I just bought a Tenkara rod and am excited to try this way of fly fishing. I'm intrigued by its simplicity; it seems like the perfect way to relax on the water. Anyone else fishing this style? Any pointers for a newby??? I got my rod, line, tippets and flies from Tenkara Rod Company in Driggs, Idaho. Great people to work with and always willing to take my phone calls and answer my numerous, stupid questions.

Please keep us posted. Checked out their website. Cool stuff.

I've played with it a little bit. It's enjoyable but only in the right sized stream and conditions and otherwise I just found it frustrating. Actually, the most fun I had with it has been with bluegills on a pond.

Considered it, but there's always a fear that I'll hook up with a line stripping monster. In those cases, I like to give a little.

I enjoy it quite a bit on small streams. Nothing to it, really. It is just about the perfect way to teach new fishers how to cast and work pocket water.

I usually pack a little telescoping tenkara rod in my day pack when I'm scouting canyons for deer and elk. I don't think a guy should leave home without something to fish with .. just in case. Tenkara is about as compact as it gets.

I find this very interesting. The last thing I need to do is spend more money on fishing, but this is tempting me.

Some good folks here: Tenkarabum and here: 10 Colors Tenkara

Chris at Tenkarabum is likely the best source of fixed line fishing equipment in the USA. He carries at least 5 different brands of rods that I'm aware of. Running the gamut from Tenkara to microfishing, and has lately started importing very high end small stream lure rods into the USA. Going through a couple years of his blog entries would be well worth your while.

The 10 Colors Tenkara forum site seems to have taken the place of the former tenkara-fishing forum. It's sort of an odd layout, if you're used to forums organized similarly to the Campfire, but it's still fairly easy to search for information. Not all that heavily used, figure on a post a day or so, but it's still alive.

Spend some time reading and watching videos, then go hit the water. Rinse and repeat.

Good luck.

Tenkara is perfect for pocket water and small streams. As TOM noted it is a very lightweight and simple way to have fly gear with you on an outing where fishing is not the primary objective. My BIL is a Tenkara nut. I have seen him land huge trout on the Henry's Fork. The key for big fish is a longer rod with a stiff butt.

I've done a bit and it's fun but not really my cup of tea. It's better than not fishing but fly reels are o n e of my favorite things on earth. I don't think I've every caught a fish with tenkara that I wouldn't have caught with traditional fly tackle but there have been times that it has kept me from catching fish I otherwise would have. My son who happens to live close to you is pretty into it. I also don't know what to do with my left hand.

Brought a smile to my face 'cause this comment is something that I had thought about as well. Aside from that, I've been interested in trying Tenkara since I first learned about the style by reading a Patagonia catalog article several years ago.

I have fished mine on the Clark Fork, Bitterroot, and Blackfoot not exactly small rivers. Tenkara is a great way to fish. I find it a perfect backpacking rod as it is tiny and light. Mountain lakes, creeks, and rivers all fish fine with Tenkara. You just need to be patient with the bigger fish and able to move around.

Just to add to the conversation here, there is a website called Tiny Tenkara that sells short Tenkara rods around 5 or 6 feet long. I believe these would excel in a pond or very small backwaters.

I've been looking at tenkara quite a bit lately and watching videos. It reminds me very much of small creek fishing back in WI, poke your head through the brush and dangle the fly off your rod and not do any casting.

Like others have said it would be a great rig to have when I'm hunting and camping in the mountains.

If you're just dapping the fly off the end of the rod and not casting, you're not really getting the most out of Tenkara. That said, there's all sorts of different ways you can do fixed line fishing, and what you mentioned is certainly effective. It's what one of my sons prefers in fact. He uses an 8' rod and about 6' of line and dangles artificials in front of the local sunfish.

But when it comes to ponds where there are no clearance issues, I use a rod from 3-6-5.4m rod. That's 12'-18' long. Since you don't want the line in the water, just the leader, you really can't fish all that far out if you're using shorter rods. A 6' rod means you're fishing about 7'-8' away. That's dang close

At any rate, when it comes to the Tenkara/Keiryu/Seiryu/Tanago fishing thing, I confess to having an addiction. I was out just the day before yesterday, giving the local redears and bluegills jaw aches using a Nissin Pro-Spec and some home made Japanese style flys. This afternoon, I'll head to another stream and see if I can fool some rainbows. Not sure why, but in this particular locale, the rainbows are just plain ugly. But they're trout at least.

Tenkara is fun if I can find a school of shad, then each hookup becomes a rodeo. Best time ever.