Tenkara

[Stein]

There were a few threads years ago, thought I would bring it up again.

Anyone Tenkara?  I picked up two rods to take to Philmont with the Scouts this summer and am really looking forward to taking them for a test drive locally shortly.

It's been many moons since I fished with a fly, looking forward to the simplicity and lack of need to go out and buy a ton of gear to make it work.

I saw a video of guys landing nice coho on some beefier version, it looked like a real battle.

[DaNewb]

I bought a (very cheap) 11' tenkara rod a few weeks ago with plans to take it backpacking with me this summer up to some high mountain lakes.

I too use to fly fish and its not something I really want to fully invest in this time around so I thought Tenkara would be a good alternative to full-blown fly fishing.

I just want an alternative to a spinning rod and lures if the fish are only hitting flies. Something simple and packable...Tenkara definitely checks the boxes.

Pretty excited to try it out.

[acrocker]

I bought some some for my kids to get them into fly fishing, it was funny to watch my 10 year old walk down the river where people had been fishing all morning with no luck and see him catch 4 or 5 fish in 10 minutes (Granted, these are 5-9" trout, but still...). Grown men standing up on the bank shaking their heads and telling each other, "That kids got another one!" Still makes me laugh at the memory.

Not just for kids though, I think they're great for little creeks and streams where a back cast would be problematic, and less stuff to break or go wrong. Gotta love the simplicity...

[MR5x5]

Also super handy for a white water raft setup - Oar boats eat fishing poles just for the fun of it.

[wafisherman]

They are pretty cool, but very niche and limited for me. I prefer a 2-4wt fly rod with reel that allows both small creek fishing where you don't need to cast much, to alpine lakes and larger creeks and rivers where you may need an extra 30 feet or so to reach the fish.  Weight-wise, a 9 to 11 foot tenkara rod isn't going to save you much weight or space compared to a packable 6-7 foot 3wt rod with small lightweight reel.   

For the kids at the alpine lakes, I will just use an ultralight spinning rod with a clear fly bobber. Let's them cast as far as needed and get either a dry fly or wet fly/nymph where needed.

[TitusFord]

I love my tenkara rod!
I do a lot of pack in huntin and having a whole fishing set up for a few ounces is awesome. You can take an altoids tin with ten flies and a couple of the Oro’s strike indicators and you are set. Being limited on casting distance I do try to avoid bright colored clothing and use boulders and such to hide my outline when fishing the very clear waters in the high country. There’s no comparing it to spinning gear or regular fly gear. It’s more like huntin with a longbow in a world of rifle hunters.

[Stein]

I'm kind of amazed by the thing actually.  9' rod collapses down to 11" with no eyes, all protected in the bottom section that is relatively stout carbon.  The rod weighs 1.5 ounces, throw in another ounce for the line, flies and a couple bare hooks and I'm all in for under 3 ounces.

[jackelope]

I have one, but I’ve never used it. Going to give it a rip one of these days.

[CaNINE]

This thread made me do a little research on it. Interesting history. Seems like a pretty good way to go for backpacking.