You’ve probably seen the meme “Tenkara +” going around social media. It’s the idea that tenkara compliments other outdoor hobbies such as “tenkara + hiking”, “tenkara + mushroom hunting”, “tenkara + mountain biking”, etc. While the portability of tenkara gear certainly lends itself well to being combined with other activities, it got me to thinking about the concept of “tenkara minus”.
I originally got into tenkara because I thought it was perfect for “tenkara + backpacking”. But these days, I mostly just fish and don’t combine tenkara with other endeavors. So that’s given me the opportunity to contemplate tenkara in isolation and think about the things it lets me omit to create a better fishing experience–“tenkara minus”.
Since I started fishing tenkara, I’ve felt a sense of freedom from all the things I don’t need and am catching just as many fish. Not more. Just as many. But that’s fine with me. If I can retain my catch rate while reducing the amount of overall clutter, I consider that a win.
If I had to put together a “tenkara minus” short list, it would be something like this:
1. Tenkara – False Casting. This is one of my favorite things about tenkara. When I fish with a rod and reel, I feel like there’s a lot of drama before my fly ever makes it into the zone (and even more backstage). First, I have to make a bunch of false casts to shoot out the right length of line before I can even make my final presentation. It seems like my line is in the air more than in the water. Then, there are the demanding line-management issues of mending to prevent drag during the drift and dealing with slack line to avoid tangles. But with tenkara, I can make one cast, drop the line, present, then pick it up and present again. It’s much more efficient and I feel like my fly is in front of the fish more often than it’s in the air.
2. Tenkara – Terminal Tackle. I love the fact that when I fish tenkara, I don’t need any terminal tackle other that a fly. No floatant, no split shot, no strike indicators. I just tie on a #12 sakasa kebari and I’m ready to go. No time wasted adjusting weight or the position of the indicator. I can use that time to just focus on fishing.
3. Tenkara – Setup. I’ve always hated the traditional fly fishing parking lot setup ritual. Take out your fly rod from the case, put the sections together (making sure the guides are aligned), attach the reel (make sure that’s lined up too), thread the line through the guides, connect the leader, tie on the tippet, tie on the fly, etc. All of this while you can see out of the corner of your eye that the fish are rising. It’s torture. Everything seems to be happening in slow motion and all you can think about is getting into the water. But with tenkara, setup is minimal and I can get rigged up in seconds. It takes me longer to get into my waders.
These are just a few things tenkara subtracts from my fishing that makes it better. It might seem counterintuitive since we tend to think of subtraction as a negative thing and addition as a positive thing, but I think a lot of times we erroneously assume we need to add something to our fishing to make it better. I can’t remember the exact quote (nor who coined it) but it goes something like this: an amateur chef is always thinking about what they can add to a recipe to make it better. An experienced chef is always thinking about what they can leave out to make a recipe better. I suppose tenkara can help us all to become a gourmet rather than a fast-food cook.
Tenkara – a drag on the drift.
Or to put it another way….
Tenkara – worrying about many/most problems with presentation.
I like this a lot Jason. I had a few things to say about the “+” thing but mostly they were sort of negative. I guess because it makes me feel like a big loser. I’m not cool enough to do most of that other stuff. I thought just “tenkara” was good enough – I really just like tenkara as a thing in and of itself. Tenkara was a refuge from adding things on for me. It was about focus and quiet and forgetting….
Anyway – I like the way you approached this with a positive angle – rather than just being negative about “t+” you’ve spun it 180 into a reminder that less can be more – and that’s okay.
So “tenkara +less” for me please.
Love this Tenkara (-)! Definitely the items you listed above, I will throw in Tenkara(-) Money. All the extra gear is expensive, not to mention the fact that a rod usually cost 2 to 3 times as much as a tenkara rod anyway. so {Tenkara(-) Money} does it for me.
I like the Tenkara- idea as well. Granted, everywhere I go there’s a rod with me. But fishing is nearly always the destination for me and not a side attraction.
As Anthony pointed out, Tenkara is a “less is more” philosophy. It helped me shed 15lbs of gear when I go fishing as it showed me how much of the Western gear I did carry was really unnecessary. Even when I do go Western fly now I carry far less gear.
about the “false casts” – i don’t think that this really is an argument for or against tenkara… when i go out with my 3wt fly rod and pull like 10 or 12ft. line off the reel and lock the drag (and i do that a lot on my homewaters,) i don’t have to false-cast either and the fishing is just like i do with my tenkara rod… same water, same range, same spot – no need to false-cast with a western flyrod, so in my opinion no real advantage for the tenkara-rod. sure, if you want/have to cast long distance, you have to false cast. but under that circumstances its “game over” for the tenkara-rod anyway… imo
Tenkara minus over whelming vest pockets for me. Always forgetting what pocket had what in it. Time consuming going through pockets to find something. Good article Jason, nice comments everyone. KEEP ON SIMPLIFYING!
I like both ideas – Tenkara + and Tenkara -. One or both may fit for different people. It just happens that Tenkara minus is the one that fits for me right now. You’ve captured what is for me the real joy of Tenkara – simplicity, efficiency, minimalism. There’s a quote that I saw recently for the first time (coincidently after taking up Tenkara), by Henry David Thoreau … “Many men go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after”.
Experiencing Tenkara minus and seeing that quote have helped me to think about and to understand what I’m after when I go fishing besides the fish. Tenkara minus lets me experience more of the experience. It changes fly fishing from a fun experience to something much more. So in a way Tenkara minus becomes a different kind of Tenkara plus.
. . . After all the parking lot fly rod rigging drama you finaly get to the water, make you first cast and notice with a coleric disgust that your fly line is running outside a snake guide!
. . . Never more!
Carlos, lol. It’s been so long I forgot about that one!
Hi Jason,
Agreed on all except #2 fly selection, not applies on all type of water and fish. Japanese type flies work very well on wild fish or uneducated fish. If you fish on a tailwater and heavily fished waters fish are very picky on flies, different sizes and types of flies are needed.
Thanks for the great blog.
I have to agree with everything that everyone has said above. For myself, I have recently moved toward the minus side of Tenkara fly fishing by going to T-lines that are shorter than rod length rather than longer, and I am catching just as many fish as I did before, when I cast much longer lines in fishing with Western fly fishing tackle, on both small streams and high mountain lakes. The shorter lines give me better presentations with less drag but, require spotting the fish in advance, and successfully sneaking into position to make the cast with out spooking the fish I will be casting to. All of which I believe has caused me to become a much better fly fisherman.
Whenever I do Tenkara + something else the best part is always the Tenkara.
An, now that you mention it, I feel the same way.
I would like to present a different formula:
Tenkara + Work = – extra gear!
I recently got to angle for a work project and I found the simplicity of a tenkara rod fit the work. It meant removing a bunch of extraneous gear that wasn’t necessary.
It also can be stated as:
= Tenkara + Confidence
Chris S
I’m awaiting the arrival of the Tenkara rod I finally ordered. So being yet inexperienced still a “Tenkara minus X” (or plus for the inverted) came to mind. There have been times with rod and reel that I wanted to switch hands but that put the reel winder out of reach. I’m ambidextrous to a great degree so with Tenkara no worries about where the unneeded crank is. Either side of the kayak should be retrieved equally well without having to crossover an arm in front of me. No casting fatigue when you have a refreshed arm hanging ready!
Hey Colin, that’s a really good point. Never thought about that.