Tenkara for Euro-nymphing?

[Blue Lines]

While my love is fishing dries (3wt glass is where it’s at!) I’ve been growing more and more interested in the Dark Side, aka Euro-nymphing.

I’m not excited to buy another set up before I know if I’ll use it much, and then I got to thinking that functionally my Tenkara rod shared many aspects of euro-nymphing rods: long reach and light with a soft tip. A quick web search yielded this Hatch Magazine article.

If this works I could just keep a Tenkara rod in my sling pack and easily pull it out when I wanted to nymph in between throwing dries.

Has anyone tried this? Any advice for a novice euro-nympher on how to proceed would be appreciated.

 

[mcswny]

I’ve never fished tenkara but just not sure how you’ll manage to keep your line tight to your flies through the drift?

 

[Blue Lines]

I’ve never fished tenkara but just not sure how you’ll manage to keep your line tight to your flies through the drift?

I figure it would take some experimenting in lifting/lowering the rod tip at the edges of the drift. Not completely sure, as my experience nymphing is limited to high-sticking and fishing under an indicator.

It’s a 12ft Tenkara rod, that I usually fish with a level line about the length of the rod, but for euro I’d probably replace the last few feet with a multicolored sighter.

 

[mcswny]

I figure it would take some experimenting in lifting/lowering the rod tip at the edges of the drift. Not completely sure, as my experience nymphing is limited to high-sticking and fishing under an indicator.

It’s a 12ft Tenkara rod, that I usually fish with a level line about the length of the rod, but for euro I’d probably replace the last few feet with a multicolored sighter.

Try it and report back!

 

[Blue Lines]

What size tippet material is usually used when euro-nymphing? Should I stick with 6/7x or can I get away with 5x?

 

[Bambooflyguy]

The fish will let you know........

 

[Josh]

I think it really depends on how heavy your nymphs are. I've surely caught a pile of fish with a nymph on a tenkara. But I don't run heavy flies with it. I leave that to the euro nymph rod.

 

[Sam Roffe]

You can also try tight line nymphing with an already owned fly rod to see how that feels before diving into a long rod... I've had some success with my 9ft 5wt doing that.

 

[mcswny]

I use a gear bulk floro which is rough 4.5x

 

[DerekWhipple]

It will work, but it's not ideal. Any conventional/trout spey/tenkara rod can be used to euro, but you are making sacrifices somewhere.

See if you like it, and if you end up buying a purpose built euro rod, you'll enjoy it more. Quite a few euro rods these days can also throw a dry fly with a conventional line. A 10' 2 or 3wt is super versatile.

 

[tkp]

Nymphing with a fixed line works great and can be highly effective but you might want to look into a faster action Keiryu rod as they are built to cast weighted presentations rather than an unweighted fly. I would argue that if you are just fishing a micro leader on euro rod you are essentially fishing a fixed line. I do tend to fish heavier flies cause you only have short drifts to get your flies down.

Fish as light of a line as possible. On my 3.9 m rod I fish 6 ft of 3.0 level line, 2 ft of 3x sighter tippet, 6-8 ft of 5x or 6x. You can build a leader with more steps for better casting but with a weighted nymph you are mostly lobbing and water loading casts so it’s not a big issue.

 

[Divad]

I go up to a 2.8 tungsten bead, but most are wire wrap bodies or 2.4mm when I nymph them. On occasion I’ll take a small piece of euro sighter and tie it to the end of my level line, snipping both ends to about 1” for an added strike detector when using heavy flies, going deep, or choppy current.

Full disclosure you’ll start getting into fish you want fly line for if you get too crazy. I broke off the largest brown I’ve ever hooked on a creek outside PBurg MT tight lining tenkara a few ft deep in a pool. It was 7am, slightly hung over and the fish had me looking like a ribbon dancer.

I now step my tippet up one or two sizes when I get into this action packed tomfoolery.

 

[Divad]

The trip report I wrote in October shows a pool of fish tight lined for at 4ft and you can see the 2.4mm orange tungsten fly used. It was done with a 10’10 Hane.

Benefit of the lighter, more sensitive Tenkara rods is that you can run a 2.4 point with all feel. Maybe find one with cheap replacement tips the Hane is on its second…

 

[jaredoconnor]

If you're going to try euro nymphing, I recommend using the right gear. When you're coming from traditional fly fishing, particularly with decades of experience, it is a big change. Using suboptimal gear won't allow you to determine if you actually enjoy it. The Greys FIN outfit is cheap and good. I suggest starting there.

On a related note, many euro rods are great dry fly rods. Fishing streamers and dry-dropper "euro style" is also very effective. I use my 10ft 3wt Echo Carbon XL for 95% of my fishing and only about 25% of what I use it for is actually "euro nymphing".

 

[Jake Watrous]

You won’t have as much range as you might with a reel, but I imagine by stopping the rod at the end of a drift (rod is 90* to the direction of the drift) and letting the current keep the nymph tight instead of leading your fly, and have the current bring the nymph toward the surface at the end of the drift you could do a fine job of simulating a rising emerger.

 

[Zak]

If you're going to try euro nymphing, I recommend using the right gear. When you're coming from traditional fly fishing, particularly with decades of experience, it is a big change. Using suboptimal gear won't allow you to determine if you actually enjoy it. The Greys FIN outfit is cheap and good. I suggest starting there.

On a related note, many euro rods are great dry fly rods. Fishing streamers and dry-dropper "euro style" is also very effective. I use my 10ft 3wt Echo Carbon XL for 95% of my fishing and only about 25% of what I use it for is actually "euro nymphing".

I've got that same 10ft 3wt Echo Carbon XL with a 4wt Rio Versitip line on it and it is a really versatile setup.

 

[Tom Butler]

You can also try tight line nymphing with an already owned fly rod to see how that feels before diving into a long rod... I've had some success with my 9ft 5wt doing that.

I did this for a couple months and really found it fun and productive, so...

I've got that same 10ft 3wt Echo Carbon XL with a 4wt Rio Versitip line on it and it is a really versatile setup.

I got one of these. A super rod, I fish it quite a bit.

 

[Brian Miller]

I have not tried "Euro Nymphing" per se but have landed some real nice fish using a T-rod with bead head nymphs, before I knew it was called "Tactical Nymphing" or "Contact Nymphing". I am told it is very similar to "Euro Nymphing".
My 2nd fish with a Tenkara rod using a bead head nymph and classic Tenkara tight line techniques

Here are a couple of articles

Tactical Nymphing

Learn to engineer your fly fishing strategy using five discrete tactics. A community project.

tacticalnymphing.org

Tenkara Nymphing: A Guide to Success with Shin Takahashi

Blending Euro-Nymphing with Solid Tenkara foundations is a very successful approach once you know both ''schools''. Takahashi san shows how.

www.discovertenkara.com

It works better with firmer 6:4 or 7:3 rods having a stiffer midsection that can get solid hooksets down in the water column. 5:5 and some softer 6:4 rods flex too much. It's a balance between flex for *casting (a level fluoro line),* strike sensitivity and protecting tippets vs. hooksetting ability.

adding: Classic Tenkara wet fly presentations are very successful for me with a T-Rod but I like nymphing in colder water when fish won't move very far for a fly, and in higher water conditions.

 

[DerekWhipple]

If you're going to try euro nymphing, I recommend using the right gear. When you're coming from traditional fly fishing, particularly with decades of experience, it is a big change. Using suboptimal gear won't allow you to determine if you actually enjoy it. The Greys FIN outfit is cheap and good. I suggest starting there.

On a related note, many euro rods are great dry fly rods. Fishing streamers and dry-dropper "euro style" is also very effective. I use my 10ft 3wt Echo Carbon XL for 95% of my fishing and only about 25% of what I use it for is actually "euro nymphing".

Most shops do euro-clinics as well, it would be an opportunity to use the gear and see if you enjoy it.

 

[Bass-O-Matic]

I know a guy who built a long rod (15' if I recall correctly) to fish Tenkara style but put guides on so the line came to the handle (no reel) where he could adjust and do a little retrieve. He catches his share, including fish over 10lbs.