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Additional Thoughts on Tenkara
“If you don’t spend some time exploring traditional tenkara, then you’ll never see the full potential of tenkara. You may have your eyes opened to what is really ‘necessary’ for trout fishing.”
Anthony Naples
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Tenkara probably isn’t for everybody but it has potential to enrich the fishing experience for somebody. Is that you? Perhaps by now you’ve seen the range insights that are threaded throughout this book and have a new perspective on the possibilities of the tenkara experience. Maybe you’ve even seen some light on the subject of simplifying your fishing down to the most common denominators of line, rod and fly. The simplicity and ease that it takes to get started in tenkara (not withstanding the far lower cost of entry versus traditional Western fly fishing) make it adaptable to anyone at any level of experience at any time. Have fun with it and enjoy the simplicity and fish-catching effectiveness that will naturally come with it. Kuhlow: When practicing tenkara take advantage of all of the information that’s out there pertaining to casting, techniques, etc…. There is more helpful information out there today than there was a couple of years ago. Participate in many of the tenkara forums that have sprung up. Many of them are still devoid of the hostile garbage talk that is present in more traditional Western fly-fishing forums. There is traditional tenkara (methods and equipment) and there is tenkara that is evolving in the U.S. and other countries outside of Japan. Find what works best for you and you alone and enjoy it. Others have their opinion of what it’s supposed to be. Make it what you want it to be. Vertrees: Tenkara is simple and fun. It’s also a learning process and one that will teach you many things about the environment in and around a trout stream. Tenkara is a gift. The word “tenkara” means “from
heaven.” I truly believe that tenkara is a gift, given to us from ancient Japanese fishermen. It’s truly a gift from heaven. It brings you into an intimate relationship with the water and the fish living in it. It will definitely make you a better fly angler. Lastly, tenkara is all about simplifying and streamlining your fly-fishing. It’s minimalism applied to fly-fishing. It strips fly-fishing down to its essential elements, which are an angler, a rod, a line and a fly. Nothing more. Tenkara is enlightened fly-fishing. Naples: Don’t expect tenkara to be magic. It is just fly-fishing. Fish are still fish, you need to be able to find them, get the fly to them, detect the strike, set the hook and land the fish – none of that changes. If you’re coming to tenkara as a new fly angler – read about tenkara. There are not many English-language tenkara books available, but there are a seeming limitless number of Western fly-fishing books and magazines out there. Like I said, fish are fish, streams are streams. They don’t know that you’re a tenkara angler. As a new fly angler you need to learn how to read trout streams, how to find the fish, how to present flies and detect strikes. These things don’t change much from Western to tenkara. There are plenty of good books and magazine articles that can help teach you these things. Czech-nymphing techniques and strategies, wet-fly techniques – these things translate to tenkara very well, without too much change. You can learn a lot from exploring these things. Don’t ignore all of the collected wisdom of Western angling. There is also a lot of good info online. Check out the tenkara forums and ask questions. If you’re coming to tenkara from Western-style fly-fishing there’s nothing wrong with jumping in with both feet. But, there’s also nothing wrong with a gradual approach. I know that’s how I came to it. What I mean is something like this. If you have Western-style flies that you know catch fish on certain streams – then by all means use them. That way you’re coming to it with confidence. There is going to be some learning curve with the tenkara gear, just getting used to that long rod and landing fish on a fixed line. If you’re fishing flies that you’re confident in then you can take that out of the learning equation. You can then work tenkara flies and techniques into your fishing as you get more adept at the purely practical use of the gear. What I started doing was this – I’d fish with unweighted tenkara flies in traditional tenkara style for a while. Then, if I wasn’t having too
much luck I’d put on a fly that I knew worked well and fish that, catch some fish and maybe try the tenkara flies again later. The goal is to have fun, after all. There are two basic ways to approach tenkara – tenkara as a technique and tenkara as a tool. There are the traditional tenkara techniques using unweighted wet-flies, on mountain streams. Then there’s tenkara as a tool, using the tenkara rod to fish Western-style flies and techniques. I’m of the mind that there is not a “right” way. There are different strokes for different folks. The tenkara rod can be a great tool for Western-style fishing. For those that are coming to tenkara primarily as a tool, and view it just as a way to fish Western-style flies and techniques, spend some time with the traditional tenkara too. You may be very surprised by what you can do when you stick to a one-fly, traditional approach. If you don’t spend some time exploring traditional tenkara, then you’ll never see the full potential of tenkara. You may have your eyes opened to what is really “necessary” for trout fishing. Or, maybe not, and that’s OK too. I started out viewing the tenkara rod more as a tool and have since been swayed by the effectiveness of traditional tenkara. That doesn’t mean I can’t still throw a big hopper dry fly, bead-head or Czech nymph on. I’ll do that too.
For me fly-fishing and fly tying are inseparable. Tenkara flies are becoming more available online, but chances are you won’t find them locally. Tenkara flies are generally pretty simple. So, you can get some tying tools and a few materials and be tying fishable flies in no time. Catching fish on flies that you tie, and maybe even patterns that you “invent,” is just so much fun. It really enriches the experience for me. Lastly, and this is the most important, get out and fish. You’ll only get better by doing it. Maybe you prefer trout fishing on streams, and there aren’t many close by. Go to the local warm water stream or pond and practice on those fish. The more you do it the better you’ll get and the more you’ll have your eyes opened to the potential. Klass: Tenkara came to the West with a long tradition behind it and ever since then, people have been trying to “innovate” and change it. Today, there is a growing movement to push the boundaries of tenkara far beyond how it is practiced in Japan. I think it’s up to the individual angler to decide where the fine line between innovation and bastardization lies,
but I think anyone interested in tenkara owes it to themselves to learn the traditional techniques first. Then, you can decide if you want to explore the alternative “innovative” methods that are developing in the West. For me, part of the richness of tenkara is trying to practice it the way it’s been done in Japan for a millennia. Not the way it’s been done in the U.S. for three years. Lansky: Just keep it simple and have fun. Don’t get frustrated, enjoy being on the water. The rest will come by itself. And don’t let anybody tell you what is right or wrong or what you can or cannot do. To me tenkara is about having fun fishing – and being a better fisherman. Stewart: It’s just fishing. It isn’t a religion. The only hard-and-fast rules are your state’s fishing regulations. That said, keep your rod tip high and your line off the water. Use the longest rod you can get away with and the lightest line you can get away with and they will probably produce the most fish.
Worthing: Don’t take yourself, your fishing or anybody else’s fishing too seriously. In fact, forget everything I said in this book. Put this book down. Close your laptop. Turn off your cell phone. Go outside, and go fishing. Vetterli: Relax, have fun, go fish. Ostrander: My advice to anyone interested in tenkara is to experiment as much as you can. Remember when you were (or are) a teenager? You did all sorts of crazy stuff. Tenkara is an American teenager. Stay out way past curfew and break a few rules. Gibson: Because tenkara fishing equipment is so sensitive you are able to experience subtleties of fishing like you likely have not before. The feel of the rod bending in the air as the line loads the rod. The delicacy of the fly gently settling on the waters surface. The feel of the fly resisting your pull through the water. And the sight of a fish rising mere yards away to snap at your fly. All of these things connect you to the experience unlike any other form of fishing can. So many parts of our modern lives are rushed. Tenkara should be the opposite. Take time to enjoy nature around you. Take time to enjoy the act of fishing. If you rush, you will not only miss more fish but also the experience.
