power of a tenkara rod

[adric]

I spent the morning showing a friend how to fish. He had never fished before and not even held a rod. After about fifteen to twenty minutes he had mastered casting a Tenkara rod. We did not manage to catch but I don’t think my friend would have mastered casting a traditional rod in such a short time especially on a small stream with a lot of bankside trees.

[orangeotter]

In the past 2 weeks I've given 2 guys tuition and after about 20 minutes they were catching good trout and grayling - what a great tool.

[daves]

Too true. Tenkara is the ideal way of introducing somebody to fly fishing. The basic casting, as you say, is much easier to learn than the complexities of casting with Western gear. Furthermore Tenkara teaches the need for stealth & focuses on presentation; two vital factors in success.

[dbl]

I was reading an interesting article on winter grayling fishing in deep pools on the Upper Tweed by guide Finlay Wilson in the new T&S. I'll summarise his favourite method. He uses an 11' through action rod, equipped with 30lb copolymer rather than a fly line. To it he attaches a 10' leader with a weighted nymph on the point and a couple of unweighted nymphs on droppers at about 12" to 18" intervals above it. He usually has about 3 to 4' of copolymer outside the rod tip. The line is cast upstream, then the nymphs are led back downstream with the rod held high, gradually dropping as the nymphs sweep round below. Two steps are taken downstream, then the cast is repeated, striking in anticipation as the line comes from the water, until the entire pool is covered.
A long rod. A fixed line (essentially). Held high. Sounds familiar?

[custheyder]

Czech nymph, French Nymph, "High sticking". All quite similar although once you get to really heavy nymphs it's more of a lob than a cast. Okay, so with French nymphing there is a cast involved with a long tapered leader. However, you are correct there is some similarity which is why it baffles me some clubs allow these techniques but ban Tenkara. (not to mention the historic references to Walton et al.)

Back on subject... A heavier line on a Tenkara rod is very easy to cast and useful in teaching the basics of timing and the importance of a good "stop" both forwards and on the back cast. I've found it even more important on the back cast with Tenkara to maximise line speed before an accurate forward cast.