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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