Larry, why would it be any different? You can approach fly fishing and tenkara pretty much the same way. Fly fishing can be very simple. You can fish in most places with three patterns (elk hair caddis, pheasant tail nymph and black woolly bugger) and expect to catch fish without even thinking of matching the hatch. Sometimes you won't catch as many as the guy who has 10 fly boxes in his vest, but sometimes you'll catch more. You can fish in most places with just one rod - a mid level 9' 6wt and a simple double taper line. It might be a bit light for steelhead or stripers and overkill on 5" brookies, but you could do it. When I was a kid that was the "all around" fly rod and line. I don't think it was at all expected 50 years ago that the average guy would have a closet full of fly rods. He might have one or maybe two.

That is the aura of simplicity that has been nurtured for tenkara (mostly for marketing reasons). Sure, you can buy one rod and do all your fishing with it. However, just as there are many situations for which a more specialized fly rod would really be appreciated, so it is with tenkara fishing. Fishing the small, overgrown streams in the Smokies is not at all like fishing the Madison in Montana. It really does make sense to have different rods for those two locations. Similarly, for guys who have decided they really like fishing with tenkara style rods, it really does make sense to have a different rod for the 5" brookies than the one they go brownlining for carp with.

Over the past couple years there have been several posts on various forums and blogs bemoaning that tenkara isn't "simple" any more. Tenkara is still as simple as it ever was. Now there are just more choices. You can still buy an "all around" middle price Chinese made rod, but the point is that you no longer have to.