By Oleg Stryapunin

What characterizes tenkara fishing is its simplicity. It is fly-fishing, as simple as possible; there is a rod, a line and a fly, nothing more. There is no reel, because no reel is necessary, especially not for the small streams that tenkara was developed for; a development that is a resounding success, given how perfect tenkara is for small streams.

Tenkara has another advantage, apart from being ideally suited for small streams. It is by far the best introduction to fly-fishing anybody could ask for. The style and technique is easy to come by, and can be learned much faster than other kinds of fishing. Tenkara is not about making the hatch match, about paying out of your nose for gear or spending endless time learning how to make a proper throw. Tenkara has one thing to learn, which is how to make your fly look appetizing enough for fish to bite.

The fishing rods used for tenkara are longer than the usual, from between 11 to 14.5 feet; telescopic, making them easy to carry, and made of such light material that despite the length they are not tiring to cast. Since tenkara is fly-fishing, casting is a necessary and tenkara rod will stabilize your casting precision immensely. Tenkara as a style has undergone development for centuries in Japan, focusing on the light weight of both rod and line, to improve how the fly is cast. Thanks to their flexible strength, they are capable of taking on stronger fish than they might seem to, without exposing light tippets to damage.

Since the tenkara line is fixed to the rod, it is not much longer than the rod itself. It is also very light, even lighter than a 000 weight fly line. As said, everything in tenkara emphasizes the lightness of the gear. This gives certain benefits for fly-fishing in streams otherwise difficult for ordinary fly-fishing; you can more or less keep your line from dragging, which means strong or troublesome currents are troublesome no more. Naturally, having a better throw and a line that does not drag translates into catching more fish.

Being fixed, the line is tight and without a reel, it cannot run freely. When a fish gets hooked, you will find yourself very sensitive to its pull. The battle between you and the fish will not drag out, since there is no line to run. If the fish is a small opponent, raising your rod will let you pull it in directly. If the fish is large and has some fight in him, take advantage of your flexible rod and raise it until it bends. A short battle between you and the fish you have, but nonetheless exhilarating, as fishing should be.

It may strain credulity to believe that these simple differences between tenkara fishing and Western fishing should make tenkara much more effective for fishing in streams. But remember that tenkara is a technique both intended and refined for just that kind of fishing, and the refining process has been going on for centuries. Because the rod and line are so much lighter, the presentation gets improved vastly, which is reflected in how many fish you’ll catch.

Of course, there will always be some thinking outside the box or trying something unorthodox, just to see how it works. Some are using tenkara equipment on streams much larger than what tenkara was intended for, or even in lakes. And they’re fishing for bigger fish than the trout and char of Japan. Regardless of whether one can call it tenkara when it is no longer small-stream fishing, however, the reports are that it is still immense fun.

This site is intended for all interested in tenkara to share their interest and experiences with this technique and approach to fishing. Please let us know what you find interesting about tenkara, and would like to see featured.

About the Author: Being the backpacker, small streams junky and tenkara apologist, I provide

The Tenkara Times

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