Quote Originally Posted by sagefisher View Post
Davy Wotton teaches a method I believe he calls "A Cast of Flies" in his DVD 'Wet Fly Ways'. He uses a long fly rod but fishes with line that equals only the length of the fly rod, more or less. He uses a three fly system with the top fly mainly being held right at the surface and he has the rod held high to keep the line above that fly out of the water. He fishes in short casts, working the seams then moves a couple of feet and casts again. Kind of sounds like what a Tenkara fly rod fisherman would be doing doesn't it?

Larry ---sagefisher---
That is exactly how the British and Scots fished before reels became common. It is really very similar not only to tenkara, but also to the Pesca Mosca Valsesiana style of fishing in northern Italy (which like tenkara never died out). The tenkara anglers in Japan use only one fly at a time, while the Valsesiana style uses three for smaller streams and four for larger streams and rivers.

Bruce Norikane's comment about the need for an anchor to allow you to hold line off the water is absolutely correct, and I should have mentioned it myself. Interestingly, the Valsesiana flies have a forward slanting hackle, very similar to the shape of the "sakasa kebari" style of tenkara flies. That forward slanting hackle acts just like a parachute under water, resisting the pull of the line and allowing you to hold the line off the water. Since the Valsesian anglers to this day use lines made from twisted and knotted horsehair (which casts wonderfully but is heavier than a light fluorocarbon tenkara line), they may need the three or four reverse hackled flies acting as little parachutes to keep their heaver line off the water.

One other reason for the tenkara gurus Bruce mentioned to fish short drifts when fishing upstream is that they start the drift with their rod tip high (to keep the line off the water) and raise it further as the fly and line drifts downstream. It does not take long at all for the rod to be about vertical, which is about as far as you can take it and still be able to strike effectively to set the hook. A longer drift might produce a hit, but if you can't set the hook it doesn't matter.

It has been a long time since I have watched Davy Wotten's video (which is very good, by the way) but it would not surprise me if he mentioned the anchor effect of his second and third fly, and that their resistance to being pulled through the water is what allows him to keep the top fly on the surface and even bounce it on the surface. I believe the Yorkshiremen who fished with long rods, no reels and horsehair lines (some of whom Davy may have learned from) used a heavy fly on point specifically to act as an anchor so the other two flies could be manipulated properly (although it would draw some strikes also).