GROWING OUR SPORT

I have been a tenkara angler for some years now, and have come to discover the unfortunate truth about our sport. 

 

Hang-on! There’s no problem with our sport!

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    Well that might be true regarding the fishing method, but there’s another issue, and one quite honestly most tenkara anglers don’t consider. The problem with western tenkara is TEACHABILITY. If western angler’s don’t figure out how to teach themselves tenkara, then tenkara-methods will never be understood for their wonderful and more advanced complexities, at least here in the United States.

    As I see it, most tenkara anglers would rather ignore the traditions and complexities of the method, and portray tenkara as an easy, self-taught, and basic-gear system than showcase its' more advanced attributes.

    As tenkara angler’s we’ve all been introduced to the fixed-line style of fly fishing; whether it was a friend, a YouTuber, a local fly shop, each one of those introduction’s included the basic information; the easy and intuitive casting style, the rod and fly differences, etc. We’ve all read or heard, “it’s just a rod, a line, and a fly.” 

    There’s no doubt, simplicity works well for tenkara. It’s a great introduction to sharing something [we] as western fly anglers have complicated for a long time. At some point, however, if we keep fishing tenkara methods our thirst for more advanced knowledge and understanding outweighs the simplicity of the introduction.

    Unfortunately, a Japanese Tenkara Master, is not readily available in the United States to teach these more advanced and intermediate skill-sets. YouTube videos of Master anglers are spoken in all Japanese and (when subtitled or auto-dubbed in English) the lessons can be unfortunately basic and there translations sometimes hard to understand. 

    Sure, Japanese anglers make the flight over to teach a 1 or 2 day clinic or workshop, but usually these trips are focused on more basic and introductory information. And while we do have each other to share these more complex thoughts and techniques with, there’s no formal process for taking a beginner tenkara angler and growing their skills through a training process.

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    So, “can we teach ourselves tenkara?” The answer is, if we don’t, than we're going to lose at least some of the masterfulness [that is the tenkara method] to the naysayers.

    You might be thinking, “who cares about the naysayers,” and you’d be right to a point. It’s not the naysayers that matter. It’s us who matter. The ones who enjoy this style of fishing. The ones who are going to pass these methods down to the next generation of western tenkara anglers. The ones of us who care about the more advanced techniques.

    So I ask you, how would you teach tenkara to your son or daughter? Your friend? A western fly fisher you meet on your home waters?

    Is tenkara only to be recognized for its' ease and intuitiveness with no instruction needed? Should tenkara anglers just turn to their western "rod and reel" neighbor when searching for more advanced techniques and teaching methods?

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 Whether you fish by yourself or with other anglers we all share our fishing adventures and techniques with others. Sharing, is our way of teaching. Whether we know it [at the time] or not, these “fishing stories” [over time] form a collective. This ‘collective knowledge’ not only inspires current and future tenkara angler's, but creates (what I call) The Ethos of Tenkara. This ethos not only includes all current methods and historical teachings, but it also encompasses the future of tenkara. How will these methods be fished and taught in the future?

    Just as the Japanese have done for hundreds of years’, passing their techniques on to next generations (the Isshisoden), it’s time we begin to share that same historical lineage. If we do not begin to teach ourselves tenkara, we will lose western tenkara to the unfortunate mantra of "easy fly fishing for beginners." I ask you, "are you okay with a diluted version of western tenkara?"

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    Regardless, of whether we speak Japanese, fish for trout, know a little bit or a lot about the origins of tenkara it doesn't matter. We have a responsibility to share THE TECHNIQUE and the traditional methods. Tenkara is now part of the western angling experience and [we] the western angler, are included in THE ETHOS. Now that we're included in this world-wide conglomerative of knowledge and the sharing of that knowledge with other anglers, I hate to break it to you [us], but TEACHING [tenkara methods] is ON US going forward.

    Tenkara from Japan, is now everybody’s tenkara — thanks to the Japanese people of course! While we all agree that Japan is the origin-story of these headwater fishing methods, the Ethos, now includes all of us.

    So to get back to the question, “Can we teach ourselves tenkara?” The answer is, “we must.” If we don’t understand the importance of teaching ourselves, but rather rely on only the Japanese people to do the teaching, then we’ll never truly understand tenkara fishing for what it means to us.

    However you enjoy fishing tenkara gear, whether it's, tenkara for bass, tenkara for sunfish, tenkara for ________ you fill in the blank. YOU CAN STILL USE [at least some of] the traditional techniques.

     Maybe you prefer tightlining with a tenkara rod, or call it "fixed-line nymphing," there's a home for you within the Ethos. You just have to understand that tenkara is a 'technique' first and foremost. The telescopic rod and fixed-line are only the tackle that allows us to better preform the techniques; not a description of "what were doing."​ The next time someone asks you, "what's tenkara?" I offer that you give them a different answer:

 

"It's a technique that uses a telescopic rod and a fixed-line to impart motion into the fly. It's basically streamer or micro-streamer fishing (with a kebari)."

 

I BELIEVE IN US. We can teach advanced tenkara to each other. WE just have to start owning' our teachings.' Don't be ashamed of teaching something you're passionate about! WE can still respect the Japanese Master's through this process. WE just have to choose to teach the traditional techniques with a hunter's approach and a survivalists mentality! It doesn't matter what kind of water you maybe fishing or what species you're targeting if you understand that tenkara is a technique - just like dry fly fishing, streamer fishing, wet-fly swinging, and euro-nymphing - [so is] tenkara apart of that family of fly fishing disciplines. The NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE of the telescopic rod and the fixed-line just happen to get the attention! The gear is only different because of its' origin. You could effectively fish tenkara-methods [THE TECHNIQUE] with a rod and reel. In fact, many euro-nymphers actually do! They only believe that because they aren't fishing with tenkara gear that the technique is not being practiced. The technique is the reason for tenkara's effectiveness. The gear is only a mechanism for better fishing the method. Learn the technique, and choose to fish the gear.​

     While all of this is true in theory, that the technique can be fished with a rod and reel, I only make the distinction between fishing the gear and the technique to illustrate that tenkara, like euro-nymphing (which is fished at depth with weighted flies), are in fact different methods and separated NOT only by gear, but by a unique method.

 

​As long as you understand that tenkara is all about FLY MANIPULATION in the top few inches of the water column, or 'enticing' fish strikes using imitative behavior in the surface film, then you [in principle] understand the technique. It doesn't matter what kind of water you're fishing or for what kind of species, as long as you understand that it's how you use the end of your rod tip in conjunction with the line to make the fly "dance,"  "bounce," pause, drift, swing, "skate," or skitter [to make that] not-so-hungry fish lash out and feed, then you'll be doing tenkara justice the next time you're asked, "what's tenkara?"