For those of you who are not familiar with Tenkara, here is a little information for you.
Tenkara is a method of fishing originally developed in Egypt about 4000 years ago. It has been made popular in Japan at least 200 years or so ago, hence the name Tenkara, which is Japanese and translates to From the Point, although some say it means Fishing from Heaven.
Tenkara is similar to Fly Fishing except it uses no reel and has a fixed length of line attached to the tip of the rod. It does use artificial flies, called Kebari, tied similar to traditional Fly fishing flies and of course you can use traditional flies as well, giving you the best of both worlds.
Although I myself fish a lot in the traditional fly fishing method, there is a place and time for both styles. There are some circumstances where only Tenkara works to catch fish where nothing else seems to be working, for example a high sierra stream late in the summer when the water is low and the fish are easily spooked. Using Tenkara, the presentation possible can overcome these conditions and catch fish where traditional fly fishing equipment, no matter how light, will spook fish.
So if you haven’t tried Tenkara yet, book a lesson/excursion with us and learn how to catch more fish!!
Cheers!
Frank Burr
Tenkara Guide California