Tenkara's New Ethos

​    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 within the ethos. If we do not begin to teach ourselves tenkara, we will lose tenkara [at least Western tenkara] to the unfortunate mantra of "easy fly fishing for beginners."

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I have been a tenkara angler for some years now, and have come to discover an unfortunate problem with our sport. Hang-on! There’s no problem with our sport!​ 

    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 not here in the United States.

    As tenkara angler’s we’ve all been introduced to the fixed-line style of fly fishing by someone. Whether it was a friend, a YouTuber, a local fly shop, each of these 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 way to share something [we] as western fly fishers have complicated for a long time. At some point though, if we keep fishing tenkara methods, our thirst for more advanced knowledge outweighs the simplicity of the introduction.

    Unfortunately, an experienced Japanese Tenkara Master is not readily available in the United States to teach these advanced-level skills. YouTube videos of master anglers are spoken in all Japanese and (when subtitled or auto-dubbed in English) the lessons can be hard to understand. 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, then we're going to lose at least some of the masterfulness [that is tenkara casting] 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 fixed-line casting and fishing. The one's of us who are going to pass these methods down to the next generation of western anglers.

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If tenkara is recognized only for its' ease and intuitiveness with no instruction needed, should we [just NOT] turn to our rod and reel neighbors when searching for more advanced techniques and teaching philosophies?

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    Regardless, of whether we speak Japanese, fish for trout or char, know a little bit or a lot about the origins of tenkara - it doesn't matter. We have a responsibility to share 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 US, but TEACHING tenkara is NOW ON US moving 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 may 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 its' own very unique and highly effective shallow-water technique. The telescopic rod and fixed-line are only the tackle that allows us to better perform the near-surface tactics; 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:

 

"Tenkara is a technique. A method of fishing that involves shallow-water presentations and fly manipulation tactics to entice fish to eat."

 

I BELIEVE IN US. We can teach 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 respect the Japanese Master's through this process. WE just have to choose to teach the traditional techniques with a survivalists mentality and an understanding that nature is the reward! It doesn't matter 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 [the telescopic rod and the fixed-line] just happen to get all the attention! The gear is only different because of its' origin-story. You could effectively fish tenkara [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 the gear, but by a unique method. This is not to say that there's not crossover between the two techniques and that one can't be done at varying times with the other.

 

​As long as you understand that tenkara is about FLY MANIPULATION in the top few inches of the water column, or 'enticing' fish to strike using imitative behavior, 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 fixed-line to make the fly "dance,"  "bounce," pause, drift, swing, "skate," or skitter so as [to make that] not-so-hungry fish lash out and feed, then you'll be giving tenkara its' due justice within the ethos the next time you're asked, "what's tenkara?"