What You Need
Rod, line, tippet, a few flies, nippers
Rod: single or multiple lengths, telescopic
Popular U.S. vendors: Tenkara USA, DRAGONtail
Don’t need special flies — use whatever you want — but worth trying Tenkara flies
Links
Learn to Tenkara series from Tenkara USA
Fighting big fish with Tenkara from Gink & Gasoline
Complete Guide to Tenkara from Discover Tenkara
Landing a big fish with Tenkara video from Tenkara Angler
Tenkara flies (
tenkara kebari
) place less emphasis on imitation and more on presentation. They reflect a tenkara philosophy of relying on technique instead of gear. Most tenkara anglers in Japan only use one fly pattern, each one having his favorite one.
Gear Setup
Line length: start with about same length of rod but can be any length, much longer + 4/5’ tippet (use the heaviest tippet you can get away with, I usually use 5x or 3x)
Don’t break the tip! Easy to do. To open, hold close to the opening and pull out each section, put line on before extending it out
Line to rod: loop to Lillian or Tenkara “one knot” to Lillian
Line to tippet: tippet ring/swivel to tippet or “one knot” (double fisherman's knot) for tippet and figure-8 knot for level line
Fishing Tenkara
Casting: hold with index finger on top, and end of handle; up to 12 o'clock and forward to 10, quick motion; need quicker snap for level line
Best for dry fly fishing: dead drift, pulsating, pause and drift, pulling
Landing fish: rod at 45 degrees or higher and angle back then grab line, keep arm close in to body and hand line it in and net
Lightest presentation ever, great for dry flies
Lines
Furled lines: traditional, easy to cast, not great for wind, can get wind knots and twisted up easily, sinks over time and needs treated.
Tapered Nylon: easy to cast, good float and presentation, good starter line; tippet ring,
Sinking Line: I’ve only used one from DRAGONtail with swivel, extra long length, works well with small streamers, nymphs
Level Line: Cut to any length, low drag drift, little memory, doesn’t twist up, a bit more work
General Notes
Tenkara flies with reverse hackle are hard to tie on with some knots; I use the Tenkara “one knot” which is basically a double loop slip knot. Simple.
I use this same knot for level line to rod and line to tippet and it’s very strong.
The idea of using just a couple of flies and varying techniques is very liberating, and I’ve caught just as many fish doing this as with trying to match what’s in the water.
A long Tenkara rod is a good way to try Euro nymphing
Use whatever fly you want, including dry/droppers. The main thing I’ve found is that I can generally get better presentation with Tenkara
Be wary of moving from place to place: this is where you risk breaking that tiny end segment and getting your line all twisted up. Consider a line holding solution for your rod