Warm Water Tenkara: First Impressions

by James Fulmer
(California)

Two weeks ago I'd never heard of Tenkara.

Thought I'd share some of my rookie experience, meager as it is. My home water is a pond about ten miles from my house. As a part of an urban park, it gets a lot of attention from picknickers, hikers, and more than a few fisher persons (although I've yet to meet another fly-fisherman). It still manages to support a nice population of small to medium size sunfish and the occasional bigmouth lunker.

I went up there yesterday afternoon with a 13ft Kasugo (6:4) and a 10ft Yokoshima (7:3) received last week from the AllFishBuy folks. (I am, incidently, hoping to get one of the new TenkaraUsa Iwana rods when they become available.) I met a young man at the pond who was eager to show me a photo on his iphone of a bass he caught earlier that day which he figured would go eight pounds. I was thinking more like five, but then if I had caught it, I'd probably go eight myself. I congratulated him with both admiration and envy. I've hooked a few like that, but have not landed one out of this particular fishing hole. (He caught his with a big ugly plastic worm that would haved scared small children.)

I rigged up the Kasugo with about 14ft of 15lb running line. I know this is a lot heavier than is recommended, but I wanted to see how the rod would handle it, and thought the heavy line would better cut through the considerable wind gusts this place gets in the late evening. I tied on a home-made version of the TenkaraBum's killer-bug to couple feet of 5x tippett, attached, in turn, to a few more feet of 1x used as both a taper and a cushion between tippet and running line.

I've had many fine days on these waters, and this one ranks with the best. Let me share a few impressions:
1. The soft tip of the tenkara rod does not transfer the electric jolt of a stiffer-tipped fly rod, but it detects the soft strikes better. And yesterday 3/4 of the strikes were soft. I doubt I'd have noticed half of them with my other rods.
2. Fish tend to throw the hook less with the tenkara rod. Again, I think the soft tip does not allow the fish to get enough purchase on the hook to throw it. I didn't count, but I'm pretty sure my hook-up to landing ratio improved by about 50 per cent.
3. Roll casting is ideal with a tenkara rod. This a great way to cut through and under the wind, and if you remember to get the line out of the water and load only with the tippet, you can get a fairly delicate presentation.
4. There are limitations. I hooked up with a five plus pounder and had a major thrill for a heart-stopping ten seconds or so. I know it was five plus because it snapped my 5lb tippet cleanly like it was a wet noodle. More skill, more experience, and a whole lotta luck might have allowed me to land it, but I kinda doubt it. Tenkara, perhaps, is not made for the monsters.

I could go on, but I've blabbered enough. I can hardly wait to try the lighter lines and smaller rods on the tiny trout streams I am partial towards.

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten” - Benjamin Franklin

"Be sure in casting, that your fly fall first into the water, for if the line fall first, it scares or frightens the fish..." -
Col. Robert Venables 1662

As age slows my pace, I will become more like the heron.

We've all had situations where seriously chewed up flies kept catching fish after fish after fish. It is no sin to tie flies that come off the vise looking seriously chewed up.

Seriously, all the hooks sold on TenkaraBum.com, whether packaged as loose hooks or incorporated into flies, are sharp - or as Daiichi says on their hook packages, Dangerously Sharp. Some have barbs, which make removal from skin, eyes or clothing difficult. Wear eye protection. Wear a broad-brimmed hat. If you fish with or around children, bend down all hook barbs and make sure the children wear eye protection and broad-brimmed hats. Be aware of your back cast so no one gets hooked.

Also, all the rods sold on TenkaraBum.com will conduct electricity. Do not, under any circumstances, fish during a thunder storm. Consider any fishing rod to be a lightning rod! Fishing rods can and do get hit by lightning!