Backcountry Fly Fishing with Tenkara: Ultralight Style and Simplicity

Ive been looking to get one of these for awhile now. After that awesome video I might have to go make an order.

Thanks for the video Ryan

Nice fish!

Excellent video Ryan–I like the idea of no reel-very simple and its all about the technique and perfecting the Art of UL backcountry fishing…I am very interested in a Tenkara pole now!!

-Jay

Hi Ryan,

Great video, nice fishing spot, as it is winter down under I can only dream at the moment.

How would do you think the Tenkara rod would handle a 5-6 lb Trout.

Tony

Okay, I have to admit that I understood very little of the technical description of some the accessories and whatnot that Ryan was describing. I am very interested in getting into fishing, but I don't really know a good place to start and it seems a little intimidating to me (especially as I'm a former vegetarian–don't tell the others!).

I live in lake Tahoe and was hoping to get a license this summer, but never got around to it. Does lake fishing from a shore/pier seem like a good place to start, or is river fishing where it's at?

Can someone point me in the right direction for a simple, educated, and to the point introduction to all things fishing? Thanks.

What kind of casting distance is reasonable? Can this work in small lakes as well?

The 11 and 12 ft rods seem like a problem if there's much brush near the water. Is it? Any solutions?

Great video Ryan. I'm ordering a Tenkara set-up this or next month, can't wait for it, it seems like made for UL backpackers!

btw, what's the Song in the Video?

I bought the Ebisu pole along with a line about a month ago and created a kit similar to Ryan's. This is a light, simple, elegant style of fly fishing. The casting technique is very easy to learn. It is also very fast to set up taking about a minute or two to be fishing (Tip: keep the line/tippet/fly ready on a spool). I have fished the Arkansas and South Platte rivers along with a couple lakes in Wyoming and caught trout at each location. The Sage is going to be gathering dust for a while!

@Tony – How do I think Tenkara would handle a 5-6 lb trout? I caught a 23″ brown with a Tenkara rod on the Madison and the rod did fine – I did have to “chase” the fish down stream. I think at some point, if you want to keep the fish, you’ll have to do the bobbing routine from A River Runs Through It. The better question is “how would you handle a 5-6 lb trout” and the typical answer upon hooking one is “I’d crap my pants!” then worry about how the rod would handle it.

@Zach – education is fast and furious in the days of the internet, there’s lots of good stuff out there. I’d start with this as a most basic introduction: Wikipedia Article on Fly Fishing, then type “fly fishing how-to” on YouTube.com. Then, then go to your local fly shop and tell them you’re brand new and you need help. I think one of the best ways to learn it, if you have no friends who fly fish, and a little cash, is to hire a guide. Money well spent, you’ll learn to cast correctly. Also local shops can tell you about casting clinics, fishing shows, and other events. So, get plugged in there.

@Nia – casting distance is limited by the length of the line (10.5 feet) + the length of your tippet (3′ to 8′) minus the hanging arc horizontal distance between the tip of your rod (the terminus of your line) and where the line hits the water (equation not provided). In other words, a few feet less than the line+leader length. Casting distance is less relevant in Tenkara fishing than conventional fly fishing.

@Hendrik – the song in the video is Look for Me in the Mountains.

@Thomas – I have to laugh at your comment that the Sage is going to be gathering dust for awhile. Yeah, mine too. Reminds me of the old days of saying “The Dana (pack) is going to be gathering dust for awhile…”

Howdy Ryan- Thanks for the great clip on bc fly fishing. Beautiful looking cutties in the SF Flathead. Tenkara is a really cool concept and you really got me thinking about it! We just got off a PR trip on the SF Sun and found the fly fishing for Cuts and Rainbows pretty darn good. Your fish taco recipe was savored around our fire every night. Thanks much!

Great vid, Ryan! It was an earlier post here that introduced me to tenkara this summer, and I've been enjoying it since! I have the Yamame rod, and two tackle set-ups: one a Filson waist belt for when I'm not hiking, just fishing, and the other a Mayfly lanyard pouch for hiking. The folks at Bob Merritt's in Buena Park, CA, were very helpful in finding nice lightweight accessories for hiking, including the small foam boxes you mentioned (hiking set-up uses one, just fishing two). The reel, line, and heavy vest are gone for good!

Wow, with my Membership I also get this great Song for free! Love it. Thanks for the link Ryan.

tried to google that but no luck
i would love any explanation :)

too bad trout fishing ends in one month here, i will just have the time to try my luck for mountain lakes trouts ( ends 3 weeks after )
but after hesitating a bit, a tenkara will soon be otw to use when i do river fishing and no sea fishing hikes.
i should save 10oz that way.

erased

If shore debris is the concern, Eugene, then you're in luck as the last few winters have wrecked pole and line thwarting vegetation all over that region.

Ryan,

Thanks… That was a great video. I think I'll get one and give it a try.

Kendall

Hi Ryan,

I really enjoyed your brief Tenkara tutorial and seeing the S. Fk again. I floated it 35 miles last year in my Outlaw (www.northforkoutdoors.com) and had a blast.

You got me interested again in a simpler form of fly fishing and brought back some fine memories. Some friends and I were doing almost the same thing back in the 80's after getting in some telescopic fiberglass/graphite panfish rods at a fishing store where I worked. We had great success on local streams with the 10-20 foot rods, no reel and nymphs. It was a revival of the old cane pole panfish techniques from the turn of the century.

Reel-less fly fishing actually goes back to the very beginnings of the sport in Europe in the 1500's? where long sticks of willow, greenhart or bamboo were used with short lengths of braided horsehair lines, leaders and snelled flies to catch trout, grayling, roach, pike and perch. This was long before reels, silk lines and split bamboo rods were invented.

It's like your high school cloths! If you keep them long enough, they will come back in style. Good techniques never die they just have revivals every once in a while. Thanks for reminding me to lighten, simplify and enjoy!

For those of you in the know,

Is there any reason Tenkara would not be an appropriate method of fishing to learn for a complete fishing novice (no previous fishing experience)?

Ian

This looks like a far more sophisticated version of what I did as a kid with a line tied to the end of a willow pole. It worked really well on very narrow mountain streams (the kind that cut a deep channel going into or out of a lake) where I could stand some distance away and just drop the fly in. I also did some casting with it, too. Of course it's obvious that Tenkara has many more possibilities! I've just sent out a Christmas gift request to my grown children!

Is the song available on a recording (or download) anywhere? It's MY theme song! (and, I'm sure, that of a lot of other folks on this forum.)

Mary,
Ryan posted a link to the song above.

Thanks, Matt! I guess I was too enthusiastic about finding out more on Tenkara to read Ryan's post carefully enough!

I have now downloaded the song and played it several times. If it weren't already BPL's theme song, it would be mine! 'Walk as much of the trails 'til my dying day.' Or, as I have often put it, as long as I can put one foot in front of another–"Look for me in the mountains!"

Thanks, BPL, for making this lovely song available for us members for free!

This is really cool, but what about preparing the fish when you catch it? Don't you also need to carry along supplies for cooking/grilling?

Also I have no idea how to fillet a caught fish, I suppose I should learn that. :)

Ryan,

You mention in your video that you save the weight of the rod case. How do you carry the rod to protect it then?

You can use a very lightweight grill if you want. But, for years I have not carried anything special for cooking the fish. Just break a twig from a tree and skewer the fish, just add sea salt on the outside. Check this out:
Trout a la tenkara

The tip of the rod and all are inside the main part, thus no need for a case.