Post by myotis on Aug 1, 2012 8:45:52 GMT
My recent return to fishing (on the River Devon reported in another post) was also my first experience of using a Tenkara Rod.
I first came across Tenkara rods a couple of years ago when they were being promoted as a backpacking tool, and instantly dismissed them once I realised they didn’t use a reel. But I continued to read about Tenkara, and the more I read, the more interested I became.
For my return to fishing, I used a TenkaraUSA 12ft Iwana rod (a pearl wedding anniversary present from my wife) with a 10.5 ft Custom Furles leader and a 3.5ft 4.9lb Hardy copolymer tippet. The leader was treated with mucilin to help it float, and although I used a three different flies, everything was caught on a floating size 14 Blue Dun.
My first problem was that the last time I fished, I didn’t need glasses. Now, juggling reading glasses, distance glasses and polaroid over glasses was a major fankle, which got more irritating as time went on. It certainly put me off changing flies, and a tangled tippet was a nightmare.
First embarrassment was that I obviously couldn't remember how to cast as my first few attempts were simply blown into a heap at my feet. Once I had developed some prowess with casting I realised just how short a casting distance the Tenkara set up gave me. At that point I thought I had made a terrible mistake.
However, I quickly realised that the set up was more versatile than I thought. You could get a decent distance by extending the rod and casting the leader as far as it would go and letting it sit on the water as you would a fly line, or you could use the “traditional” Tenkara approach of keeping all the line off the water to prevent drag and fish close in. As you needed to wade anyway, in practice there wasn’t really any part of the river out of reach.
Second embarrassment, was that having sorted out the casting, and changing to the Blue Dun, I was unprepared for a fish to take the fly on the next cast. At about 10 inches this trout put up a good fight, but was easily controlled with the long rod. However, in trying to get my net ready I somehow managed to get my wading staff (a Leki walking pole) jammed between some rocks. But not before it had also managed to trap my landing net, somewhere behind my back. All told a total shambles and I am glad I wasn’t being watched as I tried to hang on to “my” fish, while trying to avoid falling over as I twisted round to try and work out what on earth was going on behind me with the net and wading staff.
I soon abandoned the idea of using the net and easily unhooked the fish in the water. Another new thing for me was using barbless hooks, and this was a real joy when it came to unhooking. I used to hate the occasional struggle with the barb on a barbed hook that forced me to hang on to a fish much longer than I wanted to.
After these teething problems, I walked downstream to the furthest part of the river I wanted to fish and made my way back upstream to the car.
Wading along the edge of the river, with the wading staff in one hand and the Tenkara Rod in the other was one of the most enjoyable fishing experiences I have had.
The fixed line length quickly became an asset as I soon learned my exact casting range and could focus on reading the water and getting a precise and gentle placement of the fly. The long rod meant that I minimised problems with drag and because I was working much closer than I would have done in the past, I had more control of what was going on. I was amazed at how close to me I was picking up fish, and at how easily I could avoid drag. The shorter distances also meant I never (or rarely) lost site of the fly, even when it bounced across rough water.
Looking back on it, I think I was a bit obsessed with long casts, and would end up casting to areas where I stood little chance of avoiding drag, getting the fly into the exact spot I wanted, or avoiding disturbance from the line hitting the water. I also think that because a short cast didn’t load the rod properly, I probably avoided fishing short lines and missed out on fish at my feet.
A new problem, however, was the number of fish that got themselves unhooked. It seems this may be linked to the gentle action of Tenkara rods meaning that a strike needs to be stronger than the "tensioning" of the line that I am used to.
Once I got used to the fixed length line, by slowly wading up stream I was able to work (almost) every part of the river. The shorter cast that didn't need any false casting, gave fewer failed casts because they didn't go where I wanted them to go, and fewer problems with drag. Together this meant that I must have had the fly in front of fish for a far greater of proportion of the time than I would have had in the past. And not having to think about the reel and line management allowed an intensity of focus on the actual fishing that I hadn't experienced before.
It's difficult to explain just how delightful I found fishing with the Tenkara rod and I can now understand why some become a bit obsessed with this approach for small river fishing.
I first came across Tenkara rods a couple of years ago when they were being promoted as a backpacking tool, and instantly dismissed them once I realised they didn’t use a reel. But I continued to read about Tenkara, and the more I read, the more interested I became.
For my return to fishing, I used a TenkaraUSA 12ft Iwana rod (a pearl wedding anniversary present from my wife) with a 10.5 ft Custom Furles leader and a 3.5ft 4.9lb Hardy copolymer tippet. The leader was treated with mucilin to help it float, and although I used a three different flies, everything was caught on a floating size 14 Blue Dun.
My first problem was that the last time I fished, I didn’t need glasses. Now, juggling reading glasses, distance glasses and polaroid over glasses was a major fankle, which got more irritating as time went on. It certainly put me off changing flies, and a tangled tippet was a nightmare.
First embarrassment was that I obviously couldn't remember how to cast as my first few attempts were simply blown into a heap at my feet. Once I had developed some prowess with casting I realised just how short a casting distance the Tenkara set up gave me. At that point I thought I had made a terrible mistake.
However, I quickly realised that the set up was more versatile than I thought. You could get a decent distance by extending the rod and casting the leader as far as it would go and letting it sit on the water as you would a fly line, or you could use the “traditional” Tenkara approach of keeping all the line off the water to prevent drag and fish close in. As you needed to wade anyway, in practice there wasn’t really any part of the river out of reach.
Second embarrassment, was that having sorted out the casting, and changing to the Blue Dun, I was unprepared for a fish to take the fly on the next cast. At about 10 inches this trout put up a good fight, but was easily controlled with the long rod. However, in trying to get my net ready I somehow managed to get my wading staff (a Leki walking pole) jammed between some rocks. But not before it had also managed to trap my landing net, somewhere behind my back. All told a total shambles and I am glad I wasn’t being watched as I tried to hang on to “my” fish, while trying to avoid falling over as I twisted round to try and work out what on earth was going on behind me with the net and wading staff.
I soon abandoned the idea of using the net and easily unhooked the fish in the water. Another new thing for me was using barbless hooks, and this was a real joy when it came to unhooking. I used to hate the occasional struggle with the barb on a barbed hook that forced me to hang on to a fish much longer than I wanted to.
After these teething problems, I walked downstream to the furthest part of the river I wanted to fish and made my way back upstream to the car.
Wading along the edge of the river, with the wading staff in one hand and the Tenkara Rod in the other was one of the most enjoyable fishing experiences I have had.
The fixed line length quickly became an asset as I soon learned my exact casting range and could focus on reading the water and getting a precise and gentle placement of the fly. The long rod meant that I minimised problems with drag and because I was working much closer than I would have done in the past, I had more control of what was going on. I was amazed at how close to me I was picking up fish, and at how easily I could avoid drag. The shorter distances also meant I never (or rarely) lost site of the fly, even when it bounced across rough water.
Looking back on it, I think I was a bit obsessed with long casts, and would end up casting to areas where I stood little chance of avoiding drag, getting the fly into the exact spot I wanted, or avoiding disturbance from the line hitting the water. I also think that because a short cast didn’t load the rod properly, I probably avoided fishing short lines and missed out on fish at my feet.
A new problem, however, was the number of fish that got themselves unhooked. It seems this may be linked to the gentle action of Tenkara rods meaning that a strike needs to be stronger than the "tensioning" of the line that I am used to.
Once I got used to the fixed length line, by slowly wading up stream I was able to work (almost) every part of the river. The shorter cast that didn't need any false casting, gave fewer failed casts because they didn't go where I wanted them to go, and fewer problems with drag. Together this meant that I must have had the fly in front of fish for a far greater of proportion of the time than I would have had in the past. And not having to think about the reel and line management allowed an intensity of focus on the actual fishing that I hadn't experienced before.
It's difficult to explain just how delightful I found fishing with the Tenkara rod and I can now understand why some become a bit obsessed with this approach for small river fishing.
