T.F.M. Spotting - Seth's Pen & Ink

Longtime friend, Seth Morrison, sent along a stellar pen and ink drawing that he knocked out on a Saturday afternoon.


Seth is an architect in Michigan and certainly has some skills with the pen. Great to see him T.F.M. representing at the drafting table.


I asked Seth to draw the Booneville Cutthroat head in the TFM header to see his interpretation of a very memorable fish that I caught in Wyoming last August. The results are very cool and further insight to his ability.


Today's blog post got me thinking that it was time for a new wallpaper on my iPhone screen.

If anyone is interested in Seth Morrison doing a fish drawing for you, he can be reached at ssmorrison26@yahoo.com.

Tenkara Ayu Review

I had hoped to post this review a little earlier but the month has more or less gotten away from me. I'll say first that after weeks of heavily praising the Tenkara Ayu rod that when I placed my order on the Tenkara USA website I sincerely thought I was ordering a niche rod that I'd have little general use for but would be enjoyable on some water sometimes. I was wrong.


For two days on a recent trip to Colorado I fished the Tenkara Ayu (13 foot/5:5 flex ratio) on the Taylor River and Arkansas River. Over that time I ran the Ayu through it's paces tossing little dry flies, hopper/dropper rigs, double midge nymphs, large nymphs under an indicator, and finally swinging soft hackles through the riffles.

I was pleasantly surprised but the Ayu did it all with ease. Honestly the length of the rod is forgotten since it is light in your hand but ends up giving you incredible reach and control of your flies.


Fighting a fish on the Ayu is quite exciting and you have more control than you'd expect for a rod without a reel and excess line. Though I did not play any fish over fourteen inches, the Ayu had more than enough backbone and flex to safely fight fish to hand.


The Tenkara system is nothing sort of the prime example of simplicity. A fly rod that collapses into itself. A furled line housed on a small plastic spool when not in use. A small fly box and tools and you're set with the most minimalist of fly outfits.

If you've done the math you're dealing with a rod that is at most thirteen feet long and a furled line with tippet that might make your reach twice that. Some would look at this as a limitation of Tenkara. I look at it as a unique challenge.


While fishing the Arkansas River I had to wade slowly and pick and chose how I was going to approach each riffle or run. This was gin clear water and under full sun of midday these fish would certainly see and hear me coming if I crashed up the joint. It's funny but when you can't bust out a forty or fifty foot cast it really makes you think about what you're doing.

Finally, on one hand Tenkara takes you back to a limber willow stick and string and on the other it's really quite revolutionary in it's simplicity and function.

The Ayu will not be the last Tenkara that I add to the collection.

T.F.M. Spotting - Taxi Ride Represent!

A few months ago Jason Puris of The Fin sent me a photograph from his taxi cab ride somewhere in the area of 57th and Park in New York City.


Thanks Jason for slapping one where it will get some looks.

T.F.M. representing in the N.Y.C.!

Sunday Cinema - Backcountry Tenkara

As I was just starting to get my interest perked about Tenkara, I came across Ryan Jordan on Twitter and then his websites, Simplifactico and Backpacking Light.

Besides some Tenkara talk, his websites are packed with great photography, gear reviews, videos, and journals of his travels.


He's done his "field research" on Tenkara and I thought I'd post a favorite photograph and video for this week's "Sunday Cinema".



Cutthroat trout off the coals of a campfire sounds pretty good right now, eh?

T.F.M. Spotting - Yuhina's Trip West

For the past few summers Mark Liu, a.k.a. Yuhina, has been taking trips out west to visit friends in Utah each summer. They typically fish the Provo River and come back with stories and many photos of brown trout caught.

This years trip was a little different since it was filled with secret locations, pouring over maps, car hops from state to state, and the photos he sent for this post are no less cryptic.

I know that he had a great time as always on this years trip and the photos he returned with a beautiful...even if we haven't heard the stories behind them yet.

T.F.M. t-shirt plus "Food Photo" equals a perfect match.





Check out Yuhina's Blogger profile to see his list of blogs that he spreads his posts around on. They are all stellar.

The Fiberglass Manifesto - One Year Old

Who would have thought that spending a week in Wyoming last August looking for native cutthroats with glass sticks on a few forgotten rivers would have given birth to a fly fishing blog...but I am certainly glad that it did.

(The Booneville Cutthroat that started it all.)

What started as a way to promote a growing list of rod builders and companies still committed to building fiberglass fly rods has turned into quite a bit more over the past twelve months. T.F.M. has grown at a rate that I would have never expected. I've made friends with people all over the world, traded ideas, and learned more than a thing or two along the way.

Besides the blog, giving The Fiberglass Manifesto a presence on facebook and Twitter has expanded the numbers of readers and spreading the message in ways that the blog may never would have had the chance to do. I have been astounded how many anglers from all over the world are on these networking site.

A year ago I was trying to figure out how to work this Blogger site, wondering if people would read yet another fly fishing blog, and even worried how I could come up with enough content to keep T.F.M. interesting. A year later I am even more inspired and look forward to where T.F.M. is going in the years to come.

I am already working on some ideas for 2010 that I am very excited about. Stay tuned!

Thank you all for your readership, comments, emails, support, and wearing your T.F.M. t-shirts proudly. It is very much appreciated.

T.F.M. Interviews Daniel Galhardo

As the idea of an Offer of the Month with Tenkara USA was taking shape, I approached Daniel Galhardo about doing an interview to give T.F.M. readers a better idea of where the idea of Tenkara USA came from and how this method of fly fishing is turning heads from coast to coast.


Daniel, you are the founder of Tenkara USA, can you give us a little background about your fishing background?

I have been fishing my entire life, and fly-fishing for the last 12 years. Progressively, I went through phases of trying different methods of fishing: from cane pole fishing using telescopic rods and bait as a young kid in Brazil, to lure fishing, to fly-fishing, and then, finally tenkara. In the last few years I have considered myself a small-stream aficionado. Fishing the small streams in the Sierras, and, whenever possible, other parts of the US. I like to seek solitude while fishing, so people probably won’t find me and my 13 foot rod that easily. I’m also one of the directors of the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club here in San Francisco, which happens to be only 5 blocks from where I live and work.


What is the history of Tenkara, how did you get exposed to it, and what inspired you to bring it to a new audience?

A couple of years ago I came across a book called “Angling in Japan” in a library. It was published in English some 70 years ago by the Japanese Board of Tourism and described the various fishing methods practiced in Japan. Ironically, tenkara, the only traditional fly-fishing method in Japan as I would later learn, was the smallest chapter in the book. This, and the fact that my wife is Japanese American and I lived in Asia for a few months, prompted me to do more in-depth research on this unique combination of Asian culture and fly-fishing. While visiting Japan last year I stopped at every tackle shop I saw, and was amazed when I learned how popular it is becoming in Japan. I was quickly sold on its simplicity and effectiveness, and, being a small-stream aficionado, found it was what I had always been looking for.


Where does the Tenkara style of fishing excel? Small water? Rivers? Stillwater?

Tenkara was developed in the "land of mountain streams", Japan, where professional anglers used and perfected it in fast mountain streams; as a result, the sweet-spot for tenkara is small streams with currents, eddies, pocket water, and small pools. In his book, The Fly, fly-fishing historian Andrew Herd illustrates why that is when he writes about tenkara and other fixed-line fly-fishing methods, "The long rod brings several advantages which are sacrificed by those using shorter ones: much better line control and the lack of any need to false cast being but two. An angler with a long rod can laugh at cross currents, since he can lift the fly across them and with practice it is possible to drop the fly right on the head of the fish in a way which can’t be managed with a shorter rod."


If someone was looking at purchasing their first Tenkara rod what should they consider? Explain the ratio? Type of fishing they will be doing? Other considerations?

What I like to say, and think, is that if you’re fishing small streams, you really can’t go wrong with your rod choice in tenkara, they are made for small streams. Plus I have designed and selected each of the rods to feel good for fishing. However, there are of course some distinct differences among tenkara rods.

The first thing to consider is the action of the rod, what we call Tenkara Action Index; this is a system commonly used in Japan to classify how fast tenkara rods are, it’s very objective and a great method of doing so (I’m surprised hasn’t been imported before either). The Tenkara Action Index splits a rod into 10 equal parts and then tells you “how many bottom parts are stiffer: how many tip parts are softer”, rods can be classified as (slowest) 5:5, 6:4, 7:3 or 8:2 (fastest), this is more of a personal preference and casting styles, someone who likes more delicate casting will enjoy a 5:5 for example, while someone who prefers a faster rod may prefer the feel of an 8:2.

The second thing to consider is the size of fish one most consistently catches. We’re working on developing a more objective system for this, but rods that are described as being lighter, delicate or “for smaller fish”, excel and feel best when fighting your typical small stream trout (<12”), they can handle large fish too, but are not designed for them. Rods that are described as being “heavier” or “with more backbone” will be the best rods for consistently landing larger fish (15” – 20”). Then there are the medium-weight rods.


I want to thank you for being involved with Fishy Kid as a Gear Sponsor. Do you think that Tenkara offers any advantage to children learning to fly fish?

Absolutely! This is something that didn’t come to me right away when I got into tenkara, I was too amused with how efficient and fun it was for a grown person. But, soon it become very clear that having no reel to worry about, not having to coordinate the movement of two hands – one casting, the other holding the line – and being able to focus on the important things in fly-fishing: casting, reading water, catching fish, and simply having fun would make this a natural toy for kids too. Even as an adult with years of experience I can get frustrated on times when things just don’t seem to work, the line is getting tangled everywhere, wrapping around rocks, sliding down the guides, snagging on trees, you name it. I think getting rid of any frustrating experiences is the main step to get a kid into a sport. I can’t tell you how many of our clients have reported back that they now really have the attention of their kids and their kids are finally getting into fly-fishing.


I've noticed Tenkara USA has been making connections with disabled anglers. What organizations are you working with and what is the anglers response that are using them?

We’re not involved with any organizations in particular. But, I do feel a strong sense of responsibility and like the idea of supporting projects whenever we can and they make sense. We have been approached by a couple of people that saw the potential in tenkara for helping disabled anglers. Ken Morrow of the Adaptive Fly Fishing Institute (http://adaptiveflyfishing.com/) recently contacted us to try a rod and see how it would work for their groups needs. I thought this was a fantastic project and we hope they will find tenkara well suited for their needs. We have also offered to work with projects supporting disabled veterans. Impairment of one of the arms is a huge issue for many of them, and others who may have had strokes and such, and I believe tenkara can give anglers a chance to fly-fish, focus on the fishing experience, and forget of any problems they may have.


What is Dr. Ishigaki's involvement and significance to the development of Tenkara USA?

I had heard of Dr. Ishigaki before, when researching tenkara, but only finally met with him in May of this year when he came to the Catskills to talk to the Catskills Fly Fishing Center and Museum. This was an incredible coincidence; as we prepared to launch the company in April I learned about the “Made in Japan” exhibit being organized by Ms. Misako Ishimura at the Museum. As far as we know this is the first event of its type in the US, and we couldn’t be luckier that it coincided perfectly with our launch. Of course we had to go there, and meet the leading authority on the subject. Dr. Ishigaki and I hit it off pretty well, and soon he was calling me his “tenkara son”, and I took the liberty to call him my “tenkara dad”. I learned A LOT from Dr. Ishigaki, much more than any research I have conducted. He was impressed with the products I had developed and also gave some great feedback on our rods. He is a very passionate advocate of tenkara in Japan, and does not do any of it for money. He’s not directly involved with us, but I am very thankful to him for keeping his doors open with questions I have and that is helping Tenkara USA. We have kept in close touch, and hopefully will be fishing together again soon.


I've got to ask since this is The Fiberglass Manifesto...any plans for a FIBERGLASS Tenkara?

Hehe, of course you should ask. Well, since you now have first-hand experience you can probably tell the feel of a tenkara rod, its slow and resilient action, are not all that different from a glass rod. We are working on something that you guys may like, but I’ll have to keep this a secret for now…top secret.


Do you have a personal Tenkara "Zen Experience" that you'd like to share?

Not one in particular, but I can’t think of a time when I have been fly-fishing in a small stream when I didn’t feel a “Zen Experience” of one type or another. To be honest, it wouldn’t quite matter if it was using a western fly-rod or a tenkara rod. But I have been tenkara fishing exclusively for just about a year now, so my last year has been filled with tenkara zen experiences.

T.F.M. Spotting - The Martin Gang

Who knew that there was such a dangerous set living within the city of Asheville, North Carolina. A photograph surfaced recently of O.G. (original gangster) Kevin McGuire (aka middlemac) throwing signs and repping one of his favorite boxed Martin fly reels while donning his uniform of a T.F.M. shirt and ballcap.


Careful Friends...the Martin Gangstas are nothing to mess with. They are notorious (Fiberglass Flyrodders forum thread) hijackers, (ebay auction) snipers, and carry (vintage and contemporary fly gear) weapons of all types.

Glass Builder - Gypsy Rod Works

I've been saying for some time that they are coming...and this is finally the first installment of the "Glass Builders" posts.

Over the course of the next few months I'll be interviewing builders that concentrate their craft on fiberglass fly rods to give T.F.M. readers a better idea where these builders come from and their history in rod making, what they do best, and some photographic examples of their work.

The first installment of the T.F.M. "Glass Builders" posts is with Mark Malczynski of Gypsy Rod Works. I've known Mark for several years now and find his work inspiring and nearly flawless.


OK, let's start at the beginning, where did the nickname "Gypsy" come from and where did you get your start in rod building?

From the time I left the East coast on a motorcycle until I got married I spent most of my time working on boats in Alaska and traveling throughout America and Mexico in between fishing seasons. I guess "drifting" would more accurately describe how I traveled because I never had a specific destination to travel to. Most times I was looking to get away from the wet and cold of Alaska so heading south towards Mexico seemed like a good idea. Anyways my co- workers and friends started calling me Gypsy after awhile and the name stuck.

It's easy for me to remember when and where I started rod-building because I built my first fly rod right after our first daughter was born. If I remember correctly the first rod I made was an 8' 6 weight that I made as a Christmas gift for my Dad back in 2001.


Did you have any mentors that you have either worked with, studied their work, or have given you guidance while learning how to build fly rods? Is there someone who still inspires you today?

Honestly, I have had no rod-building mentors or guidance from anyone other than a few rod builders whose work I admired on the internet. I've actually never even seen another person build a rod in person. I'm not saying that I'm self-taught. Without the incredible rod-builders who give advice so freely over the internet I would never have gotten to where I am today. Even though I don't build bamboo rods I've learned a lot about finish work and working with silk thread from the guys who do. Although his focus is not on fly rods, Tom Kirkman publishes Rod Maker magazine and maintains a website which both are great sources of info on anything that has to do with rod building.

A mentor certainly would have shortened the learning curve. HA! I'm the king of learning by trial and error. I can't tell you how many rods I've built then rebuilt because I thought the rod would cast better with different guides, shorter/longer grip, uplocking or downlocking reel seat. I once re-wrapped a blank 6 times before I was happy with how it turned out.


When did you make the transition to fiberglass and what do you like about it as an angler and rod builder?

My interest in fiberglass came after we moved to Maine and I started fishing small streams for native brook trout. 99.9% of these streams are crowded with Hemlock, Pine or Alders and I wanted a rod that would load with just a foot or two of line out of the tip. Fiberglass is the best material for fishing situations like this not to mention that playing a fish on a glass rod is so much more fun than it is with graphite. Of course, fiberglass is great for bigger water and I routinely fish heavier weight fiberglass rods on the local ponds and rivers.


What are the artistic techniques that you do with Gypsy Rod Works that set your builds a part from other builders?

I think my finish work is getting to the point where I'd be comfortable comparing it to some of the Masters of the craft like Mike McFarland, Dave Lewis and Tom Morgan’s wife Gerri. Nice finish work is really the icing on the cake and the perfect compliment to a rod built as well as one can be built. Of course the primary goal of a rod builder is to make the best casting/ fishing rod possible so proper guide size and placement along with other tricks of the trade are more important than cosmetics, but talented rod builders should be able to make a fly rod that looks as nice as it fishes. I think the legendary Russ Peak was and is the perfect example of this.

In addition to the finish, other artistic techniques that I employ that set my fly rods apart are wrapping the guides with silk thread, fine four turn tipping, feather inlays, and I custom-turn a wide variety of woods on my lathe for the reel seat insert. If someone wants a custom rod built I'll make it any way they want it: silk thread, nylon thread, custom cork grip, rattan grip, feather inlays, tipping, signature wraps, custom wood reel seat insert.


Typically, from the time of order to rod completion how long are customers waiting for their orders?

Currently I'm building fiberglass rods on blanks from Steffen Brothers, Diamondglass, and Lamiglas. Dave Redington, under the South Fork Rod Company label will be introducing a 3 piece unsanded black fiberglass rod in the next couple of weeks. I plan on having blanks from Steffen, Lamiglas, S.F.R.C , Tom Morgan Rodsmith and a couple of yet to be announced fiberglass blanks from some very knowledgeable West Coast rod designers in stock during 2010.
So to answer your question it usually takes me six to eight weeks to make and ship a fly rod after I have the blank in my hands. Sometimes less, sometimes more depending on how many rods I have waiting to be built. By the way I'm happy to have people send me blanks that they have in hand and build them out. It's actually fairly common for a person to contact me and ask me to build a fly rod on a blank that they already have.


What would you like prospective customers to think about as they make a decision about a custom fly rod build and what should their expectations be?

I'm going to take a little liberty with your question and broaden it to "buying a custom fly rod". First, people should deal with legitimate licensed rod builders. Besides the obvious reasons for doing this 10% or $10 of every fishing pole, whichever is less, is paid to the U.S fish and wildlife service which is automatically redistributed to the states. This pays for a lot of stocking and habitat restoration initiated by the local agencies. Second, any Tom, Dick or Harry can claim to be a rod builder over the internet but having a license at the very least adds some legitimacy to their claim. I won't go into the details but I've repaired numerous rods for people who bought poorly made fly rods off the internet and when the fly rod "broke" the builder was nowhere to be found. A reputable licensed rod builder will always stand behind his work.


Moving on to the fun part of buying a custom fly rod I would say besides having a licensed reputable builder make your fly rod you definitely want to let your builder know what your intended species is, blank preference (slow, medium, fast), fishing conditions, how far you intend to be casting, likes/dislikes with such things as up-locking or down-locking reel seats, and grip shape. As a rod builder I enjoy talking with potential clients about the rod build.

Finally, it always helps the consumer to know what a well-made fly rod is. The guides should be aligned and sitting straight on the blank, grip comfortable, finish work smooth and level, minimal epoxy or varnish creep up the guides, well-fitted grip and reel seat. Of course, there is no such thing as perfection so if a rod shows a couple of minor flaws in it than that is understandable but overall the fly rod should exhibit a quality of being well-made.

For more information on Mark Malczynski's work please check out the Gypsy Rod Works website or send him an email at gypsyrodworks@yahoo.com.

T.F.M. Spotting - Xdzines in the Print Shop

Just to let everyone know I spoke to Rick Marcum last week and he said that the latest T.F.M. t-shirt order should be printed in the next week or so. There was a little mix up with the t-shirts where were sent which slowed the order a bit. I appreciate everyone's patience that ordered T.F.M. t-shirts during this order period. They wiill be printed and sent soon!


Even though their website is down right now, xdzines has been doing a lot of work lately knocking out stellar t-shirts for Midcurrent.com, Montana Troutaholic Outfitters, The Fin, and others.


If you need t-shirts for your website or company please consider sending Rick Marcum an email at flip_marcum@yahoo.com to inquire on cost and setup. So far he's printed about 200 T.F.M. t-shirts and I've been nothing but happy.

Tenkara in the Land of Little Rivers

For this week's "Sunday Cinema" post I thought it fitting to post Tenkara USA's latest video which really gives an excellent history of where Tenkara comes from, how it excels, and stories from anglers who employ these fly rods without reels.

Tenkara in the land of little rivers from Tenkara USA on Vimeo.

Tenkara, Tenkara, Tenkara

OK...fair warning...over the course of the month you're going to see at least four more Tenkara related blog posts. Don't worry...this isn't going to become "The TENKARA Manifesto" but I am really excited about this style of fly fishing and the products that Tenkara USA is introducing to anglers a world away from it's origin in Japan.


I'll be mixing in some fiberglass posts into the lineup but look forward to a couple videos, an extensive interview with Daniel Galhardo, and my own review of the Tenkara Ayu.

For those with their interest perked by the Tenkara system, I hope that by the end of the month all your questions will be answered and maybe you too will be fishing your nearby rivers with a fly rod without a reel.

Offer of the Month - Tenkara USA

(I know that this post is a couple of days late but both Daniel Galhardo, founder of Tenkara USA, and I have been a bit busy with trips and other responsibilities.)

I am excited to post September's Offer of the Month and being associated with Tenkara USA. The Tenkara angling system is extremely enjoyable and over the course of the month I hope to pass along a lot of good information to T.F.M. readers with an interview of Daniel Galhardo, videos, photos, and my own review of the Tenkara Ayu that I fished for several days in Colorado recently.


There are two parts to the Offer of the Month and I am really excited about both of them.

First, after you've placed your Tenkara rod rod order, send an email to TFM@tenkarausa.com with your name and reference your order. Daniel will include a FREE boxed set of Tenkara flies which will be included with your purchase. This is a $22.50 value. The boxed set will include two vials containing three flies each of Dr. Ishigaki's style flies and then one vial with randomly selected flies.


Secondly, Tenkara USA will, at the end of September, donate 10% of all T.F.M. orders placed this month to the Fishy Kid website. This is very generous and I very much appreciate Tenkara USA being a gear sponsor and for their support of the Fishy Kid website.

So...if you've been intrigued with Tenkara this is the perfect month to take advantage of this offer.

The Tenkara USA website has a lot of information packed into it including a photo and video gallery, blog, as well as a very active forum of Tenkara anglers all over the world.