I will weigh in on this thread about Tenkara Fishing. Last November, I won a Tenkara rod setup in raffle at a local fly fishing show. I used it a couple of times in November and I caught a few bluegill in ponds, but that was not a real test, since the weather and water were pretty cold in northern Illinois at that time of year.

Once the warm weather started up in the spring, I used the Tenkara rod several times for pond bluegill fishing in local pond and for fishing on canals for panfish in southern Florida. I also used it a bit in the spring creeks of the Driftless region of Wisconsin and I used it for fishing in some canyon creeks for trout near Salt Lake city. I caught fish in all of locations.

My impression of using a Tenkara rod is that it is a good tool for in the right situation, but those situations are limited. A big advantage of a Tenkara rod is that it is light and portable. My Tenkara rod fits into a carry on suitcase, so it was easy to take on trip where I am packing light. The trip to Utah was a business trip and it was nice to not have to check bags just to take some fishing gear for a few hours of fishing. The portability of a Tenkara rod makes it easy to take along on any trip as a backup rod.

The Tenkara rod is fun to use in open areas where you do not have to cast far. It is great for bluegill fishing when the fish are close to shore. It is also good in meadow streams where the long length of rod makes is easy to keep the line above tall grass a vegetation. The biggest downside to using a Tenkara rod is that you are limited to where you can use it. In both the Wisconsin Driftless area and in the small creeks that I fished in Utah, many of the streams on are in pretty tight cover, where it is pretty much impossible to use an 11 foot long rod. That means that if you either have to fish on only in wide open areas with the Tenkara rod or you need to also carry a regular fly rod to fish the tight spots.

The biggest down side that I have found in using a Tenkara rod is that if you need to cast the fly a few feet farther you can't do it unless you move. If you are fishing for trout in slow water, you don't want to step in water just to get the fly a few feet farther, because stepping in the water will spook the fish. Pretty much any time that I have used the Tenkara rod, I have felt that the limitation of the distance that I can cast was somewhat frustrating.

I will continue using my Tenkara rod in the right situations and I will pack it on trips as a backup rod. I will never be a Tenkara "enthusiast" because it is just too limiting of a tool. I would never take it again on a trip to a stream that I have not fished before because there it too much productive water that I have to pass over without fishing due to the limitations.