I tried tenkara for the first time this past weekend. Saturday was beautiful, so I decided to hit one of my favorite bluegill ponds. I took a UL spinning rod and my version of a tenkara rod. (I thought my 18' hera rod was a little long for tubing. Since I don't own an actual tenkara rod, I opted for a 12' BnM graphite Little Jewel as a substitute.)

I started out with my tenkara set up rigged with a 4# flouro leader and a black rubber-legged dragon. I quickly caught four nice-sized gills. I had forgotten how much fun it was to play one without a reel. I was a little worried that landing the fish would be difficult with that size rod, but it was easy. I switched between the UL spin and the tenkara throughout the day.

The Little Jewel worked fine. Fun day!