John Pearson, Paul Gaskell and Dean Hodson are back this month explaining how to get started if you have wanted to try tenkara fishing for the first time.
There’s a growing wealth of information and opinion on tenkara out there on the internet and someone interested in trying this style of fishing for the first time can often be faced with information overload. Some sources say “anything goes” when it comes to defining tenkara while there are some conspiracy theorists out there who think that there’s a “tenkara police” waiting to put a stop to everyone’s fun if they don’t practice “proper tenkara”.
No one is born a tenkara master and we’ve all got to start somewhere. In our earliest days of tenkara we used our tenkara rods to fish the western fishing styles we were most familiar with and if you’re a tenkara curious fly fisher this is not a bad place to start. You probably have all the accessories you’ll need such as flies, tippet, snips and net etc. A tenkara rod and a leader/line designed for tenkara are really the only essentials an already established fly angler needs to start discovering tenkara.
Make no mistake, “proper tenkara” is out there somewhere and although its definition may prove elusive - chances are you won’t be doing it on your first trip out. What you’ll probably find though is that fishing with a tenkara rod is fun!
Many uninitiated observers of tenkara in the UK have compared it to pole fishing or whip fishing but this is a very uneducated observation. Lumping tenkara rods in with poles and whips simply because they don’t have a reel or rod rings is like saying all fishing rods with a reel or eyes are the same... would you try casting a 4oz lead with a 4wt fly rod or try casting a fly line with a beach-caster or carp rod? In the picture we can see the tip of a 4m whip beside two different tenkara rods; tenkara rods are carefully designed for their intended purpose and believe us, whips don’t cast anything like a tenkara rod. This crisp, precision fly-casting of what can be very long lines (up to around 9 metres of line with tippet) is a world away from pole fishing.
Equally, the lack of rod rings and associated whippings/varnish allow the tenkara rod makers to produce a casting tool that is totally distinct from western fly rods; simultaneously crisp and yet very soft and delicate. It is surprising how much inertia is added to the fine, flexible tip of a conventional fly rod by the inclusion of rings and whippings. Such inertia is conspicuous by its absence on a modern tenkara rod.
When it comes to rigging up most fly fishers have their preferred knots for attaching flies to tippet and tippet to line but attaching a fixed line directly to the end of a rod is likely to be a new experience.
The diagrams above kindly provided by Daniel at Tenkara USA show two methods of attachment for both types of line used in tenkara fishing. Furled lines (akin to long furled leaders used by some western fly fishers) are a modern equivalent of the original tenkara lines that were made from braided or furled horse hair. Modern furled lines are normally constructed from manmade fibres and a good starting point is a leader around the length of the rod or slightly shorter.
Level lines are made from a single length of un-tapered fluorocarbon and are rated using a Japanese number system partly comparable in intent to the way western fly lines are given numbers; with smaller numbers meaning lighter lines. Level lines rated #3 and #4 are probably the most popular with a #3 being roughly equivalent to 12lb b/s and #4 around 15lb b/s. From these ballpark breaking strain figures, it is clear that the AFTM system for rating western fly lines of number 3 or number 4 bears no relation to the figures #3 or #4 appended to tenkara lines. In fact, the tenkara lines would all be certainly less than AFTM #2 – and more often less than AFTM#1. Without getting too bogged down in technical detail – such comparisons are not especially useful since the AFTM system applies to a set length of line (which is additionally complicated by the design of the line’s taper). By contrast, level lines (obviously) do not taper and the mass of line increases in direct proportion to the increased length that is aerialised. All that you need to know is that the heavier level tenkara lines are better in windy conditions and also for simply getting the hang of casting a tenkara rig. The lighter rated lines are more delicate and can give more gentle presentation in less breezy conditions. Overall - don’t worry too much about ratings; most tenkara rods can cast all tenkara lines. You will know yourself when you want a difference in performance, and the choice of rating (heavier or lighter) will be obvious to you.
It’s worth noting that other level lines such as nylon or copolymer do not have the same properties as fluorocarbon and do not cast anywhere near as well; if you want try level line tenkara make sure to use fluorocarbon.
When attaching either type of line to the lilian (the short length of braid at the rod’s tip) be sure to keep the tip inside the rest of the rod as shown to avoid damaging the most delicate part of the rod.
Casting a tenkara rod may look easy enough but don’t be surprised if your first few attempts result in a heap of line landing at your feet as its very easy to overpower or miss-time your cast even if you’re an experienced fly caster (or instructor!). A shorter casting stroke with a stop at 12 o’clock on the back cast and somewhere between 11 and 10 o’clock on the forward cast is the default starting point but as with most types of fishing there can be many variations depending on the circumstances you find yourself in. The “foundation” casting stroke starts with the elbow close to the ribcage and the back cast is initiated by raising only the forearm. A tiny flick of the wrist completes the back cast to an abrupt “stop” at the 12 o'clock position (this “stop” position is facilitated by the classic “finger point” grip – as it is very uncomfortable if you try to “break” the wrist too far back). One worthwhile tip to remember is that after an abrupt stop on the forward casting stroke there is no ability to “shoot” any running line as you would on a conventional fly rod and line; you can however allow your rod tip to drift forward as the line is still turning over giving a much more delicate presentation when required.
Perhaps the best way to get the feel of casting well with a tenkara rod is to extend only the tip sections until you have a “rod” of around 6 or 7 feet in length. By performing gentle side casts at this reduced length you can watch the tip of the rod over the very short arc required to form tight and neat casting loops. The challenge is to then change nothing in your casting stroke when you fully extend the rod - as it is largely the soft tip sections that come into play during casting. In other words, there is no need to increase the casting arc as there is no appreciable bending of the additional sections. The most common mistake is to use too wide a casting arc in an attempt to “throw” the line. All that this achieves is an over-wide casting loop and the famous “puddle” of line landing at your feet.
The preferred grip of most tenkara practitioners is with the index finger on top of the rod handle.
As we’ve said, you can fish with a regular western fly approach with your tenkara rod and line -just attach your preferred tippet and flies and start having fun. If you’re up for a challenge (and we’d argue - even more fun) you can try a more traditional tenkara approach using a single un-weighted sakasa kebari. These traditional Japanese flies have a distinctive reverse hackle; sakasa in Japanese means inverted or reversed and kebari translates (roughly) as a feathered hook. These flies fish best when manipulated in the water and the hackles move in a very tantalising manner. A sakasa kebari attached to 3 or 4 feet of tippet is incredibly productive particularly on high gradient upland streams. The use of very simple and often mobile fly designs like this is a cornerstone of tenkara philosophy. The idea being that the range of manipulations performed by the angler can get a generic fly pattern to imitate a broad range of food items. What we are more used to in western fly fishing is relying on dressing a wide variety of closer imitations that contain the (hopefully) required triggers. The subtle difference could be represented by saying that a tenkara fly is simply a blank canvas that awaits a masterful touch to bring it to life as required by each separate fishing occasion. Conversely, a western fly is usually prepared in the vice to already contain all the qualities needed to provoke a strike when fished at the right time.
We’ll be looking at some of the ways that tenkara masters bring their generic fly patterns to life in future articles. In fact, we suspect that this seemingly innocuous subject area could well occupy an angling lifetime – but we do like a challenge!
For more on Tenkara please visit John, Paul and Dean's website