Tenkara Cuts

Heavy to Light - Bamboo to Tenkara - for Cutthroats in Colorado

In 2011, on a stream we like in Colorado not far from Denver,  Fred Miller and I decided on a themed trout outing. We'd do a throwback on our throwback and use bamboo to catch and then release some cutthroat trout.  

Fred's rod, like all his gear, was museum quality and he could actually hold it with one hand. Mine from a garage sale in Canada on the other  hand, took two hands and soon had my left arm exhausted.

Now, 5 years later it was time to visit again.  We believe in resting a stream. Yes, we are that good.
Fred chose his 9 ft 3 weight and I brought my Sato Tenkara rod, extendable to 12' 9".

I fished all dries starting with a Jay Zimmerman Clown Shoe Yellow  Sally.

 
The cutts cooperated. Nice sized and healthy they were.

Fred fished the banks with his 3 weight.


Cutthroats are gorgeous fish but the stream is quite spectacular also.








I convinced Fred to try his hand with the tenkara and he landed a cutthroat on his 3rd drift. We'll see if he adds to his rod collection.


For traveling between stretches in this very bushy area, the tenkara rod telescopes nicely but managing the line is a challenge since, of course there is no reel on a tenkara rod.  TenkaraUSA sells "rod ties"  that look like this. 


I wanted something a little more permanent so I mounted a hook keeper onto the top of the first telescoping section and squeezed a small rubber O-ring between the screw off end cap and the cork handle.



Then when I collapse the rod I loop the extra line around the hook keeper and figure 8 around the rod plug in bottom. 



Where to put the fly is still a problem so I wind an elastic band around the grip and roll it up and down as the  tippet gets longer and shorter to hook in the barbless fly. 





Ready to bush whack.



Much as I dislike removing a fish from the water, Fred insisted we pose this nice cutthroat for a portrait. At least I didn't touch him and he was only out for two breaths. Unfortunately, Fred encountered a proud father and his pre-teen daughter with a string of DEAD cutthroats. It was enough to make you cry. Fortunately for them, Fred was at a loss for words. Want to bet they are now getting freezer burn prior to being trashed in a few months. Why, oh why,  can't we get over this obsession to flaunt a kill. 

Early quest for high mountain cutthroats, boletus edulis mushrooms and exotic brook trout.

     I know, I know. It's still early in the year above 8,000 feet. But I have these 4 tents to test for Field and Stream magazine and a vision in my head of finding little pockets and slow water along the banks of the St. Vrain near my campsite where a pot of coffee is warming, just like John Gerach.
    Am I blessed or cursed with these fly fishing visions of high mountain streams and camping near them. When I read the Rocky Mountain National Park backcountry camping guide, the vision gets a little murky. Those wilderness camping sites are in specific numbered spots arrayed between 30 minutes and a couple hours of hiking. The 1.5 hour forced march, hauling a backpack with boots, waders, lunch, water and a fly rod to Spruce Lake was just marginally doable. Hiking even that distance with the additional tent, bear proof container w/food, sleeping bag and pad, and water filtration equipment would ruin my fishing day. I now have to modify my dream to camp in a driveup camp ground, get early booking on the camp site closest to the trail head, or lease some pack animals. Just like all dreams, reality has a way of mucking it up.
    Here's what happened. Bottom line.. no boletus yet. Middle St Vrain was too high to find the nice soft spots behind rocks and along banks. Only unknown creek out of Rainbow Lakes was charming with a couple of nice brook trout on a dry tricho. There's an interesting story about a lost and then found 12 year old to go with that adventure for a later blog post.