Our Mission
Fly angling has a long tradition of fine handcrafted tackle. Many of today's anglers continue to seek out tackle that represents both the peak of craftsmanship and performance.
Japan is renowned for the highest quality in handcrafting. It is less well known for the vibrant fly fishing culture that exists there.
Many Japanese artisans have combined their passion for fly fishing, with their traditional and modern craft skills to produce exquisite fly fishing tackle. Many of these artisans live in rural Japan. This, combined with the language barrier means that the wider angling community around the world has not had the opportunity to access the work of these craftspeople.
Our mission is to bring Japan's finest tackle artisans to the world in one common site.
Japan is renowned for the highest quality in handcrafting. It is less well known for the vibrant fly fishing culture that exists there.
Many Japanese artisans have combined their passion for fly fishing, with their traditional and modern craft skills to produce exquisite fly fishing tackle. Many of these artisans live in rural Japan. This, combined with the language barrier means that the wider angling community around the world has not had the opportunity to access the work of these craftspeople.
Our mission is to bring Japan's finest tackle artisans to the world in one common site.
About Us
Tomonori "Bill" Higashi and Nick Taransky's passion is fly fishing. We spend a lot of time in the field. When we aren't fishing, we are thinking about fly fishing, fly casting and fly tackle.
Bill is based in Japan, while Nick is from Australia, and in the process of moving to New Zealand. We both travel widely to pursue our fly fishing dreams and goals.
Between us we have extensive experience with both contemporary rodmakers as well as past masters. Bill is an extensive collector of classic tackle, and Nick has over 15 years experience as a full-time rodmaker.
The artisans featured at Fly Fish Craft Japan have have been chosen because of our long association with them, both on a personal level as well as using their handcrafted tackle.
We are both heavily involved in the FFI, educating and certifying other casters. As accredited casters, we have a intimate knowledge of casting, vital to understanding rod design and performance.
Our goal is to help people choose the best rods and tackle to suit them, through consultation and dialogue, rather than make quick sales.
Bill is based in Japan, while Nick is from Australia, and in the process of moving to New Zealand. We both travel widely to pursue our fly fishing dreams and goals.
Between us we have extensive experience with both contemporary rodmakers as well as past masters. Bill is an extensive collector of classic tackle, and Nick has over 15 years experience as a full-time rodmaker.
The artisans featured at Fly Fish Craft Japan have have been chosen because of our long association with them, both on a personal level as well as using their handcrafted tackle.
We are both heavily involved in the FFI, educating and certifying other casters. As accredited casters, we have a intimate knowledge of casting, vital to understanding rod design and performance.
Our goal is to help people choose the best rods and tackle to suit them, through consultation and dialogue, rather than make quick sales.
Tomonori Higashi is a lifelong angler. He picked up a fly rod when he was 12 years old in 1977, and it changed his life. He is very active as a fly casting instructor and editor/writer/translator. He is sought after as the niche translator of angling books and videos into Japanese, and his work includes titles such as "Essence of Fly Casting" (Krieger), Spey Casting (Gawesworth), LL Bean Handbook of Fly Fishing (Whitlock), The Fly Tier's Benchside Reference (Leeson and Schollmeyer), Trout Bum (Gierach), Simple Fly Fishing (Chouinard et al.), and Learning from the Water (Harrop).
His first decent rod was a Pezon & Michel Parabolic Special, and it opened his eyes to quality tackle. "It was very different from the Shakespeare glass rod that I bought for $30, and I was shocked." Since then he has been chasing the elusive feel of good rods.
Over the years he made friends with a lot of "first generation" icons of American fly fishing and rodbuilding, making him a unique archive of information. He is the first person to become a Master Fly Casting Instructor in Asia Pacific, and was the recipient of 2017 FFI Mel Krieger Award for his contribution to fly casting instruction. The rod he treasures most is "Well, I cannot pick one because I need every one of them!" He rides a Ducati.
Nick Taransky has been a full time bamboo rodmaker in Australia since 2004. He also teaches bamboo rodmaking, and has helped close to 40 people become bamboo rodmakers.
He is an FFI Certified Casting Instructor, and passed his instructors exam using a bamboo rod.
He is a widely published author and has written articles on bamboo and fly fishing for magazines including Australian Flyfisher, Flylife, Flystream, New Zealand Troutfisher, The Drake, South African Flyfisher and Flyfisher Japan.
His passion is sight fishing for wild trout in his home waters in Australia and New Zealand, but has fished bamboo rods across the world in fresh and salt water, including the the Australian tropics, the USA, Canada, Kiribati and of course, Japan.
Nick's obsession for Japanese fly tackle craft came from his motivation to develop his own rodmaking. This has lead to several visits to Japan, as well as learning the Japanese language. He has been overwhelmed by the quality and passion of Japanese fly tackle artisans, and he has a deep desire to make these incredible craftspeople and their work to the rest of the world.
