Tenkara Fest 2017

This year it was in Isère, more precisely in Pont-en-Royans, that we had rendez vous for the third edition of the Tenkara Fest which was going to take place in the Vercors massif.

As every year I arrived first and took rather quickly the direction of a stream that we had planned to fish during these three days ie the Bourne.

But before fishing I took the time to prepare an excellent lunch on the bank of this beautiful stream bathed in sunshine and took advantage of it to relax after the almost ten hours of my night time drive. It was very hot this friday afternoon, 82 F  in the shade to be exact, and so I did not expect trout to be particularly active. The Bourne is a beautiful stream where you feel incredibly good to look for trout even if this afternoon the conditions were hardly favorable to trout fishing. So I spent a good time observing another tenant on the premises.

Joined by Guilhem we decided to climb further up the river. The atmosphere began to feel strongly stormy but we were confident and wanted to start this weekend devoted to fishing by simply tenkara fishing. In spite of the stormy atmosphere then the wind started blowing but our fishing met the success. Our simple approach to tenkara, faithful to the basic principle of this sport fishing: a rod, a line, a fly, once again demonstrated its effectiveness even in difficult conditions and in my case on streams of which I knew only the name a few hours ago. 

This first fishing session completed, we did hit the road in the opposite direction to join our friend Edouard, who had just arrived at the guest house. We did spend an excellent evening which was followed by a good night of sleep for the day that was awaiting for us the next day. This second day began with our first encounter with a tenkara angler whom we knew only through social networks and I must say that as we had expected, we had the pleasure of meeting a very nice fisherman and really passionate about tenkara. 

After we met, we observed the river where some trout had been stocked for the "fishing festival" and decided to go fishing on the Vercors plateau. As we were driving to the plateau the sky darkened very quickly, and once we reached our destination, we could only see that a storm had swollen the surrounding streams, and we decided to drive back to the gorges of the Bourne where we hopefully found clean and clear waters.

We arrived in the middle of the morning and even at the bottom of these deep gorges the temperature was already very high. Despite the warm weather our morning of tenkara fishing in this magnificent place was crowned with success. We will observe many mayflies but it must be said that during this day they did not seem to interest any fish because only small black kebari were taken by trout. 

The weather forecast was correct and the afternoon ended in a violent storm, it was almost 7 pm when we stopped fishing.

The next day the temperature had dropped sharply and as we found when we arrived on the banks of the Vernaison the water was slightly stained because of the night rain. If the beginning of the morning was rather difficult the fishing became good around noon as the sky uncovered and the temperature rose.

Once again simplicity was rewarded and all trout were taken with zenmai-dou pattern.

In the afternoon I resumed the north road where dantesque storms awaited me and compelled me to cancel the visits and tenkara fishing that I had planned to make in Savoie but I had just spent a weekend with friends passionate of tenkara and that's the main thing.

Japan Kebari: Masami "Tenkara-no Oni" Sakakibara

It is rare to have the opportunity to meet the people who inspire us and thanks to whom we have developed a passion for something but I am gifted to have the pleasure to go fishing with the man who made me discover tenkara: Masami Sakakibara. 

With his thirty five years experience in the field of tenkara Masami Sakakibara's style is the perfect illustration of the highest skilled master. Faithful to the basic principle of tenkara "A rod, a line, a fly"

he has developed his technique instead of carrying a lot of tackle. Oni tenkara is not only simple but also very efficient and it is explicit when one sees his kebari and thinks a little about it. I think that the Tenkara-no Oni style of fly tying can be resumed by a simple motto: "design matches function".

This kebari tied by Masami-san is probably his most famous pattern. He is used to name his patterns from the materials used, in this case "Oni black pheasant kebari". What has in first place made this kebari famous among western tenkara anglers is its size as Masami-san ties it on hooks up to size 2. But function dictates design and size and this kebari is designed to be used in the sasoi technique.

Masami-san uses Tiemco "pellet dubbing", which is a natural substitute for seal fur, for the body of this kebari; a hen pheasant feather on a Gamakatsu S10 hook.

The next kebari is Masami-san's interpretation of a Mayfly, a huge ephemera, it is realistic by its size but impressionistic by its design.  I think that this describes very well Tenkara-no Oni style of fly-tying.

The body is made of polypropylene yarn and that is a good product if one wants low floatation kebari. The hackle will give the illusion of life to this kebari when on the water surface. 

If fishing big streams with long level lines has become a kind of hallmark of Tenkara-no Oni style he is also a very experienced and skilled small streams tenkara angler as I got to realize during my stay with the Team Oni in the mountains. 

To fish in shallow mountain streams small sized , in relation with the observable small insects, and light kebari are needed to obtain natural drifts. Masami-san is accosumated to tie his small sized kebari on Tiemco 2499-SP BL hooks that as he says have great features for small streams tenkara fishing: short shank, wide gap and laser sharp point. 

Masami Sakakibara's experience shows that it is possible to practice successful tenkara fishing on any water with his "simple" kebari because he has developed his technique on rational analysis of his fishing and fish behavior. 

Masami-san has developed over the years a tenkara fishing system that is not only simple but also very effective. I would even personally say that the Oni tenkara style has become so effective because it has been kept simple throughout the years. While fishing with him in the mountains I understood why his nickname is "Tenkara-no Oni", the Tenkara demon. As he says himself: "A tenkara angler must be one with the stream". 

If you want to learn more about Masami Sakakibara and the Oni tenkara style I invite you to check his awesome blog.