John - Good answer.Originally Posted by JohnScott
Allan
John - Good answer.
Allan
Byron it doesn't matter what type or style you fish there is always going to be limitations. For one with my Tenkara rod I can fish my local streams and fteestone rivers more effectively than with a Western Rod. I can get better drifts through pockets and along seems because i cam limit the drag from pulling my fly out of the feeding zone. I have caught fish easily in places I had struggled to in the past. As for the distance issue some cast 30 ft o f line. Me personally I haven't had a need to do so as that hasn't happened, but would be no different than when I fish South Fork of the Snake and all the fish seem to be on other side or a ripple just out of reach. :'(
Brandon
Brandon,
Thanks. Makes sense. But, do you use a reel? What happens when you hook a big fish? How can you let him/her run?
Byron, I don't know about the action of a Tenkara rod but I fish with an 11 foot Sage XP 6 wt. That rod acts as a shock absorber when I have a large fish on, and 99% of the time I do not have to feed the fish more line. The fish simply fights against the action of the rod. I have had guides telling me to feed it more line but I could tell that the rod could do the job without breaking the tippet. The few times I have had to give the fish more line, well, if it had been a Tenkara rod, then the fish simply would have broken off. When that happens, then like the photo on the Home page, you just created a 'fishin tale'.Larry ---sagefisher---
I will try and cover some of the above questions.
Tenkara has a long but mostly word of mouth history. It developed in small mountain villages were most were illiterate and for their life style they did not need to have a written history....think much the same as american indians hundreds of years ago, traditions were passed father to son for generations. The earliest written record of Tenkara is less than 200 years old in Japan but it is believed to be thousands of years old.
Yes similar techniques have been recorded in many cultures around the world all of which are believed to have developed independently. From ancient Egypt to western Europe similar styles of fishing with a long flexible rod and a fixed line attached to the tip of the rod have ruled fishing for centuries. The reel is the new player in the field of fishing not the fixed line system.
Chris' statements about Tenkara are spot on it is the line you are casting. Yes you would have a fly on the end of the line but in traditional Tenkara it would not matter to the cast as they are weightless. The cast would be the same with or without a fly...your normally not chucking nymphs, streamers or big hoppers.
The differences from western cane pole and Japanese bamboo rods would have been very pronounced. Japan has around 200 species of Bamboo. The ones used in historical Tenkara gear were selected based on the action that would work to cast very light lines and be able to hold the line off the water, drifting or manipulating a fly through the high gradient waters. In some cases different species of bamboo were selected to offer rods with backbone in the lower sections than in the tip sections.
Of course an angler in any historical regard looking at todays rods, lines, reels, flies would not see then as anything like what they use. By the same token Henry Ford would not recognize a F150 as anything like what he built. Technology has changed every aspect of what we do in this century. Modern Tenkara started to change in the 50's and 60's with fiberglas and now carbon fiber rods being developed and improved. The idea and mentality remains the same though, light weight long rods that will cast a near weightless line with a weightless fly. The length gives you a lot of control over the line and the fly. Fly manipulation is one of the big benefits of Tenkara. With such light tackle your able to impart a lot of action to the fly that makes the fly appear alive.
What to do about fish rising 30-40 feet away...Sneak closer. I was in this very situation on Friday fishing a very popular river in Oregon for large browns. The hatch started to pop about 4:00 and fish were rising along a wide open flat section of river. I worked about 150 yards of water over the corse of an hour. Take a few slow steps up river and cast, few more steps and cast. Stealth is a skill. A friend of mine was worried about me taking Tenkara to this river, it's full of large brown that in his words "will turn upstream and take you to the backing." What you get with Tenkara is a long rod that is very flexible and this allows you to put a lot of pressure on the fish without worry of the tippet snapping. With a large fish pushing 20" you have to work for it and technique becomes a factor...you can't just horse them around you have to have a give and take battle. Some guys will move with the fish, if it runs they run. I and many others are more of the mentality that you stand firm...maybe not planting your feet but fighting the fish more with the rod. Running with a fish in the wrong spot can leave you on your rear, something I can't afford to do in a waist deep river fishing alone. Sagefisher's description is correct the rod acts as a shock absorber and you can put a lot of pressure on a fish, even a big one that wants to run. So much so that you can turn a run and you will often be able to land the fish pretty quickly because your putting constant pressure on them that is not dampened by a lot of line running through the water.
Here is a few shots from Friday.
Paul those are some beautiful fish there. Took one of my friends of whom I purchased on of your rods for on the Bear River. Was a pretty slow day, but he hooked into a hearty Rainbow about 18in. Needless to say he is now hooked, and loves the rod.
Brandon
Thanks Brandon. Hope to get over that way...maybe in July I can swing a weekend. Keep telling Tom I am coming over. I will make it this summer if for nothing else than a day but I will be over.
So my friend of whom I've introduced to Tenkara, and he is now addicted, caught this beauty yesterday morning at the local pond. We like to go there on Saturday morning because it's close and we can get there and start by 6:00 am and back by the time the kids are getting up. We've sparked some interesting conversations, let people try out the rods a bit, and gotten a ton of wierd looks from people. Funny thing is that we have out fished just about all of them. My friend by the way never really tried fly fishing before for various reasons, but now is tying his own flies and can't get enough.
Tight Lines,
Brandon
What I found was that the long rod will work quite well and for the most part standing firm will suffice. But its within reason if a large fish runs straight away, you can try to turn him...but that's your last act of defiance. If he's stubborn, he'll win. My son hooked to large fish recently...both 20+ and he stood no chance when they ran.
But....it was still a blast.
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