Tenkara

[Allan]

John,

Interesting comment.

Well, allow me to ask a couple of questions regarding 'Tenkara' fishing. Obviously, it's not exactly the same as the bamboo 'stick', even the ones that were several pieces, that some of us usd as kids. Then again, Chris uses the term "modern" as a means of comparison. Well, I bet the originators of Tenkara back when would do a double-take on the rods used today for Tenkara fishing. Now I'm not saying I don't get it. Fish, or fly fish any which way you want for whatever reason you want.
So, my questions:
A) According to the documentation, approximately when was this method originally developed?
B) Could the method be defined as simply as Chris does when he wrote, "A tenkara rod is a very long, very light, very fast fly rod which is designed to cast a 12 to 20' leader without any fly line at all" And then, "It is fly fishing without the reel; fly casting without the haul." Now I'm guessing that he means that a fly is at the end of the line?
C) What if I were to say and be able to prove that, absent any worldly knowledge or access to information about Tenkara fishing, there were American fly fishers or just fishers who were using what I'll describe as the same method and equipment that was almost universally available 100 years ago?

Actually, immediately after writing the above I looked up 'tenkara' and got the following from wikipedia:
"Originally the rod was simply a bamboo/cane rod, which was cut and treated, but unlike contemporary western bamboo rods, they were not "manufactured" (i.e. split and glued back together). Unlike in the western fly-fishing tradition where anglers used heavy wooden rods, in Japan anglers always used bamboo, which is readily available and very light. Because of its light weight, Japanese anglers were able to use very long bamboo rods and reach as far as needed without the need to develop reels for the short rods developed in the west.^[3]


The Japanese used bamboo that was a native raw ingredient, cut it to a desired length, treated it and used it to cast a line made perhaps of 'gut' with some type of artificial fly, lure, or something to catch fish in their streams. Sounds just like a situation where "necessity is the Mother of invention".
Here there was no bamboo generally available at that time so fishers used what was available and that meant different wood. So if I were to say, "I don't get it", that does not meant I don't appreciate the method. I do and if some like tenkara fishing that's good. I just don't think it's a 'new' method. As all things do, things change. The fly rod has changed as have all rods including the Tenkara rod. The use has not.

Allan