of rocks to create safe lies and good oxygenation. The Oni type III performed beautifully, bending and dancing around as the fish fought in each pool.

The coloring on the fish was beautiful, wild or stocked. NJ stocks rainbows, browns AND brookies, so it was certainly hard to tell what was what.

After a handful of brookies on the Oni rod, we worked our way down to to the main stem and as we got closer, fish got bigger.

This beautiful brown trout, below, was still sporting its parr marks and had large spots. If I had to guess, I would say this one was wild, but who really knows.

In this pool I hooked into a sizable brook trout much larger than the previous photos. It immediately jumped not once, but TWICE! A few onlookers gasped as it came up for the second jump and released itself from my hook. Oh well.

The main stem was running high and fast, and looked wonderful. The only problem was that there was still tons of shelf ice melting into the river. The temps were frigid and I knew the fishing would be hard.

Evidence of recent ice dams was present all along the banks of the river. I am sure glad I wasn't around when those first began to break and release water!

There was some beautiful Tenkara water, but the Oni type III was smaller than I would have preferred here. The overhead room was reasonable so I think I would prefer to go with a slightly longer and stiffer rod next time for this spot.

Ice shelves made access to the best spots difficult if not impossible. I wasn't looking to take a cold swim or drown in this icy water so I kept my distance, noting good spots for the next visit.

The walk was difficult with plenty of slippery ice and melting snow to make rock hopping more risky than usual. We took our time on the rocky trail and didn't have any issues.

These pools were far deeper than one could hope to see... Prime lies for some sizable trout, to say the least!

Large trees fallen across the river created breaks and protection from the sky. This giant tree fell from atop a hillside and was tall enough to span the entire hill and still reach across the river. Epic!

We hiked to another tributary and I switched to the Tenkara Rod Co Mini Sawtooth. I have been eager to compare it to the Nissin Pocket mini. The rod is about the same length, but there's really no comparison, sadly.

The Nissin pocket mini is a wonderous rod... and has a beautiful flex profile even though it is on the stiff side for these rods. Alternately, the Tenkara Rod Co mini sawtooth is little more than a thin broomstick in one's hand... it was a struggle to use, and sadly not pleasing at all.

This little wild trout brook should have been productive, but I had no luck on this day. I spent some time casting the new rod, playing with drifts and a couple of different flies. Even the heaviest of my large bead heads was not heavy enough to make the rod feel right. Forget casting, even throwing the flies was not an easy task with this rod. Calling it a stiff 8:2 would be generous, but probably accurate.

The tip section and the section immediately behind it were not painted or coated and had a surprisingly thin look... for a moment I thought it might have been similar to the Suntech tips, but when I fished the rod I knew that was not the case. Still much stiffer.

I really liked the chartreuse color of the Lillian, and the swivel tip section was well attached, nice quality and by far was the nicest feature of the rod. It made me wonder if they had used different material for the tip, or if the unfinished rod blank just had better action than the remaining painted sections of rod did. The tip plug was very nice, and fit snugly. The rod tube is visually pleasing and the threading works great. The butt cap cannot be removed without a pliers because the plastic threading is so poorly cast in the mold. The paint is uneven along the rod, with spots of glue or finish that need to be polished off or removed in some other way. The paint job overall was sloppy and looked cheap. The "wraps" which were really just painted designs near the end of each section were particularly sloppy and looked as though they would chip off with the touch of a finger. The rod sock is a total piece of junk and appears to be made out a plastic-based fabric, if that's even possible. It appears to be scratching the paint on the rod by itself.

Needless to say, I was less than impressed overall. I do not recommend this rod to anyone, especially since it is now barely $15 cheaper than the Nissin Pocket Mini series, so the choice is clear for anyone looking to purchase. The Nissin rods are Japanese and made of MUCH higher quality materials. The finish is nicer, the tip is finer, and the flex is just significantly better.

This is all too bad, because I really wanted to like this rod, and had been impressed with its original price of $150 offered via Kickstarter. They now list at $229 on the Tenkara Rod Co site. I've spoken to a few people who have already broken these rods opening and closing them, as well as on the water. That should not happen to seasoned Tenkara anglers. I suspect the price increase was due to unforeseen costs and breakage. Bummer. There is something to be said for doing your due diligence in researching rod companies and manufacturers. At this point, I can't get behind Tenkara Rod Co. They make a greatly inferior product at a ridiculously high price. This rod should cost no more than $79 based on what you get. I hope to see Tom Davis review the longer rod soon, it is even worse, IMHO.

While removing a snag on a stick, I almost grabbed this guy with a nasty looking "stinger" type thing. It didn't look like the giant stonefly nymphs I have seen before, not sure what it was... but it was huge.

Walking back to the other stream on the way to the car, I managed to hook a small trout on this rod. Playing the fish was no fun at all - the rod barely moved at all. I can imagine this rod would handle large fish quite well... only one problem... without a flexible and sensitive tip section, the fish can throw or pop the hook way too easily. At this rate, I don't even want to keep the rod as a loaner, lest I piss off new anglers who think they are doing it all wrong when in fact the tool isn't matched for the job...

Overall I had an incredible day with a good friend in a beautiful location. I wish I had just stuck with the Oni rod all day, but hey, you have to kiss a few frogs if you want to find your princes (or princesses,) right? ;)