Paul Arnold,
When I do decide to write something, it will only be on a subject that I have experience with and Tenkara is not something I have experience with. I try to write an article based on what I observe or feel about a subject. I feel very strong about teaching more people about fly fishing because it is such a rewarding experience. I do feel that a person can catch more fish using a fly rod because fly fishing permits the fly to be in the strike area longer and allows the fly to "act" more natural. Let's face it, a spinner being ripped past a fish is only going to get a reaction bite and a fly drifting along in the current allows the fish more time to decide if they wish to strike it or not even if they are not hungry. If you tie your own flies you will be more likely to allow it to get closer or into the snaggy areas of water because you have more if you lose it or can tie more when you get back home. (I feel another article coming on fly tying benefits, so, I will stop here! : )
At this time, with no experience with Tenkara, I feel that one would not be teaching fly fishing to a beginner if they teach them with Tenkara. Don't get all upset here, give me time to explain my thoughts. Paul, I know that you are into Tenkara from reading your Profile, please understand that you did not start out fly fishing with a Tenkara style. You started out with a standard fly rod and progresed to Tenkara which is all part of the sport. A lot of fly fishers will try Tenkara just to see what it is all about and I feel they will flip back and forth using standard equipment on some outings and Tenkara on others. With this thought in mind, I feel one must start the beginner out with standard equipment so that they can learn mending, casting, hook set, landing fish and other things one cannot or do not need to know with Tenkara. Tenkara is something new to the fly fishing sport and you do not see many, if any, fly fishermen/women using Tenkara on the rivers that you fish because it is new, so, I do not feel the Tenkara style of fishing as being the "drawing card" that got the beginner interested in fly fishing in the beginning. My feeling only is that the style of fishing with the Tenkara rod is just another progression that the beginner may or may not progress to as they navigate through fly fishing 101. Same with they may or may not progress to dry fly fishing or midge fishing. I am not "putting down" fishing with a Tenkara rod because there are places where I feel it would be a lot of fun to use. I guess, to make a long story shorter, is that my feelings are that a beginner who starts out with standard fly fishing equipment may progress to a Tenkara rod, but, if they started out with a Tenkara rod first, they may never progress to standard fly fishing equipment or still wonder what fly fishing with standard equipment was like. Standard fly fishing equipment is the "beginning" of learning to fish a fly and Tenkara is just another way, that is new here, to fish a fly. One must start at the beginning in my mind. Just my thoughts and nothing more and if my thoughts upset anyone, I apologize because that was not my intentions.......
Last edited by WarrenP; 01-23-2012 at 06:55 PM.
Warren
Fly fishing and fly tying are two things that I do, and when I am doing them, they are the only 2 things I think about. They clear my mind.
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