Written by Martin Montejano
As modern day recreational anglers, we get to enjoy nature and fishing with our pick of tackle and tools.
From spinning rods to baitcasters, and fly rods to tenkara rods, there are plenty of options available to pick from. Each rod style will have its own strong points and shortcomings, and tenkara is no different, but we as anglers should be able to utilize the advantages that our tackle offers. This article is meant to express a few advantages of fishing with a tenkara rod, as well as how to benefit from those advantages.
We recently posted about the history of tenkara, and where we feel the style of fishing really shines. If you haven’t had a chance to read that article, you can find a link for it here…
Many of the points that are covered in this article stem from our experiences in using tenkara to fish those high-gradient mountain streams. Some of these advantages apply to other water types where you might choose to use a tenkara rod, but keeping the focus on the more “traditional” setting for tenkara helps us set the pace for future articles.
The Length of the Rod
Tenkara rods are often longer than other types of rods used in freshwater fishing. Most people suggest getting a rod in the 360cm/12 foot range for your first rod. Even we suggested it in one of our first articles, which you can find a link to below…
But, why are these rods so long, and what benefits does this offer?
Being that this style of fishing originated in the mountains of Japan, the characteristics of these waters often present the challenge of trying to keep your fly (or bait) in one feeding lane when the waters are cluttered with complex currents. Having a long rod helps to suspend the majority of the line off the water, allowing for a more natural presentation of your fly among those currents.
Other than just being able to keep your line from being influenced by the flowing water, there is a bit of a mechanical advantage. Modern tenkara rods offer a relatively soft action, and this is in part due to the line used. The casting lines used in tenkara are much lighter than lines used in rod and reel fly fishing. With a longer rod, anglers are able to use the momentum created by the back cast, and in some cases, the weight of the casting line, to load the rod and deliver a fly first cast to small targets on the stream. Which brings me to my next point…
Present the Fly
Casting in a way that delivers the fly first sets you up to present the fly in ways that you cannot achieve with line resting on the water. The dead drift is one of the most common presentations in the fly fishing world, and achieving a good dead drift with a tenkara rod is easy. The reach of the long rod allows the angler to suspend the majority of the line off the water, allowing the fly to drift through the water or pause in a swirling eddy with only a little bit of tippet in the water.
Another benefit that comes with the long rod and the ability to suspend the line off the water is the opportunity to animate the fly. While there are ways that rod and reel fly anglers can animate the fly, most of them depend on tension in the line at most points. When you already maintain contact with the fly in most scenarios, you open up a world of possibilities. This, and the action of a tenkara rod allows you to impart a swimming motion, vibration, and many other movements and combinations of those animations.
Feedback
Some of the presentations you can achieve with a tenkara rod rely on contact with the fly. While managing tension in the line can be fairly easy, the right amount of tension offers the benefit of feedback. That contact with the fly, when fishing a fly under the surface, helps to utilize the sensitivity of the rod, giving you feedback on your fishing.
There are many times when you can detect a strike by subtle movements in the line, or the rod tip. With the right amount of tension, there’s a chance you can feel even subtle strikes being transmitted through the line and down the rod blanks.
You can even move the placement of your hand so that your finger rests on the rod blank, increasing the felt vibrations that are carried through from the line.
This feedback makes it easy for anglers of any skill level to catch fish.
Simplicity
One last benefit that I wanted to mention as I wrap this article up, is the simplicity that tenkara promotes. Many people are drawn to tenkara because of this, while others are put off by that same reason. Some people absolutely love buying and trying fishing gear. But, for those who want a more minimal option, tenkara seems to be the way to go. Oftentimes, less gear can lead to more time fishing. The more time you spend fishing with a tenkara rod, the more you learn what you can really do. As Chris Stewart, the owner of TenkaraBum, once said - “It’s not the simplicity of the gear that makes tenkara interesting, it’s the complexity of what you can do with it.”
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