Because the Underground is the first place you think of when you’re looking for opinions about something nobody else in the world cares about, a journalist (mainstream, not fly fishing) contacted me about a Tenkara fly fishing story. He’s looking for sources.
He’s already spoken to a couple of Tenkara fanatics, and is looking for two kinds of folks:
- Someone in Northern California (closer to the Bay Area is better) who’d like to take him Tenkara fishing for his story
- Anyone who feels Tenkara is the spawn of Satan (I may be exaggerating)
On the second point, simply having a negative opinion of Tenkara isn’t enough; he’s looking for cogent argument to go with it. For example, somebody told him that Tenkara shouldn’t be allowed in fly fishing only stretches because there is no reel.
I don’t agree, but then, where would you draw that line? Tenkara’s not dapping, but legally, how would you distinguish between someone dapping a cane pole and someone fishing a Tenkara rod? The existence of a loop?
Here’s The Drill
If you’re willing to take the guy Tenkara fishing, use the contact form on the site to send me an email with:
Name
Location (where would you fish?)
Tenkara experience
If your path to media fame involves having a serious issue with Tenkara fishing, then leave a comment; I’ll let the reporter tell me who he wants to talk to and forward your email address (which you have to put on the comment form to leave a comment, but doesn’t show up in public).
There it is. And fresh from the Underground: The place the media goes when it wants unimportant opinions about trivial matters.
It’s a good day to be us.
Wish I lived in CA. I would do it in a heartbeat.
Jason Klass(Quote)
Probably still time to buy a house and move. Just saying…
Tom Chandler(Quote)
I live about two hours from SF in the Sierra foothills and am an avid tenkara fisheam and would love the opertunity to take the journalist fishing
Troy Meadows(Quote)
Since Tenkara rods aren’t manufactured by any companies in our tattered empire ONE of your most persistent commenters might be placated by this match.
Sully(Quote)
And we will all be the poorer for it.
Tom Chandler(Quote)
Tenkara holds absolutely no interest for me…. I strongly prefer regs be phrased (as some of ours are here) single hook barbless artificial only…… keeps the conservation aspects at the forefront…. of course a stodgy traditionalist like me does enjoy the appeal of upstream dry fly only to rising fish beats but not terribly practical….
marty(Quote)
Marty;
You outlook is entirely too reasonable to find its way into a story. Sorry. Next time, invoke religion or HItler or something.
Tom Chandler(Quote)
Not mentioned, but I assume a shore lunch is included, yes?
Hannibal (last name withheld)(Quote)
Uh, did you miss the part where I identify him as a journalist? They buy lunch about as often as Chuck Norris buys tampons.
The only thing guaranteed to draw more journalists than a sex scandal is a free lunch buffet…
Tom Chandler(Quote)
ROTFLMFAO!!
Flylink(Quote)
“somebody told him that Tenkara shouldn’t be allowed in fly fishing only stretches because there is no reel”
Hahahahaha. That gives me an idea–how about “natural gear only” regulations? No nylon, or fiberglass, or graphite, or plastic… Gear would have to be cane rods, silk lines, catgut (?) leaders, feathers and fur on the flies (what did they use for head cement in 1880?), etc. Metal would be allowed.
Tenkara would be allowed as long as the rod is bamboo…
Mark(Quote)
You left out the clothing requirements. No synthetics in the clothing (maybe a loincloth-only section too).
Tom Chandler(Quote)
Techinically those modern synthetic monstrosities are lures not flies. (Modern sinking lines and this streamer craze has been mostly promulgated by squirrel molesting perverts, and nazis) All fly rods are made of bamboo or fiberglass… those graphite things are technically called tomato stakes…… nylon tippet and plastic fly line is acceptable as most of you heathens don’t have the touch to appreciate how much better real silk casts….. Asking for an opinion of the casting qualities of a properly tapered bamboo fly rod and silk line of most current fly fishers would be like asking an 8th grade music student his opinion on the tone of a Stradivarius….I wish all these morons would go back to golf and get off my river…….oh and here’s the big secret Tenkara is Japanese for cane pole I had one when I was 6 they’re on isle 12 at Wally World…… Oh Yes and one more thing Sage is an herb used in sauces not a fly rod even when I fished graphite Sage didn’t make anything I’d fish with…..Hope that invoked enough stuff this time Tom… :)
marty(Quote)
This is easily the Best Unsued Punk Band Name Ever, or a an excellent title for the next in this series of the Fly Fishing Hipster Apocalypse films…
Tom Chandler(Quote)
Well that’s sort of the point isn’t it? Something beautiful done for no other reason than we enjoy it? If practical entered the equation in any form, I at least, probably wouldn’t be fly fishing. I spoke with Doug Daniel at length this evening. Sigh… gonna need a hammer for the piggy bank.
But hell, if chucking bobbers and lead qualifies as “fly fishing” in certain circles, I fail to see how anyone could reasonably argue that tenkara is not… I don’t have much interest in it myself, but it is pretty to watch, and does in fact involve casting a fly…
trout chaser(Quote)
I can answer that in one word…. Tweed.
Mark(Quote)
When I first began fly fishing, I would leaf through catalogs of fly patterns. There were pages and pages of bewilderingly complex patterns, each with variations in size and color. I felt as if I had somehow wandered into a maze. Only later did I realize that all this needless complexity had nothing to do with catching fish. I mean, really. Does anyone believe a creature with a pea-sized brain focused only on eating and not being eaten makes finely-honed discriminations about hackle feathers and peacock herl?
Needless complexity is perhaps the essence of any obsession. As with poetry, you really don’t have to concern yourself with meter, assonance and metaphor to put an idea into words. It’s just gets interesting when you do. By simplifying things, Tenkara rather misses the point.
Steve(Quote)
Well said Steve….. for me there is an experiential sensual poetry to fly fishing that is lost with too much modern paraphanalia…. The sound of silk in the guides, the smell of varninsh as you open the tube …. the song of a reel check… the feel of opening a compartment to extract a creation of silk, steel, feathers and fur…. to simplify as in Tenkara is to take away what are for me part of the joy and reason I fish as I do.
marty(Quote)
All I have to do is take him Tenkara fishing – or do I have to bring him back too?
kbarton(Quote)
This is why you were voted “Most Likely to Be Caught Digging a Shallow Grave” in high school.
Tom Chandler(Quote)
Shouldn’t this journalist contact Hank Patterson for his invaluable insights?
Ed(Quote)
Once again a reader points out the obvious, and we are grateful. Of course (snap it!).
Tom Chandler(Quote)
Tenkara’s not dapping? Seriously? Then it must be the Japanese word for “dapping”.
fausto(Quote)
You do cast the things (you even form a loop). Based on the reaction to the “dapping” thing I’ve seen in the post, this could go badly…
Tom Chandler(Quote)
If I had a spare couple of hundred bucks I’d get a Tenkara rod and try it out. I know that group is touting “simplicity” but I don’t see why I have to go that route (I mean other than the rod and line, obviously). I see it as another fun way to deliver a fly to a fish in a compact and highly portable form.
As for the dapping thing, well, I dap with my current rod all the time so I guess I’m already dirty and this leads to the biggest reason that I haven’t tried Tenkara yet. It looks like it’s fun but it doesn’t really add anything to what I already do, or solve anything that I can’t already solve, and, in my case, would be limiting in certain situations. The outlay would be purely a whim, which isn’t a bad thing, I just can’t personally justify it at its current cost.
Dan(Quote)
a modern haiku, author unknown.
tenkara fishing
cultural fashions go far
like small pox blankets
paul worsterberg of the deplacements(Quote)
I’ve got nothing against tenkara fishing per se, but I simply have no urge to try it. I like reels and being able to vary the length of my line, so why give that up? Plus, holding your arm up like that all day looks tiring. High-stick nymphing is bad enough already. However, it doesn’t sound like those are strong enough objections to make a journalist want to buy me lunch.
fausto(Quote)
I just cleaned a Mitchell 305 I bought in 1966, as a teenager. Also, my Medalist 1492, bought the same year, for a little six.5 foot Fenwick I used to fish. I mostly fish Lamson reels on St. Croix rods, and an old S glass Lamiglas 5 wt. I wrapped in 1978. These acts are simply meditations most of conduct while waiting for trout season, even though I can dredge an olive bunny leech for monster browns in Rock Lake this afternoon, if I don’t mind knocking ice out of the guides every 5 minutes. The point is, it’s all fishing and the idea that Tenkara isn’t fly fishing isn’t even specious. It’s stupid. How many angels can dance on the head of pin, again? Though I mostly fly fish, and have since 1962, it’s all about hooking mortality and conservation, not how you put the lure in front of the trout or other fish. With millions of people staring down at a “device” in their hands in every public and private space, oblivious to the natural world, how could any angler put down another in these times? And was not Isaac using gear virtually identical to Tenkara tackle all those centuries ago? I’ll crawl back under my rock now.
Doug(Quote)
In Japanese it’s pronouced ‘dah-ping,’ and it’s a synonym for blech.
DarrellKuni(Quote)