Tenkara Fishing...thoughts?

[Fly Guy Dave]

I'm rather intrigued by Tenkara fly fishing and would really like some input from those of you that have tried it or do it currently. I did a search for this subject on the board here and only had two results, both from a ways back. One was a Shimano video shot in Canada with a guy Tenkara fishing for steelhead, but it was all in Japanese, a language I unfortunately don't understand. I also went to the Tenkara website and they have two videos, but one is of a guy lighting a fire, so not too useful.

I like the idea of no reel or guides on the rod, but how difficult is it to land a decent sized fish? Can you use traditional flies or do you have to use the Tenkara kind? I can see dapping with dry flies and high sticking a riffle with nymphs, but what about streamers?

Any insight, observations, experiences, etc. are most welcome.

Thanks!

--F.G. Dave

[Ralph]

Tenkara is a lot of fun. It can also be an incredibly effective way to catch fish. It is NOT dapping. You cast tight loops and can put the fly way under over hanging vegetation, into teacup sized pockets, and lift the leader over mixed currents. With Tenkara you can fish water that would be impossible to fish any other way.

On the other hand you are certainly handicapped by not having a reel full of line. The limitations drives you toward a higher level of efficiency.

Tenkara forces you to dissect the river in ways you never would have otherwise. After fishing Tenkara, I certainly look at the water from a different perspective than ever before. In the past 18 months of fishing Tenkara my trad approach has evolved more than it has in the past 10 years. Highly recommended.

[Scott V]

I've tried it and really like it. It is not for everywhere. I mainly want one for backpacking, so if you pass a stream it takes seconds to set up without having to take off your pack.

[jburge]

Been doing it now for about 2 years. Ralph is right. It is not dapping. Scott is right. It is not for every situation. However, I've found that for ultralight utility and backpacking in far away places with small little streams, it's great. And no, you don't have to use tenkara flies. Matter of fact, I probably fished it for a year or so with traditional western flies (elk hair caddis, adams, soft hackles, etc.) before I ever tried a conventional reverse hackle tenkara fly. They all work. The beauty of it is, and Ralph summed it up, you can fish water that would be impossible to fish any other way. It's absolutely delightful in the Golden Trout Wilderness, and I've even been able to score some Kern River rainbows on tenkara. Would I dare go for a lower Sac big 'bow, probably not. But keeping the weight down in my backpack and hitting some high alpine creeks and streams, absolutely. Check here for more videos:

http://www.tenkarausa.com/video.php

Good luck!

John

[Siskiyoublues]

are there any viable options for less $$ then tenkarausa?

[Cmcculloch]

On Fly Anglers Online bulletin board there is a section devoted to Tenkara fishing. http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/f...enkara-Fishing

[JasonB]

I don't have a lot to add, but I was fortunate to get exposed to Tenkara fishing from Daniel at Tenkara-USA and must say that I (and others present) were extremely impressed. As Ralph said it is WAY more than dapping, in fact the presentation style (styles) was one of the more interesting aspects to me. While you certainly could do some really sweet drag free drifts, much more so than with a shorter rod, most of the time it seemed that giving some "life" to the fly was the way to go. According to Daniel, the philosophy of Tenkara flies and Tenkara fishing isn't so much trying to achieve a perfect "match the hatch" imitation as much as producing an appealing lifelike presentation of something buggy enough to draw interest.

As others said you can use any types of flies you wish, as long as you don't mind being a "non traditional" type; lots and lots of ways to catch fish with a Tenkara rod. As for big fish and streamers, I am not so sure about how well they would work for that as I didn't really get to see that put into action. I did see Daniel land about a 17-18" rainbow pretty much about the same as any other skilled angler would, but it seems there would be a point where it would start getting pretty tough. The final landing process that I saw involved grabbing the line and doing a hand over hand retrieve (maybe there is another way, but this looked fine for small to mid size fish and iffy for really big ones). Again these are just surface level observations from one afternoon with Daniel, so take with a grain of salt...

Watching him work some pockets on the far side of a stream with strong and complex currents was pretty convincing. Water that most of would have eyed but never tried to fish with our "western gear". There was one other thing I kind of liked, which was that for an entry level angler it seems to be a lot more simplistic. While the intricacies of possible techniques seemed like it could keep one hungry to learn more for a lifetime, it doesn't take a lot of skill to learn enough to get the fly out in some productive water and begin fishing. If I had a small bit of cash on hand right now I'd probably have one of his rods already, instead I got some fool notion to take up fly tying... and well there went all my "extra" cash.

I'd recommend at least contacting Tenkara usa for some info. Daniel is a super nice guy and really enthusiastic, and informative about this style of fishing.
JB

[Terry Imai]

Daniel from Tenkara came up to my fishing club on a few times and I could see how he works his magic. Basically, it is a telescoping rod up to 14' long depending upon the rod model. The nominal investment is only for the rod because no reel is required and the rods are reasonable when compared against regular fly rods. While at my club's property, he used a #12-14 longer hackle bug that was a cross between a wet hackle and emerger. He caught a few more fish than the guys around him using conventional fly equipment. Since I wasn't fishing, I can state that I was just an observer and not in "competition" with him fishing.

I don't believe Tenkara is an end all for all types of fishing but just think of it as another "arrow" for your quiver. He has fished with my writing hero, John Gerach, and told me that Gerach uses for some of those nice Colorado mountain streams.

[Fly Guy Dave]

As I've come to expect here: a whole lot of good input, insights, links, experiences and information. All of it very useful.

Thank you all.

--F.G. Dave

[Mike Churchill]

Last October I helped out at a Wounded Warriors event at which Daniel from Tenkara USA came and did a seminar for the vets and the volunteer guides, and then I spent several hours on the water with a mildly disabled combat vet/newbie flyfisher guiding him while he used the Tenkara rod. I also spent a little time flogging the water with the Tenkara rod myself and had the opportunity to discuss it with Daniel and a number of experienced Tenkara fishermen around the fire that evening.

From that limited experience, I can say that it is a neat--and very different--way to fish streams. The vet I was guiding had some impairment in his ability to coordinate the use of his hands due to a traumatic brain injury, and he found Tenkara a much more enjoyable way to fish because he didn't have to struggle with controlling the line with his other hand. For its simplicity, I think it is probably quicker and easier for a newbie to start casting and catching fish with a Tenkara rod than with a regular fly rod. (At least on a stream.)

Around the fire, I expressed some doubt about its utility for fishing lakes. One of the other guys there said he carries only a Tenkara rod when he backpacks and that he does quite well on high country lakes with it.

Mike