The Magnificent Moose



Moose Antler Tenkara Line Holder

The moose is one of my favorite animals.  I have only seen one in the wild once but it left a lasting impression on me.  The sheer size and power of the moose is awesome and I have always been fascinated by it.  I have found it's hair useful in tying a number of fly tying patterns.  But long before I became obsessed with tenkara fly fishing and fly tying I had a number of other hobbies.  Among these hobbies were flintknapping (making stone arrowheads using traditional techniques), scrimshaw (using 20,000 year old mammoth ivory), and antler carving.  I especially loved carving with moose antler because of beauty and structural characteristics of it (the biology of antlers is a fascinating subject all by itself).  I have pretty much dropped these other hobbies in favor of fly tying and fishing.  However, I still have some moose antler and ivory left over and am always trying to find a use for them.  Lately, I have been playing around with the idea of creating some tenkara line holders.  Even though tenkara anglers do not use reels there is still a need for line management, specifically line storage.  So I thought why not try and create a line holder with one of my favorite materials.



Moose Antler Line Holder with a Royal Sakasa Kebari and TenkaraBum Hi-Vis Level Line

I think it came out OK.  I tried to add a few features to make it useful.  For example I added a little "nub" to hold the loop of fly line that attaches to the lillian on a tenkara rod.  There is also a hole to hold the fly.  The only drawback to it is it's size.  It's only about 2.25 inches in diameter, which is a little on the small side.  The problem is trying to find a slice of antler from the stem that has a large diameter but at the same time is made of dense and not spongy bone.



A "Loaded" Line Holder

In the end, whether it's used or not there is certain sense of satisfaction in creating your own fishing equipment.  I have definitely derived a lot of joy from tying my own flies.  I think I could get into making more than just flies.  Now if I could only find a good sized piece of that mammoth I have somewhere.  A 20,000 year old line holder would be really cool!