In an attempt to find out more about Tenkara fishing, I happened upon the Tenkarabum site. Which led me to do some reading on Keiryu style fishing.
Now in Japan, Keiryu fishing is done with bait, but the technique adapts readily to nymphing. It uses a sighted, very light line and leader(down to 10x for the truly dedicated) and a nicely weighted nymph or two. You are casting using the weight of the fly, not the weight of the line, so this is definitely a fusion of East and West.
I’ve used poles from 2.7m to 5.4 m in length, with line length tip to fly generally a smidge shorter than rod length. This is fixed line, no reels needed.
If you have any familiarity with Euro style nymphing, figuring out Keiryu will be a cinch. Give it a whirl. With a less expensive rod and see if it appeals. Personally, when I just want to catch panfish, this is the way. Utterly deadly.
Scott
