First, I am interested in Tenkara fishing but am reluctant. Everyone commenting on the process dives right in by saying you cannot compare it to using an extendable plastic pole or to using a regular fly rod with a unique line and tippet.
My question is, “Why not?”
Responses always get into a numbers game that relate to fine points of casting and discussions about line construction. Forget those details.
What can I not do with a telescoping pole? Why must I spend $200 to find out if I should proceed?
( the following is copied from the sticky Tenkara thread where it was posted with Chris’ permission )
… or something similar, and think they have already had a Tenkara experience, please read the following. Chris Stewart contributed this to another thread started by someone who “didn’t get” Tenkara. It is the best explanation I have seen distinguishing Tenkara gear from other long sticks with fixed strings. Chris agreed to let me post it on this thread, and edit my original post on this “sticky” to direct the cane pole crowd here.[INDENT]
Fishing with a long rod and line tied to the rod tip is not new or unique (and no one is claiming otherwise). What is new to the US is the modern equipment, which allows you to fish in ways that you can’t do with the cane pole you had as a kid. I know because I still have my cane pole and I’ve tried. Comparing a modern tenkara rod to what you had as a kid would be like comparing a modern graphite 2 weight fly rod to the cane pole you had as a kid (after adding guides and a reel seat to the cane pole). No one seems to make THAT comparison but it is EXACTLY the same thing.
A tenkara rod is a very long, very light, very fast fly rod which is designed to cast a 12 to 20’ leader without any fly line at all. And if you call making 20-25’ casts dapping I guess you could say it is dapping - but only if you also said that making 25’ casts with a fly rod is dapping because again, it is exactly the same thing. You are using the weight of the line to propel the fly. (In tenkara it is called a “line”, but it is what in fly fishing would be called a leader, whether furled or just flourocarbon leader material). Stick and a string? Well, so’s your Sage, which is just a shorter stick with a heavier string.
If you can “get” the importance of drag free drifts, you ought to be able to “get” tenkara. The combination of long rod and light line allow you to keep nearly all of the line off the water so drag is minimized. Of course, having a rod that weighs 3 ounces, collapses to 20" (for walking through the woods or for travel), doesn’t require an expensive reel, eliminates the necessity to mend or do a double haul or even take casting lessons may be advantage enough. Granted you can’t cast past 25’ but I would bet most of the fish most people actually catch are hooked within 25’.
What I don’t get is why people don’t get it. Not saying you have to like it, want to do it or even have any interest in it whatsoever. I don’t understand why people don’t understand that it absolutely is not the cane pole fishing they did as kids. No worms, no split shot, no bobbers. It is fly fishing without the reel; fly casting without the haul. And if that is truly what you did as a kid, I apologize. (But really, if that IS what you did as a kid, you ought to get it.)
In order to get it, don’t start from the premise that it is a cane pole. Start from the premise that it is a modern graphite fly rod. Tenkara fishing is much, MUCH, MUCH closer to fishing with a fly rod than fishing with a cane pole.
And if what you don’t get is not the gear or the technique but why anyone would be interested in it, the reasons are probably as different as why different people like fly fishing. For me, I like it because with better drifts I catch more fish. I like that a small fish can still put a nice bend in the rod and a large fish feels a lot larger because of the leverage of the longer rod and because he can’t take line so it is a very direct fight. With a fish of any size, you may actually need both hands to hold the rod. I like the light weight and the extreme portability of the rods. I really like that I don’t even have to think about line management and never have excess line wrapped around my legs or getting underfoot (or wrapping around everything in sight when I fish from a canoe).
If what you really like about fly fishing is making beautiful 60 or 80’ casts, you would not like tenkara. If what you like about fly fishing is anything other than that, you might. It is different enough from what you did as a kid, though, that you really have to try it and see for yourself.
One last point: I honestly, truly, sincerely believe that it is not getting popular because it is marketed exceptionally well. Heck, I’m one of the guys marketing it. I believe it is getting more popular because in some applications (streams under 40’ wide for fish under 20" long) it really does offer significant advantages.
[i]Please note that Chris is an FAOL sponsor and is the creator / owner / operator of the website www.Tenkarabum.com. He is one of the most knowledgeable people in the fly angling community about all things Tenkara.
[/i]John
[/INDENT]
Thank you for the prompt reply John.
I have been fly fishing and tying for almost 65 years but am still waiting for a list of the things I can’t do with a “pole” like a modern 11 foot Pflueger. I know the limitation of my regular flyrod will not allow me to hold all the line off the water on a 15 foot cast, but what else can’t it do? Why wouldn’t the Pflueger work at all?
Well, there is nothing that your Pflueger can’t do vs. Tenkara. the one difference is the weight of the rod. about 2.1 oz. compared to yours. If you have so many doubts forget it, you probably won’t be happy. I love fishing my Tenkara rods both wet and drys. It’s just a different feel that you have with the rod. It’s like the difference between plastic and bamboo. They both accomplish the same objective.
Ray,
Full Disclosure: I started fishing in October of 2011 and I chose tenkara for the simplicity of it’s fly set. For the simplicity of the gear. And for it’s “moving” versus “rooted” fishing style. My home water is fast mountain streams, 10’ to 100’ feet wide, with 20’ to 30’ being typical.
For a beginning fisher looking at a “Western” setup can be quite intimidating. The gear, the complexity of lines, the number of flies, learning how to cast, and learning entomology is daunting. Tenkara, at first blush, is simple. So there is a lot of buzz about “simplifying things”. (In my case it was the first step down the slippery slope.)
Your Pflueger will work just fine. With a reel you certainly have the advantage of line control. There are a number tenkara rods in the 9’ and 11’ range, so that argument is out. And if you fish just a 20’ tapered leader you’ll be able to keep it off the water, just like tenkara.
So it comes down to personal preferences, comfort level, and what “tradition” of fishing you choose to pursue.
Tight Lines.
Greg
I have never fished with an 11’ Pflueger so I cannot say what it can or cannot do in comparison with a tenkara rod. Get a spool of 0X fluorocarbon tippet material. Tie 11’ of it to your tip guide. Add 3-4’ of 5X tippet and an unweighted wet fly and go fishing. If you can cast the 0X “line” effectively, and if your rod will protect the tippet so that the fish you normally catch don’t beak it, and if you don’t break the rod the first time you try to net an 18" fish, then your Pflueger will do everything a tenkara rod will do other than collapse to 20 some inches for ease of walking through the woods to the next spot you want to fish.
Again, I’m not saying your Pflueger can’t do those things. I don’t know if it can or not because I’ve never used one. For the price of a spool of tippet you can find out, though.
Ray -
I’m not clear on just what your 11’ Pflueger rod is.
Is it a conventional 11’ foot fly rod with reel seat, guides, etc. If so, how many pieces to the rod and what is the line weight designated for the rod ??
If it is not a conventional fly rod, how would you further describe it ??
To more directly answer your question without that information, I’d just say it is likely you can do anything with that rod that you can do with a Tenkara specific rod. But, you won’t likely do it as well and it probably won’t be as enjoyable as it would be with a Tenkara rod that suits your style of casting.
My first “Tenkara-like” experience was with an Elkhorn 14’ for 8/9 wt two handed six piece spey rod, in 2008. As a joke, I took the rod along when I went up to the Central Mountains in Idaho to fish a small spring creek. I rigged the 14’ for 8/9 with a DT[SIZE=3]3F line. And went fishing with a size 16 dry fly. I actually caught a half dozen small bows and brookies before putting up the spey rod and continuing the day with my 3 wt.
But it wasn’t like fly casting because obviously the line would not load the rod. And it wasn’t much like false casting to let out more line for longer casts. It was more like using a buggy whip to power a pretty much fixed length of line in a particular direction at a particular spot.
A much more recent “Tenkara-like” experience was fishing a Hexagraph 7’9" for 4/5 with only a 11’ furled Tenkara specific line / leader tied to the tip top. It was actually pretty easy to cast because the Hex responds very well to input regardless of line weight. I caught some pretty nice fishies with that set up. The only concern came after I finished - what if I had hooked up a really big fish, big enough to pull the tip section free of the butt section and take it for a ride down the river ?? :shock: One of the problems with the set up was that I had to hand line the fish in to release them.
Your 11’ Pflueger probably fits somewhere in between those two experiences, and closer to the 14’ spey rod thing if you actually use a Tenkara weight line / leader with it. Yes, you can fish that way, and no, it will not be as enjoyable an experience as either conventional fly angling or Tenkara angling.
John
P.S. I did have one other fixed line fly angling experience using a 4’ long 1/4" round oak dowell from Ace Hardware with a homebrew furled line, but that’s another story …[/SIZE]
While I cannot say “x will do this or y will do that” - Tenkara to me is about the discovery process. Tenkara will not do everything in all situations but it does a lot for me. This Sunday we had a mild day in PA and my son and I ran out for 2 hours of fishing. I took my Tenkara gear and he brought his 3wt. About halfway through our afternoon, he came upstream to join me then asked if he could borrow my Tenkara rod. I never got it back.
On the drive home I asked him if he had any thoughts about “western .vs. Tenkara” and he said “it was just fun relaxing fishing - just what I wanted to do today”.
Just my .02 and YMMV
Maybe you know someone who has one you could borrow and see what it’s all about?
Thanks for that post. If nothing else, it will serve as encouragment for some of us to attempt something tenkara-like to see if we like it. That first dipping of the toe into the water might lead some of us into taking the plunge later. That was very clever, Mr. Stewart, very clever indeed. I have an 11’ rod of which I am fond. It might not make as good a candidate because is has a fairly slow action. I plan to invest in a spool of 0X flourocarbon tippet to try out this form of fishing. I can carry a reel with me, in case I wish to fall back to what I am used to. If I like it and end up buying a tenkara rod, I shall blame you, Mr. Stewart.
Regards,
Ed
Ray, If you really want to try Tenkara without spending $200 it is easy. Get a $50 11’ tenkara rod from fountainhead. http://tenkaraflyfish.webs.com/apps/webstore/ Pick your self up a spool of 17# fluorocarbon for $11 and give it a go. If not happy sell the rod on ebay.
That is what I did. There are several very dealers that offer Introductory outfits for around $100 or less. I bought mine “to try”, I can see myself upgrading later if I like it. Also, my wife enjoys flyfishing but wants to stay very simple. Heading back to Wyoming in 2014 to camphost for the USFS, I can see her really getting into tenkara. Following the threads here and other sites, you can get involved with little capitol.