Chris Stewart is know as the Tenkara Bum, he got in to fishing Tenkara by accident by way of English Spider patterns. In researching North Country soft hackle patterns he was drawn to there simplicity and beauty. During that research he came across David Webster's book, The Angler and the Loop Rod which talked about using a long rod, no reel and a horsehair line tied to the rod tip. He also came across a mention of Tenkara (Japanese Fly Fishing), which is very similar to angling with a loop rod. Those of you who read the blog knows that in the The Compleat Angler, Piscator used only a rod and line to catch the first fish. (Diving into Tenkara)
Chris experimented with crappie rods, because at the time Tenkara rods were not available in the U.S., in 2008 when he got his first Tenkara rod. At the time information on Tenkara was hard to come by and most of it was in Japanese. Chris goal in starting Tenkara Bum is to provide the information he wish he had when he was started out.
He's a featured tier in “Tying Tenkara Flies" which is put out by Learing Tenkara.
Chris goes on spreading the word of Tenkara through his blog Tenkara Bum, where shares information on all things Tenkara, from rod reviews, how to ties traditional Tenkara flies, sharing Tenkara stories and sell everything you would need to get in to Tenkara fly fishing.
Here Chris ties the Takayama Sakasa Kebari, a legendary sakasa kebari originating in the Takayama region of Japan. I hope you enjoy the video, filmed at the 2012 International Fly Tying Symposium.