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Tenkara? Really?
- Thread starter CTobias
- Start date
Trout Nazi
And...Boom goes the dynamite.
And.... here we go! This is going to be good.
danme
Cast Drys over them Enough They Will Rise
I agree and what happens if you hook a BIG TROUT -- How do u land it with no reel and the length of those rods with the leader must make it impossibe
Rusty Spinner
Active member
Weirdo here. If by "fad" you mean a 400 year old tradition, then yes it's a fad
Tenkara is an absolute blast. You are so directly connected to the fish in ways that a reel doesn't give you that it's a whole new experience. Landing fish is different as is fighting them, but not so much that it doesn't seem like second nature to an angler. It very well may wind up as a passing fad here in the US which time will tell, but I enjoy it sometimes over "normal" rod and reel fishing. I can say a couple of things for it that regular fly fishing doesn't have. Top end rods are under $200 (plus no need for a reel on top of that) and it breaks down telescopically into a rod only 15" long, so you can stick it in your pocket or small backpack while hiking. And most Tenkara anglers keep their fly selections very basic, so no need for a vest or chest pack.
For smaller streams, this minimalist style appeals to many fly anglers. I know it does for me.
Tenkara is an absolute blast. You are so directly connected to the fish in ways that a reel doesn't give you that it's a whole new experience. Landing fish is different as is fighting them, but not so much that it doesn't seem like second nature to an angler. It very well may wind up as a passing fad here in the US which time will tell, but I enjoy it sometimes over "normal" rod and reel fishing. I can say a couple of things for it that regular fly fishing doesn't have. Top end rods are under $200 (plus no need for a reel on top of that) and it breaks down telescopically into a rod only 15" long, so you can stick it in your pocket or small backpack while hiking. And most Tenkara anglers keep their fly selections very basic, so no need for a vest or chest pack.
For smaller streams, this minimalist style appeals to many fly anglers. I know it does for me.
CTobias
Professional BS'r
It's a fad here in the US...I'll let the people who started the tradition keep it.
There are a lot of traditions still used today that people don't like to talk about..well some do....Honor killings in Muslim culture are still cool. That is of course unless you're on the receiving end. Then I guess it kinda sucks.
I'll stick to my rods with reels. After all, I think it's fair to say that the tradition of bamboo rods was really started here in America.
What is the history of Tenkara? Started in Japan? Gotta be some where Asian with a name like Tenakara.
There are a lot of traditions still used today that people don't like to talk about..well some do....Honor killings in Muslim culture are still cool. That is of course unless you're on the receiving end. Then I guess it kinda sucks.
I'll stick to my rods with reels. After all, I think it's fair to say that the tradition of bamboo rods was really started here in America.
What is the history of Tenkara? Started in Japan? Gotta be some where Asian with a name like Tenakara.
Trout Guy
Brookie's or Bust!
Yes its origin is in Japan, you have a very noodley rod thats very long. You fight the fish with the rod instead of a reel.
Ive never owned one, nor do i plan on buying one
The Tenkara USA guy told me tenkara is even an oddball sport in Japan. However, it is fun some days - other days you get a good lesson in why reels were invented.
I've liked simple fixed line techniques for a long time. It is fun to simply strip down fishing to a stick, a line, and a hook/fly. Plus not having a reel or guides is great when it is below freezing.
Fish heads have refined simple pole fishing to suit local conditions all over the globe. I started by picking up crappie fishing down South. Yes it can be simple, but the pros get the wrinkles down and catch 10X what the average guy does. Met English match fishing guys in Illinios who did that well with river smallies. Those techniques use carefully shotted bobbers kind of like center pinning without the reel. Match rods cost big bucks, but the average guy version is the roach pole. But these handle carp and barbel which a re tough fish. Tenkara rods are very, very soft and are meant to toss unweighted soft hackles and you can't pick up a 6" trout out of the water. It is fly fishing sine you do throw the fly with the line. Crappie poles have a lot more beef - they are designed to pull slabs out of the weeds. BTW, crappie poles combined with English match fishing techniques are almost unfair in trout fishing and if you want to use indicators (bobbers) with nymphs and shot a crappie pole is a better option then tenkara IMHO - and it will only cost $10 to $20. There are fixed line pole setups for steelhead, carp, and saltwater where the fish are pretty hard fighting - but they are a far cry from tenkara even though they are a pole and a line.
I have used crappie poles alot and tenkara a little at the Pequest and have had no problems landing the trout there. I've talked to Pacific NW steelheaders who laughed when a Japanese guy can over with a simple rod for wild steelhead. But in the end he landed about 100% of his fish and the fly guys were about 50% so they had to eat a little crow. But once again, a tenkara rod is specialized to toss unweighted wet flies in small streams and the rods for big fish are a different thing altogether.
I've liked simple fixed line techniques for a long time. It is fun to simply strip down fishing to a stick, a line, and a hook/fly. Plus not having a reel or guides is great when it is below freezing.
Fish heads have refined simple pole fishing to suit local conditions all over the globe. I started by picking up crappie fishing down South. Yes it can be simple, but the pros get the wrinkles down and catch 10X what the average guy does. Met English match fishing guys in Illinios who did that well with river smallies. Those techniques use carefully shotted bobbers kind of like center pinning without the reel. Match rods cost big bucks, but the average guy version is the roach pole. But these handle carp and barbel which a re tough fish. Tenkara rods are very, very soft and are meant to toss unweighted soft hackles and you can't pick up a 6" trout out of the water. It is fly fishing sine you do throw the fly with the line. Crappie poles have a lot more beef - they are designed to pull slabs out of the weeds. BTW, crappie poles combined with English match fishing techniques are almost unfair in trout fishing and if you want to use indicators (bobbers) with nymphs and shot a crappie pole is a better option then tenkara IMHO - and it will only cost $10 to $20. There are fixed line pole setups for steelhead, carp, and saltwater where the fish are pretty hard fighting - but they are a far cry from tenkara even though they are a pole and a line.
I have used crappie poles alot and tenkara a little at the Pequest and have had no problems landing the trout there. I've talked to Pacific NW steelheaders who laughed when a Japanese guy can over with a simple rod for wild steelhead. But in the end he landed about 100% of his fish and the fly guys were about 50% so they had to eat a little crow. But once again, a tenkara rod is specialized to toss unweighted wet flies in small streams and the rods for big fish are a different thing altogether.
All pole systems are not the same. Tenkara is fly fishing - dapping is a bitch with a tenkara rod since it is so soft. However, dapping is a fine sport with an Irish dapping rod or a crappie pole. Plenty of tricks in dapping. Can just drop a fly straight over the bank, but an experienced dapper can make a fly dance and blowline fishing is another fine art. Fixed pole fishing is like a lot of simple things. Like hitting a baseball, jumping, throwing a frisbee. Not much equipment and a beginner can have fun, but one can refine the techniques and an experienced person can do amazing things and turn it into an art form. A kid with a canepole and a competition match fisherman are sort of doing the same thing - but the results are a whole lot different.
However, I think tenkara is a fad too. Sure some people will stick with it, but I don't see a future where most people have a tenkara rod.
However, I think tenkara is a fad too. Sure some people will stick with it, but I don't see a future where most people have a tenkara rod.
Rusty Spinner
Active member
It's a longer cast than you might imagine. I cast my tenkara rod about as far as I would my 3, 4 or 5 weights here in NJ. You can also use it like you would high stick nymphing. As JeffK said, the only difference is that you fight the fish off the soft rod and not by letting line run off the reel or through your fingers. To each his own. I know I enjoy it at times.
I think in any outdoors pursuit there will be a percentage of those enthusiasts that enjoy a minimalistic aspect to their sport and I see this as much the same. There will be some fad aspects, and then it will settle down to stay at some % lower than it will hit at its peak. Fighting a decent fish is very exciting and some of these gurus land wild steelhead in the Pacific northwest on 20' rods which is amazing to watch! Google it sometime...
Barleywine
Member
Chalk up another weirdo here. I got a Fountainhead Stonefly 360 Tenkara rod in early December. Only cost $75, so not a big investment compared with some of the more pricey Tenkara rods now available. I've used it 4 times so far. Caught some wild browns up to 12" long in a very difficult wild brown trout stream the first time out. My first few casts were comical. I kept reaching up with my left hand to grab the line that is normally coming from the reel. The long rod (this one's a 12 footer) let's you dead drift flies in tight little pockets, and that's were most of the trout were located. Outside of the fact that you don't have a reel, the long rod nymphing seems a lot like the popular Euro techniques where extra-long rods are encouraged. Does it sometimes get caught up in trees overhead? Yes it does, but much less as you gain awareness of the longer rod. Did I lose fish because I had no reel? I don't think so. Landed a much greater percentage of hooked fish than usual; although I'll admit that 4 outings is a small sample. As Rusty has said, it's a blast. I like the fact that it easily breaks down to 20 inches, and I can just stick it in a small pack and hike up a stream.
Tenkara hasn't replaced traditional fly fishing for me. It's just another option for certain places and certain times. Part of the fun of hooking larger fish on big waters is having the reel scream as the fish takes line. I don't want to replace that experience with chasing after the fish. I still use my bamboo rod for most of my fishing, but the Tenkara will make some appearances as long as it continues to be fun.
Tenkara hasn't replaced traditional fly fishing for me. It's just another option for certain places and certain times. Part of the fun of hooking larger fish on big waters is having the reel scream as the fish takes line. I don't want to replace that experience with chasing after the fish. I still use my bamboo rod for most of my fishing, but the Tenkara will make some appearances as long as it continues to be fun.
D'ANGLER
Born to fish....forced to work!
Really!Got interested in Tenkara since seeing a guy fighting & landing a Steelhead on Youtube 2 years ago - looked crazy. I just picked up a 13' 7:3 Fountainhead for eighty dollars. No need to spend big bucks to see if it's for you, some models start at $50. Fished it yesterday for first time on a wild trout stream to get a mixed bag of fish. One Brookie, 3 types of pan fish & lots of chubs - had a blast on a reversed hackle fly that I tied myself. I plan on fishing it more often the next few day's. You can present drag free dry fly casts @ 30 feet & high stick nymph too. Its a more simplistic form of fly fishing without all the cumbersome equipment. Is it a fad? (remember what they said about centerpinning), don't think so - but it sure is fun.....Purists beware!
I have used Tenkara on the Beaverkill, East Branch, Madison, Gibbon, Slough Creek and many small streams. The largest fish landed was a 24" Bow on the Madison. The smallest was a 3in Brookie on a Catskill Brookie stream. It may think it's fad but it is a hell of a blast to fish. I fish drys, s/h's and nymphs with it. For pocket water there is nothing better.
Fad, maybe so but then I would say fishing with glass was a fad also. Then grafite now it's carbon fiber. Oh wait a minuet that's what Tenkara rods are made of.
On other thing the Italian's use the same principle in there old Fly fishing.
So you nay sayers also would put down the use of a loop rod with horse hair line. Some of you should do a little research on the history of fly fishing around the world before you get you silk panty's in a wad.
Fad, maybe so but then I would say fishing with glass was a fad also. Then grafite now it's carbon fiber. Oh wait a minuet that's what Tenkara rods are made of.
On other thing the Italian's use the same principle in there old Fly fishing.
So you nay sayers also would put down the use of a loop rod with horse hair line. Some of you should do a little research on the history of fly fishing around the world before you get you silk panty's in a wad.
trico mike
make mine wild
How much line do you use on these rods,and do you use regular fly line? I know nothing about these rods but I'am a little curious.
PortMurrayAgn
New member
I am curious too. Can you fish them at varying lengths, or do you have to pull it to its full length?
I have seen Japanese fishermen using them in Japan and always thought they were cane fishing. The first I saw this style is in old samurai movies...Zatoichi (the blind swordsman) was a master fisherman too.
I have seen Japanese fishermen using them in Japan and always thought they were cane fishing. The first I saw this style is in old samurai movies...Zatoichi (the blind swordsman) was a master fisherman too.
Rusty Spinner
Active member
I switched to the new Kevlar lines that Tenkara USA sells. I have mono and braided lines as well, but the Kevlar is best, IMO. The length you use is between rod length and 1 1/2X rod length. Longer means you won't reach your fish after adding tippet. My rod is 13' and the max. tippet strength I can use without breaking the rod is 5X, so it's fight on when you hook a decent fish. The rods I am familiar with need to be fully extended, you don't shorten them without severe chance of breakage. But with overhanging branches, you just side-arm cast which is simple enough. I would say that was the only learning curve for me, remembering that I had all that graphite waving around up there in the branches. Fighting a good fish means pointing the rod at it during a big run, but not directly at it since you want the flex in the rod to do your fighting as you would on a regular fly rod. And sometimes you run at/with the fish if it's really a good size one as compared to the rod you're using.
Think I'll head to Pt. Mtn. now to use my Tenkara, in fact...
CTobias
Professional BS'r
I don't believe original Tenkara rods were made out of Carbon fiber or any of the high speed plastics 400 years ago. Isn't there a Tenkara bamboo rod maker some where?
CTobias
Professional BS'r
Is this what hardcore Tenkara gurus look like?
http://tenkara.phpwebhosting.com/Daniel_Galhardo/images/Daniel.jpg
Some Tenkara pro staffers testing out some new equipment.
http://tenkara.phpwebhosting.com/Daniel_Galhardo/images/Daniel.jpg
Some Tenkara pro staffers testing out some new equipment.
Karel
sleep, eat, flyfish, repeat
All I can say is it's a lot of fun, easy, effective and the perfect technique for where I fly fish - small creeks here in Colorado.
It's not designed to cast 90ft, catching steelhead or very large fish (but you can, my largest fish so far with tenkara was a 21" bow in Cheesman Canyon - supposedly one of the most technical waters anywhere).
But the fish I treasure most pursuing with tenkara are greenback cuttthroats in RMNP. In those waters, I am outfishing "western" fly fisher 3:1. Hard to argue with that I think.
Fad? Don't think so. This style of fishing has been around for much longer than fly fishing with a reel. You might say that fly fishing with a reel is a fad if you think about it. Or Euro nymphing. Or Spey rods.
I was very close to call you ignorant for talking something down you probably even haven't tried yet, but I won't.
Give it a try and you shall see. Tight Lines.
It's not designed to cast 90ft, catching steelhead or very large fish (but you can, my largest fish so far with tenkara was a 21" bow in Cheesman Canyon - supposedly one of the most technical waters anywhere).
But the fish I treasure most pursuing with tenkara are greenback cuttthroats in RMNP. In those waters, I am outfishing "western" fly fisher 3:1. Hard to argue with that I think.
Fad? Don't think so. This style of fishing has been around for much longer than fly fishing with a reel. You might say that fly fishing with a reel is a fad if you think about it. Or Euro nymphing. Or Spey rods.
I was very close to call you ignorant for talking something down you probably even haven't tried yet, but I won't.
Give it a try and you shall see. Tight Lines.
Rusty Spinner
Active member
Fished the Musky TCA this afternoon with my Tenkara rod. Walking out, I ran into a buddy that doesn't know tenkara exists. He sees my rod and asked if I had lost the reel somewhere downstream and did I need help looking for it? True story.
Landed nearly 2 dozen in 2 hours including 3 wild brookies (with apologies to Johnny Utah) and all but 2 of those on dries. Grannoms and Hendricksons were coming off. My best day yet with tenkara dry fly fishing.
Landed nearly 2 dozen in 2 hours including 3 wild brookies (with apologies to Johnny Utah) and all but 2 of those on dries. Grannoms and Hendricksons were coming off. My best day yet with tenkara dry fly fishing.
D'ANGLER
Born to fish....forced to work!
Rusty sorry I missed you at Point Mt today, I too had a great day there with my Stonefly Tenkara Fly Rod. I even gave a Wildlife officer a quick lesson in Tankara too. Truth be told I suck @ trout fishing, but today I bought 12 to hand effortlessly (I do not use a net) & missed a few others. My presentation with wet & dry flies is vastly improved. Stealth is key not to spook them at close quarters, but not having to play with messy lines or frothing the water casting is bonus in these gin clear waters. There will be times the eastern rod is needed in my book but for now its interesting to learn a new style. Toby - love that pic with the kid with the cane pole & yes it just as much fun as I remember it. Dennis - I'll be sure to keep an extra bucket in the car for you too.....
NJpatbee
Can be found on NJ/NY/PA waters!
I am sure the Tenkara technique can be effective for under 30ft (which is where I catch most of my trout) but it does not have any special appeal to me. I like the ability to use variable lengths of line, and I like the look, action, and sound of my reels. But fly fishing is a personal activity and if you enjoy the Tenkara technique by all means have fun.
CTobias
Professional BS'r
To each their own. I'm not buying into this Tenakara nonsense. You guys can have fun with it. Besides. I don't think Tenkara works very well on salmon or rainbow trout in Alaska on the Kenai or Kasilof.
---------- Post added at 04:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:35 PM ----------
Even Lefty has some things to say about Tenkara...
Tenkara » Blog Archive » Lefty Kreh, TFO and Tenkara
---------- Post added at 04:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:35 PM ----------
Even Lefty has some things to say about Tenkara...
Tenkara » Blog Archive » Lefty Kreh, TFO and Tenkara
Rusty Spinner
Active member
A couple of anglers told me there was another guy out with a tenkara rod yesterday. I didn't fish today, had a planting project all morning on the lower river and stopped by my two recent channel restoration sites. Grannom caddis were egg laying and hatching and the fish were all over them. Some of our best dry fly action of the year and the season is closed on 99% of our water. Oh well, just another week...
---------- Post added at 06:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:10 PM ----------
Centerpinner
The guys at Tenkara USA told me they owe Lefty a debt of gratitude and should send him royalties because until he said it is only a fad, not many fly fishermen knew much about it. Right now, they can't keep rods in stock.
Brian, Maybe I should have gone tenkara today! Decided to go the other way with a nice soft 7 1/2' 6 wt Phillipson fiberglass rod. Nice soft stroke that is easy on the arm and it can punch a dry accurately to the far bank. Like Brian I had about two dozen hits but only landed about a dozen fish in 2 hours. The 7 1/2' rod gets the fly where it needs to go, but on the longer casts had trouble setting the hook. Can pull up a tremendous amount of slack with a 12' rod (a 10' rod for that matter too).
Fredy
SAY MY NAME!!!
Don't knock till you try it! You'll buy a 10 footer soon after you will be wishing you had an 11 footer.
Fly fishing is an evolving sport, remember it all started with Tenkara and now we have Titanium reels with carbonfiber drags.
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