GEAR | The Patagonia Tenkara Fly Rod


When I came back from a fishing trip to Wyoming, I wrote a bit of a satirical piece for Vogue.com about the role Instagram plays in our lives, using a frustrating float trip down the Snake River as a perfect example of how reality can be so wildly imperfect and stand in direct contrast to our virtual lives on Instagram. It's called Fly-fishing for an Instagram. It is (hopefully) funny and just slightly sarcastic, and was a lot of fun to write.

The real surprise of the trip wasn't that we (spoiler alert) didn't land any fish, but how much I enjoyed using the new Patagonia Tenkara Fly rod ($200-$225). We broke it out well into the day just for fun, thinking there'd be no chance we'd be knowledgable or practiced enough to score with a whole new style of fishing that was completely foreign, but this simple zen-like Japanese-style fishing rod is so simple and so uncomplicated that we all instantly fell in love. It's easy to use and easy to understand, it's completely intuitive, the way fishing, arguably, used to be. The book that goes along with rod, Simple Fly-Fishing ($25) is not only instructive, but it completely changed my outlook on the sport. It's must read for any fly-fisherman or fly-fisherwoman.

Comments

agnes said…
so funny -loved your adventures in fly-fishing in the age of instagram piece on vogue.com! emoji thumbs way up!
Claire said…
:) smiling Lizzie about how zen fly-fishing responds to the demands of instagram. Sorry to hear that your husband became unwell but those hats sure look good.
noellecaw said…
Yay tenkara!
Angelica Tynan said…
... 'a Van Morrison song mating with a J.R.R. Tolkien book.'

Annnd coffee, everywhere.
Lizzie said…
@Angelica

Hahahahaha, that was my favorite line!
Aya said…
This is why I love you. Where else do my various interests intersect, as they do so seamlessly on your blog? Tenkara, Vogue, Patagonia, sarcasm, great hats. It's all here.
PS--Are those the pale yellow Barely Baggies? I've been eyeing those.
Lizzie said…
@Aya

Hahaha, I love it!

Yes, they are the Patagonia Barely Baggies. I'm a huge fan. They're really comfortable.
Squab said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Squab said…
You fishin with the 8 foot rod?
ramontrane said…
Try Patagonia Tenkara road. I prefer better TenkaraUSA rods.
babs said…
I have not had so much fun as I have fishing tenkara rods, they are simply a blast. The Dragontail Tenkara rods are much cheaper and nicer to cast than Patagonia Tenkara rods, there are a few other brands I would choose over Patagonia as well. I really like Dragontail's furled line that comes in the package as well, simple to set up and casts with ease.
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Sam said…
This is very instructive! Thanks for sharing this. What fly rod is best a 50 lbs. fish though. I'm still a rookie you know.

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