DAVID E. DIRKS
FISHING MINIS WITH TENKARA WINTER/EARLY SPRING The cold waters of winter and early spring make for slow-moving trout. Since they won’t expend much energy on a meal unless it looks large and tasty enough for the effort, mini-streamers and bucktails are ideal. Deaddrift these flies through pools and riffles. Keep your tenkara rod tip high – taking advantage tenkara’s ability to avoid drag and keep the fly moving as naturally as possible through the water column.
SPRING/EARLY SUMMER We know hatches really come into their own during this time of year in most parts of the U.S. That said, hatches are not happening 24/7. With fish more active, it’s best to impart some action into the fly by simply twitching the fly lightly as it goes downstream. That’s the great thing about a tenkara rod in that it gives you the ability to impart action into a fly pattern and driving fish to strike.
FALL In the fall I like to vary my tactics a bit more. The change up from dead drifting to letting the fly swing through the current. Best is to add a bit of a twitch to the action of the fly just by using the tip of your tenkara rod. That seems to draw the most strikes during this time of year.
168
