Hi, Kirk....
Well, since you invited me,,,,the same 1925 musky-fishing book I mentioned last Monday also described using a 14- to 16-foot cane pole to "skitter" baits for muskies. And of course the old-time jigger pole, with a short line tied to the tip, was long a staple of Southern bass fishing for those who dapped and swam pork chunks in the weedbeds. Then there are the similar set-ups in more modern form that European loch anglers use to dap for trout. All much larger poles than I understand a "tenkara" to be. But when is a tenkara not a tenkara?

At one time or another, isn't everything a fad? Something new comes about or something old is revisited and introduced to a new generation, and everyone pounces on it. Then things level out. Some people decide that it is not for them, and some people never stop. The ones that never stop are the ones that keep it alive, back in the shadows, waiting for a new generation to show how it was done, back in the day...

I don't know if you could call it a fad or not. The technique/concept is really something we all do when we fish small streams anyway. The reel is basically a line holder in that environment. It would be pretty cool to watch someone with a Tenkara setup hook on something with some weight to it though. Being limited in line would prove to be a challenge I think.

I have seen Koldkut Tenkara his cat with mock fly - now that's a cool fad.

I think this is great to see you guys talk about this and being a Tenkara USA Ambassador as well as a Tenkara blogger. I can see what Lefty may not like when it comes to distance but I can say without a doubt that for much of the water that I fish I seldom used my reel for more than line storage. I has been around a long time and obviously works for those professional fishermen who feed their families with the fruits of what we call a sport here.

I know this is a shameless plug but I would say check out my site www.TenkaraGrasshopper.com and maybe it will help explain tenkara to those who are unfamiliar with it yet or who want to learn more.

i believe it is a "fad" in the same sense that fishing for muskies is a fad...right now it is rising in popularity...and it will fall in popularity at some point and then rise again...just as fly fishing does...

might have to try it some time.

Koldkut, When we hook-up to fish this summer I'll bring my Tenkara rods. I shall baptize you to the dark-side. You must be careful, because you may never come back. (play spooky music now)

I have been thinking and looking at them with great interest. I love fishing small, backwoods streams and creeks for little native brookies and half of the time I'm basically fishing a tenkara style with my fly rod.

A fad? No. But Lefty's not as young as he used to be, so all this newfangled gear (you know... centuries old) is probably a bit overwhelming. Tenkara is a fantastic method for catching fish--and not just little fish, either. If you're interested, give it a go. If you're not, give it a rest.

I don't care what rod you throw as long as it's a fly rod. IMO whatever grows our sport and art is welcomed. I touched my first Tenkara over at Naomi Okamoto's ( an incredible fly tier) house last night. An ancient stick, possibly touched by a master, who knows, but the wonder of this little tool extending out into a full 11' rod simply with a gentle flick cast was intriguing. Now I'm hooked. I'll be adding one to my arsenal for the small Sierra streams. So what that you can't throw a cast to show off to all your buddies, most fish are often within a short cast anyway. You might call hundreds of years a fad, but I'll put my money on the smart thinking fly fisherman who is addicted to small streams and gentle presentation. Old School sometimes turns out to be no school.

Lefty is spot on. Why dumbdown flyfishing? A big part of flyfishing is to cast the line, and then present the fly. That becomes a big part of the pleasures of flyfishing. A high percentage of anglers can not do that to any degree of proficiency, but now they can call themselves "flyfisher" persons, and do not have to cast?

Just to clarify a previous comment, you do still have to cast and worry about presentation when Tenkara fishing. I think for people who haven’t tried it they might picture a rod with no reel as a tool for just dapping, however that is far from the truth. The rod itself is extremely flexible and is designed to cast accurately with a delicate fly first presentation. In fact I find my casts to be much more accurate with Tenakara although that may be more of a reflection on my skills with traditional gear. I can consistently cast to the same spot with a spot on fly first presentation. On a larger river it’s not unusual for someone to use a rod that is 13 feet long with a line that is 20 feet long or longer. So while you are restricted on the length of your cast you can still cast 30 or 40 feet which is plenty for most situations.

dleurquin, I'm not picking on you, but I see it elsewhere as well. I have not tried it, mostly because I'm a rod builder and I've been having too much fun kickin out rods and fishing with them. I bet they would kill on these western waters where most of my stream fishing is in areas where I'm only reaching 25'-30'. I'm also not your typical fisherman either, dirty pool is my style most of the time because to me, fishin's fishin as long as the legal rules aren't being broken.

As I former "tenkara angler" who fished almost exclusively with the method for most of last year, what worries me most about tenkara is the way SOME of it's supporters address the least little criticism. Is it a fad? Is it a cult? ( Read some tenkara posts on the various forums and you may find yourself wondering...) Can it last? What will it mean for western fly fishing and gear companies?

Only time will tell. One thing is for sure though, and that's this: Tenkara is no magic wand - for angling, or for fly fishing. It's the economy that needs fixing, not fly fishing.

It's funny,...I remember not too many years ago when fly fishermen spent their days lamenting the number of other anglers getting into fly fishing. Now, everyone wants to "save" it or some such nonsense.

Fly fishermen may be "lost" but fly fishing is as interesting and as inviting as it has ever been.

As a small business owner (not fishing related) when we started out 20 years ago there was a "Lefty Kreh" in our town. He discounted us basically in the same manner. Then he tried to emulate us. We never discounted his expertise as a "fad", we started our own. Today 20 years later we have our "fads" of each of the years we have been in business and incorporate new each year with knowledge of the subject. If TFO markets their own Tenkara rods, they will need to provide the same level of customer support they have for their western rods. Not Lefty, and never will be since this is my recreation, but if it were my business and if my name could be in any way associated with a less than quality Tenkara rod line, then Lefty is just in it for the "fad" dollars.
I was introduced to Tenkara by Owl Jones, bought his Iwana rod (now a collectors item). It has caught more trout than my western rod(s). I have expanded since then and have several. Tenkara, is a method and style. If you are used to fishing with a western rod, the only thing (in my opinion) that you can take from one style/method to the other is the flies. Lefty may be able to cast longer than my Tenkara rods can reach but I can now walk the water keeping my line off the water and for me fish easily, simply. With Tenkara, you become a natural object, minimal movement/disturbance to the trout's natural habitat.

I think it would be a slam dunk for bluegills and spring crappie fishing too.

Fad. Yup!

Probably the first fishing poles (ever) resembled the simple Tenkara gear, and if you've ever fished with or observed the amazing local fishers in China and Japan, with their 3-6 meter Tenkara poles, simple line, often bare hooks and seen the fish they draw in, you could not possibly say that Tenkara fishing is a fad. Tenkara has been around for a LONG time. Perhaps for Americans accustomed to finely tuned reels and handmade rods, the carbon graphite NEW Tenkara rods seem simple...the fishing practice, however, may require more finesse than one can imagine. Try it...a simple rod can be had online for $30, and of course you can spend much more, especially if you head to Asia to a specialty rod maker. While there, observe the local fishers who are not after huge trophy fish, but rather the interaction between self and creature. However, on a small rod and line, they frequently catch five pound, very sporting fish.

Long flexible fishing rod, rod has line, line holds a fly, fly gets presented to a fish, fish takes fly; sounds like fly fishing to me..

themad..Now that you say it in those simple terms, sounds like fly fishing to me to! Reminds me of the saying, "keep it simple stupid" I'll have to see on of these rods in action sometime.

buckhunter..Your reading skills are lacking. You must not have read my last post. But my theme is...get good at fly fishing. Learn a trout's diet, the food organisms they eat, their stages of development that trout focus on. Learn to cast. Make it a 400 level course, and it never gets old. You are constantly learning, and never will learn it all. Seems like a lot of folks on this thread want to call themselves fly anglers, but would be happy to grab a willow stick, and tip-toe through the outback "reducing stress" as they want to make you believe, and don't care if they learn a darn thing about flyfishing. I don't want it simplified. And neither does Lefty Kreh!

Fad or Fiction....Here's the thing that people are getting confused with..."Tenkara" is NOT A ROD, it is a word used for fly fishing with a long pole and a line and no reel and a fly...Simplistic, you know, they way most people learned to fish when they first went out with Mom or Dad. What has transpired or better what I have watched happen is that a young man has marketed quite impressively a company that uses and produces "telescopic" Rods for the purpose of fly fishing in small streams that you can fold down and backpack thru the woods with. There is not some evolutionary new form of fishing here...telescopic rods have been around for quite a while as well. The word is the confusion it isn't a rod it has a meaning which over time has become the word used in Japan possibly for fly fishing. The word doesn't mean telescopic rod or bamboo rod with furled leader and tippet. Tenkara is a word that means something like from the heaven's like picture an artisitic watching a mayfly gently land on the water, from the heavens...let's call it "tenkara" so folks are confusing the word with the telescopic rod developed by TenkaraUSA. It still means fly fishing but it's just the way people fly fished before there was a reel or even when there was a reel but you went out with your bamboo stick your parent handed you to get you out of their hair so they could do work around the house and you could go fishing and do something outside and healthy. So fad, until people realize that it just is another word for fly fishing, and it's not the name of a rod or fishing pole, they have different names, like (fill in the blank here). Remember, the goal is to be peaceful & fulfilled, and at the water's edge out wit a beautiful trout with a fly you tied to match the hatch, pat your self on the back, unhook it, say thank you and let it swim away for another day...

I love tenkara and it is diffidently not a fad. It is just going back to the basics of fly fishing and the origins except with more modern tech. Also when you are fishing for trout in medium to small streams you rarely are going to be casting more than 20 feet with a conventional fly rod and that you can get farther than that with a tenkara rod. Also the drag free drifts are great.

Also is I don't think Lefty kreh is a credible source to ask if something is a fad or not. He said that 9 ft fly rods were also a fad.

Sayfu, aside from just bustin' your balls on here, the hard facts are that 60% of all fly anglers fish other disciplines. There is always going to be blured lines. Hate to break it to you here too, but I am a good fly angler, maybe not great, but I am good. Whenever I make it out to ID, we should fish and grab a brew, you might see that my self described mediocrity in flyfishing may be better than your image of it. My point about baiting a flyrod was that I'm not above it, trust me, whey I flyfish, it's flies, streamers and nymphs mostly. As for the Tenkara rods, when you really take a look at its telescoping, it's not any different than a 5 or 6 piece pack rod, as long as the ferrules fit, there's only a difference in it's form factor. And it's genius for having it all break down into one compact storage format.

And koldkut. I good flyrod maker uses a ferruling system that disrupts the action of a blank very, very little...same material to same material, and there have been major breakthroughs in proper ferruling. They can be depended on to be strong as well. Some new rods now...some models ONLY come in a 4 piece. There has never been a telescoping ferrule that comes close to comparing to the "spiggot" ferrule, or the other one, I forget what they call that. When I think of a telescoping rod I think of the pocket fisherman. Lots a anglers got a laugh when they watched the commercial of someone pulling out one of those out of their pocket, and making a cast with it. Put a "banjo Minnow" on it, and who needs anything else?!