When I try to fish 40 - 60 feet out with conventional fly tackle I miss a very high percentage of the strikes especially when fishing dry flies or poppers. Even when the fish are closer in I still miss too many strikes with conventional fly tackle. With a tenkara rod I hook a much higher percentage of the strikes. I still don't land all the fish I hook but I do end up catching more and not less fish. When I use the tenkara rod out of a tube or kayak not being able to make a long cast isn't a disadvantage at all.