Results 1 to 10 of 189

Thread: Tenkara

Threaded View

  1. #34

    Default

    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.
    Attached Images Attached Images

Similar Threads

  1. Tenkara
    By Bill-B'klyn in forum Warm water Forum
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 05-29-2013, 09:35 PM
  2. New to Tenkara
    By SteveW in forum Tenkara Fishing
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 05-16-2013, 01:32 AM
  3. Tenkara ... What?
    By Fishingfiend in forum Sound Off
    Replies: 37
    Last Post: 08-24-2012, 06:23 PM
  4. What is a Tenkara Rod
    By scorpion1971 in forum Tenkara Fishing
    Replies: 15
    Last Post: 08-18-2012, 12:50 PM
  5. Another Tenkara Rod
    By cycler68 in forum Tenkara Fishing
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 09-29-2011, 11:52 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts