Working on more Tenkara Gadgets

[Tea_and_Tenkara (Guenther)]

I just wanted to share an update on projects I’ve been working on over the winter. I actually mentioned these at the end of this thread about designing a Tenkara spool from last summer.

Fly Box
This fly box magnetically clips to the Tea & Trout line spools. It holds 16 flies, accepting hooks from size 20 to 8.

Figure [1] Fly box and spools apart.

Figure [2] Fly box and spools stacked.

Figure [3] Looking into the fly box.

Figure [4] The fly box on the rod mount.

While I’m happy with how it holds flies, there’s still some work to do. Visually, I think the outside needs a different texture, so I have a different shell in the works. Functionally, I don’t like the big holes in the lid, so I think having a spool for a lid is bad. Also, I’m not a fan of having loose parts when I’m on the water, so I’m working on a leash/hinge for the lid.

Level line spools
The other project is a thinner version of the line spools. The original spools are a bit too tall if your only using level line.

Figure [5] Stack of standard spools (left) and thin spools (right).

Figure [6] Comparing thickness of one standard spool (left) to two thin spools (right)

It’s challenging to miniaturize an already compact design, and the results have been underwhelming. I’m thinking of ditching the mini spool approach. My next attempt at a level line spool will be a standard spool that’s modified to accept two lines. There’d be a divider in the middle of the arbor, and it would have the “top” geometry on the bottom too.

I’m still experimenting with these and would be happy to get some feedback/suggestions.