If you have been fly fishing for as long as I have, you start to feel like you know it all, and have seen it all. I will be the first to admit that it’s easy to occasionally border on arrogance.
Fly fishing is really no different. While technology has advanced Western fly fishing at an incredible pace to where it is today, Tenkara, a Japanese form of fly fishing, is all about taking things back to their truest form.
Tenkara has been around for over 200 years now, and is starting to gain some recognition in the Western Fly Fishing Community. Invented in the small mountain brooks and streams of Japan, it will offer you a whole new set of challenges, that will require developing a whole new set of skills.
So what exactly is Tenkara?
The word Tenkara can be translated as “from heaven,” or, “from the sky.”
Tenkara is practiced with very long rods, usually any where from 11 feet, to 13 feet long, and features a line attached to the end of the rod, and a fly attached to that.
You need a long rod when you aren’t using a reel. That’s right, no reel! Just a rod, a line, and a fly, and hopefully, some fish on the other end! If it sounds like cane pole fishing, that’s because it is…with a twist.
While traditional Tenkara rods were carved from bamboo, and some still are, rods are also available in more modern materials as well. Graphite is a very popular choice these days. If not made from bamboo, the rods are usually telescoping, and will collapse into a very small, very portable package. This fantastic portability means hikers and backpackers should give serious consideration to a Tenkara rod when heading off for their next adventure.
Casting a fly with nothing other than a line and a rod may seem extremely basic at first. That is, until you try it. Sure, you could just whip it out there and hope a fish will be tempted by the fly, but to truly learn how to get the fly in the right place, you need to learn some new skills and practice.
Tenkara has a whole bunch of techniques that are designed to get the fly in the right place and get a fish to bite.
If you have never tried this exciting and simple form of fly fishing, you definitely to. It will present new challenges and techniques that will help you discover a whole new dimension of fishing!
Learn more about Tenkara. Stop by this helpful site where you can more bass fishing and fly fishing tips and techniques.
