What is tenekra fishing

[CM_Stewart 0]

Ty Flyer, since you asked a serious question, you deserve a serious answer. Tenkara is fly fishing with a long rod and very light line tied to the rod tip, the COMBINATION of the long rod and light line allow you to keep all or most of the line off the water, so it is not subject to drag of conflicting currents. You can thus achieve better presentations and will probably catch more fish (although the casting distance is limited, so you will be forced to fish within about 20' of where you are standing).

 

The comparison with a cane pole is only valid if you agree that a Sage or Winston is a cane pole with guides and a reel seat. No one seems to make that comparison, but a tenkara rod has a LOT more in common with a graphite fly rod than it does with a cane pole.

 

The rods are graphite and weigh a couple ounces, collapse down to 20-24" for convenient travel or for walking along streamside trails. They are generally 10-14' in length, but you can find both shorter and longer ones. The line is essentially 12-16# test fluorocarbon, dyed to make it visible so you can watch the line for indications of a strike. Some people use furled lines, which are the same as furled fly fishing leaders, only longer.

 

The fishing is very similar to fly fishing with rod and reel, except you won't have to mend your line, your line never gets tangled around your feet (because you don't strip it in), you never have to worry about getting the fish "onto the reel" and you never have to regain line from a fish that runs 50 yards downstream. Your line is always the same length, so your casts become very accurate without all that false casting to find the right distance. Your line is not on the water so line splash or lining fish is no longer an issue.

 

Because of the length of the rod, the fish has a lot of leverage, so even smaller fish put up a good fight. With a larger fish, the fight is shorter than with a fly rod (either the fish breaks you off right away or you land it quickly), and you can put just as much pressure on a fish with a tenkara rod as you can with a fly rod.

 

If you fish for bonehead, or steelhead or marlin, it's not for you. If you fish for the size trout that the average guy actually catches, or panfish, or bass, it very well could be. Don't let the guys who have never tried it turn you away.

 

It's not a religion, it's just another way to fish that some people find very enjoyable. It makes no sense that so many people seem to want to make fun of it. After all, it is the way Dame Juliana and Izaak Walton fished. Fly fishing with the line tied to the rod tip is thousands of years old. Fly reels are hundreds of years old.

[agn54 0]

CM, when I compared it to a cane pole I wasn't doing so disparagingly nor was I comparing the make up of the rods, but how they are rigged. Cane poles (and graphite equivalents including tuna flippers) are the only other types of rods I know of that are rigged by tying the line to the tips.

 

I have a question on the flies. Why are they usually tied with the hackle reversed? Is that just a traditional thing from Japan or does it have to do with the technique used to fish them?

[mikechell 0]

CM_Stewart ... I do not make fun of the style of fishing. I make fun of the pretentious nature of those who swear by it. Just because the pole is thinner than the standard cane pole, doesn't change the fact that fishing with it is still just like a cane pole. And yes "a Sage or Winston is a cane pole with guides and a reel seat" is a valid statement. Any fishing pole could be used for any other kind of fishing in the right hands. I've put a fly reel on a spinning rod before.

 

Believe me, I am interested in Tenkara fishing ... if the poles were priced like what they are, thin cane poles. I have two "cane poles" that are collapsible, one is fiber glass, the other is graphite. I use them with lures or flies, not live bait. They are heavy, and I'd love to try one of those rods ... but I AIN'T spending that much money on a ... cane pole.

 

Besides, it's fun to see the angry responses from the Tenkara Religious Fanatics.

[SilverCreek 0]

Tenkara guys have a sense of humor..... Hank Patterson style

 

[mikechell 0]

That's the video from post #3. Funny stuff.

[SilverCreek 0]

Sorry for the repost. Didn't notice it was already posted.

[DavidHE 0]

agn54- Reverse hackle flies are not a requirement for tenkara. In researching flies (kebari) used in Japan, both now and traditionally, the majority appear to not be reverse hackle. They resemble flies used in other parts of the world, with slight variations. There are dry flies, soft hackle, palmered, bead head, and bugger type kebari. Many traditional kebari are unimpressive, to the fishermans eye at least, they were developed by commercial fisherman who needed to catch fish. I am not an expert or authority on kebari or tenkara, just curious and enjoy learning. The reverse hackle does provide good movement when fished in moving water and/ or combined with twitching techniques. Techniques that could be employed fishing any rod, but lend themselves particularly well to the characteristics of tenkara rods. The reverse hackle flies are different than those developed in other parts of the world. Because of this I think it is used as an image to set tenkara apart. Like an emblem, crest, shield, or insignia. Something instantly recognizable and identifiable as tenkara.

 

I purchased a tenkara rod to start my kids fly fishing. It looked like a great "beginners rod". Figured I should try it out, get the feel, so I could best instruct them. Hooking my first fish on that rod, light weight and extremely flexible, I was amazed. No matter what fish I caught, bring it in was a blast. The sensitivity is unbelievable.

I fish almost exclusively with a tenkara rod now. Where I live in the Sierra Nevadas it is a great tool and well matched to water, fish, and terrain I frequent. As I continue to push, experiment, learn new techniques, and become more proficient with tenkara rods I am only more impressed.

 

These rods work for me where I fish. I know they are not for everyone or every situation. I brought one on a family trip to the Florida Keys. It never left its case. I never saw an opportunity where it seemed like the best option. We cruised around the ocean in our boat and I used a spin rod and reel for the week.

[williamhj 0]

People who make a "religion" out of it are over the top as are people who do so with bamboo fly rods or Winston or whatever else people get crazy about in this hobby. I get the reference to the "cane pole" in so far as it is something long with a line that ends in a hook, though those cane poles things couldn't cast a delicate line worth anything. The occasional time I use my tenkara rod I'm always amazed how well it casts. Fun way to fish? Yes. Religion? No. Like fishing the cane pole i got at the hardware store? No way.

[CM_Stewart 0]

DavidHE Is correct. There are many traditional tenkara patterns in Japan, and probably more than half of them do not have reverse hackles. That said, I believe most of the tenkara flies in common use are reverse hackled patterns. I also believe the reverse hackle fly was promoted in the West as the iconic tenkara fly in part because it was so different than western patterns and thus exotic.

 

Why the hackle is reversed is a mystery. The hackle does open up rather than close down when the fly is pulsed, but in tenkara fishing the fly isn't always pulsed. Northern Italian soft hackles also have reversed hackles, and what I have heard regarding those flies is that they are well suited to the faster currents of high gradient mountain streams - which would be very similar to the streams on which tenkara was developed in Japan. In fact, the traditional Italian fly fishing style - pesca mosca Valsesiana - is quite similar to tenkara.

[Tailing looper 0]

I was interested in hearing John Geirach's opinion of it... he tried it for a whole summer to be sure and give it a fair test.

Here's the youtube link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE5hQg6FYIU

 

 

Tight lines,

Bob

[JSzymczyk 0]

I never knew I was doing something similar, pocket water fishing with a 9' 4wt rod in the mid 90's... No need for the reel, just enough line to hold it out away from you or "archer" the fly in its intended direction...

 

I hear you...

 

it's the same with fly fishing for carp, which we did as kids all through the hot summer when the water was too warm for good smallmouth and trout fishing. We just did it because it was there, and still to us just something fun, but "oh, another carp"... pretty much on the same level as shooting them with a bow, but it at least taught us how to fight heavy fish on fly tackle. "Golden Bonefish" and all that hoopla is a bunch of crap.

[JSzymczyk 0]

CM_Stewart ... I do not make fun of the style of fishing. I make fun of the pretentious nature of those who swear by it.

 

 

 

Besides, it's fun to see the angry responses from the Tenkara Religious Fanatics.

 

Amen, Bro!

[JSzymczyk 0]

So the bottom line, really, is that a regular fly rod can do all that a tenkara rod can do, plus a whole bunch more.

 

If you're that good, and that specialized, that it makes sense to you to spend hundreds of $$$ on a system like that, then as Briscoe Darling would say, "more power to ya."

 

As I've said, I was exposed to the style of fishing where it actually came from, and it's fine, nothing WRONG with it but there are limitations on both extremes-- very close in, and also a mediocre cast away. I've caught a whole bunch of trout, panfish, bass, pike, and other fish with only a few feet of leader outside the tip of my fly rod. A reel and guides have never -and I very rarely use that word- gotten in the way of me catching little fish, but have saved me a few times on big fish---- that is somehow attached to the dishonest philosophical or religious attitude a lot of tenkara "converts" seem to go on about. With a cane pole at least, I've seen folks down south just throw the whole rig in the lake after hooking a big bass, and letting that fish tow the pole around and get tired before they grab it back out of the water and land the fish.... I seriously doubt any tenkara disciples would do that.

 

When I started reading articles contrasting tenkara to "WESTERN" fly fishing in a condescending tone, written by blue-eyed, pale boys who never set foot outside their tourist infested, high-rent little enclaves in Colorado or Montana, I knew it was something I could not embrace.

[RenaissanceRedneck 0]

Hello there! I'm new to the forum; have spent a bunch of time here lately researching flies for my first SURF FISHING trip next month.

 

I couldn't help but respond to the tenkara thread. I'm primarily a trout fly fisher of 25+ years, frequenting central Sierra Nevada streams and rivers. I spend a lot of time hiking to my fishing water, often through terrain that has no trails; only thick brush and boulders. And often, the water itself is littered with boulders and overgrown foliage. Flyfishing this water, and getting to the water, and moving from spot to spot, all present a variety of logistic problems for the "traditional" Western flyfisher. So about a month ago, I got a tenkara rod, and have been fishing with it exclusively since.

 

For me, tenkara is not "religion", nor do I adhere to some of the conventions of the sport as practiced in Japan. Rather, tenkara is just another way to fish, with its attendant advantages and disadvantages, as is true of any other mode of angling. AND, importantly, tenkara fishing IS FLY FISHING; it only uses different equipment than we are used to.

 

The majority of tenkara fishermen I have talked with do not come to the sport with a zealous holier-than-thou attitude; indeed, they were (and continue to be) "traditional" fly fishers as well. Like myself, they apply tenkara to solve a specific set of problems when fly fishing their chosen waters. In fact, I find tenkara fishers tend to be less dogmatically attached to their sport than fly fishers in general. (Indeed us fly fishers have a tendency to be labeled "elitists" by some spin casters and bait fishermen).

 

I fish my waters with tenkara for one simple reason; it is SUPERIOR to "traditional" Western gear in a variety of ways:

 

1) I can hike with my rod fully-rigged, and collapsed to less than 24". It's MUCH easier to move around with my collapsed rig than with a traditional rig. And when I get to my location, I'm ready to fish in no time.

 

2) I can get gentle, covert presentations that I can only dream of with my "traditional" gear. I can fish flat water much more stealthily and effectively with tenkara.

 

3) There is no need to manipulate line during drifts; my line is usually completely off the water. Natural drift is a breeze with tenkara.

 

4) I spend less time worrying about structure behind me during my back-cast, and I spent less time tangled in the trees.

 

Those are the main reasons I like it. There are disadvantages too, but for me, the advantages outweigh them, giving the nod to tenkara (at least in my specific circumstances). I will use it more than "traditional" rods for a long time, I think.

 

BTW, for my surf fishing trip, tenkara is decidedly horrible for the task! I'll be using my "traditional" stuff there!!!

 

Cheers!

[artimus001 0]

i get it. it's one handed fly fishing for fishers that drink starbucks and use i-thingies.

 

all joking aside; a local shop owner was nailing spawning carp this spring using a tenekra set up.