The Simple Way Of Fly Fishing That Is Tenkara

I've been reading quite a bit lately about an ultra simplistic style of fishing known as Tenkara, a traditional Japanese style of fishing which seems to be gaining a lot of followers in the western world.

To briefly outline the principles of Tenkara...it involves nothing more than an extremely light telescopic rod which extends between 11ft - 13ft6in in length (and closes down to 20") to which a long leader and tippet is added to the end (approximately the length of rod or longer). The fly or flies are then attached. No reel is used when fishing Tenkara.

    20" overall length when closed

            Traditional hand woven leader

The appealing aspect of Tenkara is that it requires a minimal amount of tackle which can be carried in a small pouch, together with a lightweight rod that will close down to 20" in overall length this offers the roving angler total freedom to wander unhindered.

If I'm honest I would have to admit that Tenkara's simple approach takes me back to a childhood time of fishing some local waters with a wooden stick, some line, a hook and a lump of bread trying to catch some of the resident fish.

I fancy that at some point in the future I will be trying out the Tenkara style of fishing, if so I'll be sure to let you know how I get on.

If you want to find out more then there is a wealth of information HERE


Tenkara Basics - Instructions and Lines from Tenkara USA on Vimeo.


Tenkara fly-fishing from Tenkara USA on Vimeo.

All photos and videos courtesy of TenkaraUSA