… are you refering to a furled tapered leader at the end of the furled line or a tapered knotless mono leader ?? Or either ??
My thinking is to make a furled line of appropriate material and weight for the rod and then add a furled ( tapered ) leader by a loop to loop connection then add tippet. Haven’t figured out all the details yet, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
John
It seems like Czech nymphing would fit the design of these rods nicely. Long rod length, good line control.
I guess I exhibited my “extensive” knowledgs of the Tenkara system in my previous reply by stating the length must be great for “loooooonnnnngggg” casts. I finally actually opened a Tenkara site and watched the system in action. NO REEL, duhhh!! Ignorance is not always bliss, as in this case, ignorance has kept me from trying a system which looks like it suits MY style of fishing to a "T"enkara. I love pocket water type fishing . Pocket water is often ignored by fly fishermen because of the very short drifts and fairly turbid water. To me, that’s where the hungry trout stealthily (?sp) wait to ambush tasty morsels.
Mark
Tenkara is a great way to get your children (grandchildren) involved in fly fishing. No need for a fly reel or fly line, just attach a tapered leader to the “Tip Top” guide on a fly rod, attach the tippet and fly and let them go at it. My grandson who is now 6 has been fishing Tenkara for the past two years. I have him using a 3 weight, 9 foot fly rod, and he catches fish off the end of the dock.
Below is a website that I have fallen in love with over the years, it is designed and built by Yoshikazu Fujioka, showing his favorite streams and flies for fishing Tenkara in Japan. There is also so much more to Tenkara than the fishing there is the art of painting and building your own gear and fly tying equipment. The flies style is something that most else where in the world have never thought of or attempted. I am still not sure where the home page for the site is, but on the bottom is directory that help me get around this site. The site has been operating since September 23rd 1997 (about the same time that FAOL started) was last updated on July 13th 2010.
http://www.amago.jp.lv/b-streams/flytying/tenkara.html
…
Old Rupe one of the orginal members on FAOL, got me interested in Tenkara, back around 1998 with a Just Old Flies and stuff article “Tenkara and the the Fine Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”!
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/oldflies/part68.php
John , nice and very informative report as always. I’ve been very interested in Tenkara for over a year now and for me it’s a very rewarding angling style. For the pocket water fans out there it’s a blast. It seems to give a connection to the loop rod’s of old but with very modern material’s. It’s nice to see such a well respected member of the board try out and give your opinion on what has not always been a popular subject here. As alway’s John I will be eagerly waiting to read your next report.
… the participation in this thread by some very experienced and knowledgeable Tenkara fly anglers.
I think it is worthwhile to make one point clearly. There are a number of different Tenkara rods out there, with different lengths and actions, and different lines to fish them in different situations to suit many different individual casting styles and preferences.
The first rod I fished, the TenkaraUSA Yamame with a level line, really left me wondering if I wanted to regularly use this kind of rod for the fly angling I do.
As soon as I cast the next rod, the TenkaraUSA Ayu with a furled line, it was “game on.” Within minutes I knew that I would be using a Tenkara rod, or rods, for some fishing situations for a looooooooonnnnnng time ( not casts, Marco ). Ending up that day with seven or eight good size beautiful West Slope Cutthroat pretty much put the exclamation point on the whole experience.
The point is this. Don’t judge Tenkara rods and their use in fly angling until you have had a chance to fish enough different rods to know that there is one that will work for you for the kind of fishing you do, or that there simply is not one on the market that suits your approach to fishing and your style of casting.
John
P.S. Like just about everything in fly fishing, you can make it as complicated as you want or keep it as simple as you need to.
pszy22, CM Stewart and JohnScott , thanks for info. Very informative.
John, let me further plumb the depths of Tenkara knowledge herein by asking “how much we talkin here for a Tenkara rod ?” AND, what would be the shortest ( practical) length for this type of fly fishing? My guess is that the “beauty” of the system is in rod length and being able to keep the majority of the line off the surface of erratic currents thereby allowing the fly to drift “naturally” ( PERFECT for pocket water fishin).
Mark
John,
Regarding the “stringy” stuff in tenkara, I bet alot of folks are going to come up with a bunch of combinations to fit their particular needs and style. As a result of being an old dog, I tend to look at my “string” in three sections - line, leader, and tippet.
Up until now, I always fish with a furled line, and then use single strand mono to build a tapered leader which concludes with a chunk of “tippet”.
I’ve basically settled on two set ups.
When fishing still water for bass/bluegills, I usually am fishing a ponds from shore. For that situation, I’ve been using a 20’ furled line, and a 6’ two step tapered leader attached to a 4’ final length of “tippet”.
I really like having the extra range, I can fish out to about 35’. Although I like fishing this longer set up, it may not be for everyone, it does require a bit more concentration when it comes to casting.
Probably 90% of my fishing is for trout, wading in large rivers, fishing mostly dries/damps. For trout fishing, I’ve been using a 10.5’ furled line, about a 7’ two step leader ending up with a 4-5’ length of tippet. That about all the line I usually fish even when using a western set up, so that suits my style of fishing just fine. It cast almost automatically, and allows me very good control for mending or animating my fly. If there is a down side, it does require a bit of hand over hand to get to the fish (as of course does the pond set up).
One last aside, the thing that may have most surprised me is what an effective fish fighting tool the tenkara set up is. I think I’m able to land fish of all sizes in about half the time it used to take with a western rod. I think it’s probably a function of added rod length. I have lost a couple of large fish just because they took off, but for 95% of the fish I typically catch, the set up works just great.
… the TenkaraUSA line of rods, the price range is roughly $135 for the 11-12’ rods and $170 for the Ayu 13’ rod.
The Tenkara Furled Leader runs about $20 but should last a loooooonnnnng time. The level lines are much less expensive, and will perhaps work better for some people than the furled leader. Add appropriate 5X or smaller tippet and you are good to go. ( Noting the comments that pzzsy22 made subsequent to your question, Mark. )
John
For those of you using Tenkara, what has been the reaction of fellow anglers while out fishing?
Most of the folks I’ve encountered express interest. Particularly if they had seen the technique in action. It can be very effective.
That’s what I thought when I first started fishing with a tenkara rod. It took me a long time to realize that they are actually much better at what they were designed for - fishing an unweighted wet fly. The rod tips are a little too soft for two or three heavy flies fished deep. Also, the lines they use are so light that even one tungsten bead head nymph becomes chuck and duck. Instead of Czech nymphing, think soft hackles!
Tyronefly,
I tend to fish streams that don’t get much fishing pressure, or less popular sections of streams that do, so I rarely have encounters with other anglers. Most of those I do exchange more than an “any luck” with either don’t notice that I don’t have a reel or don’t say anything if they do.
John,
You could have a furled line and furled leader joined with a loop to loop, but pszy22 knows a lot more about furled lines (and furled tenkara lines) than I do, so I’ll leave that one for him. What I would say, though, is that you’ll probably want a longer one than the 10.5 foot one the shop gave you to try. Also, don’t judge level lines by your experience with the Yamame. The Ayu excels at casting a very light level line, and with a light level line, you’ll only need to add about 4’ of tippet directly to the line. Very simple.
So, to get this right. You really don’t want any weight on the end of the line, you want to fish a unweighted fly. Then you are mainly fishing top water dry flies, shallow water emergers and wets. You obviously can’t fish deep then. Am I correct in this assumption? By the way, very interesting thread. Thanks for the info.
Beaver
There are a ton of Tenkara videos on YouTube. That looks like a lot of fun. My wife is giving me the evil eye as she knows I am thinking of ways to convince her I need one. :lol:
If I use spiders and want to give them some action (movement) how best to strip in the line? Does one just raise the rod or are there specific techniques in Tenkara?
Beaver,
You’re right. With no weight, you fish dries, emergers or wets a few inches under the surface. Wets tied on a heavy hook, like a Daiichi 1120 or even a Mustad R90 will fish a bit deeper. There are people in the US and UK fishing beadhead nymphs, but I don’t think people do in Japan where tenkara originated. I used to, but I gradually realized that I caught a lot of fish on unweighted flies, and the casting is a lot smoother. For that matter, wets cast better than dries (less wind resistance).
TyroneFly,
Pulse the rod tip, but just a little. With an 11 to 13 foot rod, it takes very little hand motion to really move the fly. There are specific Japanese techniques, one of which is just a slight pulsing of the rod tip to make the hackle open and close. It’s called “the invitation.”
Chris is spot on regarding his wisdom about fly selection and manipulation.
I think the concept of using a generic pattern with a variety of presentations is one of the most over looked advantages of using Tenkara techniques.
I catch very few of my fish using a dead drift presentation, be sure to try a bit of motion every now and then.
This is a very neat concept and i am definitely going to give it a go!
John,
Thanks starting this thread… Always something new to learn about our sport
Be safe…all
Steve
… the first day I tried a Tenkara rod, I wondered what I would be doing with my left hand. Actually, the first short while that I fished that rod, I had a tendency to use both hands to cast. Got past that pretty quickly and began sticking my “line hand” in my pocket.
On another stream, where the wading is a bit tricky, it occured to me that I could use a wading staff while fishing, not just while moving from spot to spot, if I used a wading staff, which I don’t. But for those of you who do use a wading staff, you can use it just about full time, a little bit less the more fish you catch. Get skunked and you can use the staff 100% of the time.
Also, I mentioned earlier in this thread that I cast the Tenkara with my left hand for a while just to see how that would work. Whereas it is difficult for me to cast a regular fly rod left handed, it was very intuitive and simple with the Tenkara. There are situations where casting with one hand or the other is preferable to achieve a better casting angle and get a better drift. With a rod that you can cast well with either hand, you enhance your prospects of covering some water more effectively.
John