Going back a few years, there was a bit of a debate as to what the definition of tenkara is. No, I’m not really looking to stir the pot on that one today, but there is a point to revisiting this, I promise.
Personally, when I think of tenkara, I think of it as a fishing activity involving an ultralight fixed line rod, line, and fly to catch trout & char in high gradient mountain streams. That’s what tenkara rods were designed to do by the Japanese, that’s how they’re categorized and sold in their fishing tackle shops and catalogs. Therefore, that’s what comes to mind if I were asked to define it, right or wrong. Your interpretation may vary, and that’s cool by me.
When people ask me why I use the term “fixed line fly fishing” to describe derivative activities with a tenkara rod, I often use the analogy that you can take an ice fishing rod twenty miles offshore if you want, jig all day and catch all sorts of saltwater fish with it, but no matter how successful you are, you’re not ice fishing. I think I’ve used that outlandish comparison at least a hundred times in conversations over the years to qualify what I think tenkara is, or isn’t. I mean who would even think to use a ice fishing rod in the middle of the ocean anyway?
The crux of it is, no matter what style rod you’re using, the rod alone doesn’t define the activity. So, why beat this dead horse now, or again at all?
Well, when I was driving back down to Florida from a holiday visit to Pennsylvania last week, I stopped at a rest stop to grab a bite to eat. There happened to be a stack of free fishing magazines near the fountain drink machine so I picked one up. As I briefly paged through, I was greeted by an ad for what looked like an ice fishing rod being used to catch big pelagic fish – from bull sharks to goliath grouper! There was no mention of ice fishing, (or fortunately, tenkara).
Immediately thinking about my “outlandish” analogy, I certainly got a chuckle out of it. I hope you do too. 😉
Editor’s Note: This is just a silly editorial. There is no right or wrong. Don’t take things like fishing too seriously.
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I just couldn’t help myself as obviously, you could not either but here’s my thought: who’s to say what’s “right”? That term alone stumps me.
Is something “right” because others say it is? Is something “right” because it has always been a certain way? Is something “right” because it follows a tradition? Is something “right” because is of it’s performance or efficacy? Is something “right” because of how it make you feel?
I guess defining the “right” tool really depends on what your objectives are for the task undertaken. Just my humble opinion, and certainly respect yours.
Karin, I am with you. I think the vast majority of the ‘what is right’ conversation comes as a direct result of social media making it so easy and attractive to share our thoughts and opinions. That is a good thing, for example, because that is how I found you and Zen Tenkara!
It also brings increased opportunities for people to argue (not necessarily bad) about things that don’t really matter apart from how each of us views our lives.
I really care about having a great time fishing and I prefer to fish on small mountain streams and that is where I enjoy tenkara the most. If other people want to do it differently that is perfectly fine with me.
It sounds like you found your “right” and I applaud you for appreciating others finding there’s. I find pleasure and joy in mixing things up. Sometimes it is a small stream, sometimes it is a wide river and sometimes it is in the salt. My “right” tool changes depending on my goals. And my “right” tool even includes reels sometimes. I enjoy a broad range of experiences and respect that other people are more comfortable and find there own joy in a much smaller box. “Right” is relative.
Ice fishing is simply defined: fishing through ice.
Tenakra is simply defined as well: Japanese: テンカラ釣り, literally: “fishing from heaven”, “sky fishing”, or “empty sky fishing” as ten = “sky” and kara = “empty”
No trout/char, no mountain streams. Just empty skies above.
Case closed.
🙂
“the rod alone doesn’t define the activity”. Yes and no. Let me elaborate.
Classical fly fishing is all about “perfect dead drift” (OK, let’s not discuss things like streamers). Most US tenkara anglers have a fly fishing background… So they are striving for the same thing with tenkara – “perfect dead drift”. Dead insect imitation. But if you look at what master anglers in Japan are doing – they are not imitating dead insects. They are imitating LIVE insects which just fall into the water. So tenkara is about making an impression of SMALL LIVE INSECT. This is why not that many flies as in classical fly fishing – if it is alive it is edible, no need to perfectly “match the hatch”. This is why ultralight long rods and fixed line setup – this is a lot better at making “live” presentations than classical fly fishing or keiryu rod setup… “Live” in tenkara is not a feature, it is an essence.
Anglers in US do many things with tenkara rods. You can fish nymphs, there is even a “tenkara nymphing” name for it in the US. You can fish classic dry and wet flies. You can fish streamers. You can fish small spoons (and other small spinning lures). All that “derivative activity”, nothing wrong with it, it just works. But all that can be done with dedicated gear, and honestly tenkara gear is NOT absolutely better in the majority of practical cases then some dedicated gear. But no other gear is better than tenkara in fishing wet fly with “sesoy” manipulation. This links rod and activity together.
I hear your point but have an automatic cringe reaction to throwing anything heavier than a fly. I would caution anyone throwing heavy lures such as spoons or spinners. 1. Tenkara rod tips are not designed for this kind of weight in casting. 2. Spinners and spoons are designed to be reeled in to create their action. Both of these points are important to make specifically for beginners to read. We do have a responsibility to others coming into tenkara. I appreciate your point about live insect presentation.
Dennis, you are right about spinning lures. My answer was addressed to Michael, I was not thinking about anyone else. Thank you for commenting!
Let me elaborate a little bit about spoons. It is actually a viable method with a tenkara rod. There are two ways. First is involving very light Japanese “area” spoons, I took the idea from Chris (tenkarabum). If you are familiar with the Oni fishing method involving “giant kebary” – an area spoon can be used as a direct replacement for giant kebary. It fishes differently than kebary (and it would be too much for a simple post to elaborate), but overall rod/line setup is the same as for giant kebary. My spoon of choice is Rodio Craft Blinde Flanker 0.5g https://www.digitaka.com/items/192/70/53/BLINDE+FLANKER+0.5g . I rig it with a Decoy “Fiber Front” hook, setup picture here: https://www.katsuichi.co.jp/decoy/decoy-list/single-hook/area-trout/506-ah-7s . Result is neither lure, nor fly, but it is absolutely amazing. Weight is the same as this nymph: https://dragontailtenkara.com/products/bead-head-peacock-futsu-kebari-flies-12-pack.
Second way can be described as small water downscaling of spoon swinging for steelhead, this is a good basic reference: https://www.steelheader.net/steelhead/spoon_fishing.htm. It is not tenkara, there is no name for it, it is probably not known in the US and Japan. It works better with a keiryu rod about 5m long, i.e. Daiwa Kiyose 53M-Y. Appropriate spoons are around 2g weight (1/16oz). Line with a tippet is about the same length as the rod. Lines do not have to be tenkara lines, any 4lb mono is fine. There is no casting involved, you just gently pendulum spoon. Reel is not needed – current is used to animate the spoon. Appropriate water is 3-4 feet deep with a strong current, fish is snug at the bottom. There are advanced techniques to fish kebary in such water, but honestly it is not that effective. Better approach would be with nymphs, but it is also pretty technical (rigs need to be tuned to “tick the bottom”, nymphs need to “match the hatch”, fly must be presented exactly in the feeding line). Setup with spoons is a lot less technical. Trout react differently on the spoons than on nymphs – trout defend their territory from “intruder fish” (spoon). So spoons do not have to be delivered absolutely precisely, game does not include hatch matching, and in many cases trout which refuse flies would still attack spoons. Depending on the particular spot, a long fixed line setup could give a better presentation than a spinning setup. Also telescopic fixed line rod is a lot faster to set up/pack back then spinning rod/reel, so if you mostly fish tenkara but do not want to miss a few deep runs on the way – it fits better. But the long rod needs clearance, and there is limited reach, so it is not better than spinning overall. More about lures… I do not recommend typical US market treble rigged spoons for it, treble would immediately snag the bottom. Hook must be a single hook (for the correct way to replace it please refer to steelheader article), my hook of choice is Owner C’ULTIVA SBL-51 size 6 (barbless). My spoon of choice – Daiwa Crusader (JDM). Spinners I would not recommend.
There are also options to fish feather jigs and small plastics, it is about the same as streamers. I do not like fishing tenkara rods this way, in my opinion there are no good cases for it. But I tried it, it can be done…