Tenkara

Tenkara fly fishing (Japanese: テンカラ, literally: "from heaven", or "from the skies") is a traditional type of fishing practiced in Japan that should not be confused with fly fishing. Primarily used for mountain stream trout fishing, tenkara is one of the most popular methods of angling among fresh-water mountain anglers in Japan.

Tenkara was largely unknown outside Japan until 2009, when the company Tenkara USA, founded by Daniel Galhardo introduced and popularized tenkara outside Japan.

Tenkara fishing originated in Japan at least 200 years ago. The first reference to tenkara fly-fishing was in 1878 in a book called "Diary of climbing Mt. Tateyama" written by Ernest Mason Satow, an able linguist and British diplomat during the early modernization of Japan. Tenkara fly-fishing originated with professional fishermen in the mountain streams of Japan who found it an effective method of catching the local fish, Yamame, Iwana and Amago.

Originally the rod was simply a bamboo/cane rod, which was cut and treated, but unlike contemporary western bamboo rods, they were not "manufactured" (i.e. split and glued back together). Unlike in the western fly-fishing tradition where anglers used heavy wooden rods, in Japan anglers always used bamboo, which is readily available and very light. Because of its light weight, Japanese anglers were able to use very long bamboo rods and reach as far as needed without the need to develop reels for the short rods developed in the west.

Tenkara fishing can be seen as a streamlined counterpart to western fly-fishing. The equipment is designed to direct focus to the actual fishing and catching of the fish, not to cause a major preoccupation with the equipment. Only a rod, tenkara line and fly are necessary for tenkara fishing (no reel is used).

The appeal of tenkara is its elegant simplicity. There are also other advantages of using the long tenkara rods when fishing in mountain streams, primarily the lightness of the line and delicate presentation. A long rod allows for precise placement of the fly on small pools and allows for holding the fly in place on the other side of a current. The other main advantage of using the long tenkara rod is precise control for manipulation of the fly.

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Wikipedia