Tenkara seems to be a hot topic at the moment. John Pearson and Paul Gaskell have put together for us a series of excellent articles covering everything you need to know about Tenkara fishing from the history, set up and using this technique on your own rivers.
Tenkara seems to be gaining in popularity, if not in terms of numbers of actual practitioners; certainly in terms of the amount of discussion and controversy generated on letters pages and many an internet forum. As always, such a gathering of momentum inevitably brings with it a huge amount of information, interpretation and opinion. Since there are so many examples of contradictory statements within these discussions, not all of this information can possibly be correct. So what is it all about?
After trying fishing with tenkara tackle we both very quickly realised how effective it is in presenting our familiar western styles of fly fishing. Like many anglers, our early experiences with tenkara comprised close range dry fly and long leader (French/Spanish) nymphing styles of fishing. These proved incredibly successful both in terms of efficacy and sheer enjoyment. The ability to achieve wonderful drag-free (and disturbance-free) drifts proved very useful when experimenting to find a successful fly pattern without spooking a fish – even over several presentations.
The timing, short casting stroke and subtlety of “touch” required to produce accurate and delicate loops also soon became very apparent. Most first time casters with a Tenkara rod spend a short,
frustrating apprenticeship producing a puddle of limp line at their feet before they shorten and sharpen up their casting stroke. Very soon, though, we (and others) found great pleasure in firing highly accurate casts onto small target areas – especially since the long rod allowed the line and leader to be held aloft beyond the reach of nagging currents once a cast had been delivered. For many people this use of tenkara equipment to fish their favourite patterns and methods provides more than enough fun and satisfaction – and their exploration of the method stops there.
Whether or not it is a character flaw – a certain type of angler finds a peculiar satisfaction to hunting
down and absorbing all available information on a new subject. It is certainly a trait that we both share and fuels any number of convoluted discussions over the phone. Our quest for improved knowledge of tenkara has already produced a great stock of strange and amusing automated translations of some of the Japanese web pages! In fact, it didn’t take very much research to realise
that we’d fallen into a trap that catches out a great many western commentators.
We realised that we were trying to fit tenkara into a category of fishing that we already knew well. By doing so, we risked overlooking - or worse - reinventing any number of developments that had already been made by historic pioneers who relied on tenkara to feed themselves and their families. Ongoing communication with Daniel Galhardo (of Tenkara USA) is proving to be a fascinating and invaluable boost to our understanding of tenkara, its origins and context. Our initial impressions garnered from mainstream British fly fishing media included such myths as the erroneous belief that tenkara was a noble practice indulged in by the Samurai. In actual fact, tenkara has much more humble beginnings among the landless, mountain-dwelling peasant classes of Japan. It is possible that the confusion could have arisen from the rich documentary and pictorial evidence of lowland “Ayu” (or sweetfish; Plecoglossus altivelis) angling which was practiced by the Samurai during the relatively peaceful Edo period.
As we’ll see in future articles, tenkara is born from a patchwork of isolated pockets of development spread throughout the mountain streams of Japan. There are a number of surviving themes that are strikingly similar between these different regional traditions. Conversely, there are also interesting differences that highlight a delightful richness and variety of techniques that are captured under the umbrella term “tenkara”.
So what is tenkara? It is much more than just a rod. It is an entire approach with many different facets and techniques. Within that variety, it is possible to stick to just one of the approaches that you enjoy. On the other hand, you could choose to explore a whole range of known Japanese styles and techniques before making developments of your own. A long rod, a fixed line and no reel are fundamental defining characteristics. Very commonly, the line will be longer than the rod and the final landing of the fish requires a deft skill and responsive touch in order to hand-line the fish in the
absence of the cushioning effect of a bent rod tip. Originally the line itself was braided from horse hair to form a casting taper and the rod made from carefully selected bamboo. Nowadays we benefit
from modern material science in the form of synthetic threads furled into tapers as well as “level” fluorocarbon lines and carbon fibre rods. The flies strive for ultimate simplicity, with the majority
being hackled patterns designed to be fished subsurface and a less common use of floating (dry) patterns. No characterisation of tenkara would be truly complete without considering the nets – known as “tamo” in Japanese. These are things of great beauty, fashioned from a single, forked section of tree limb; carefully dried, formed, sanded and finished. Each has a specific and unique character that derives from the interaction between the growth form of the raw material and the workings of individual craftsmen.
In future articles we’ll be covering subjects such as, tackle choice, fly patterns, presentation techniques, fish playing and landing skills and a closer look at tenkara’s history.
Please visit John and Pauls website
HERE
If you are interested in Tenkara fishing stay tuned to next months issue and also take a look at the UK Tenkara Forum.