In Japan, tenkara has been very narrowly defined in terms of gear, technique, and application. The gear part of the definition includes using a long rod, no reel, and simple, unweighted flies. The technique part includes things like using rapids and waterfalls to sink flies rather than weight, watching the line rather than using a strike indicator, relying on a one-fly approach rather than matching the hatch, and employing various presentation techniques rather than switching flies to induce a strike. I have studied and practiced these things in order to try to understand tenkara, yet, it is the third part of that definition that doesn’t fully resonate with me: the application.
Ask most tenkara anglers in Japan about tenkara bass fishing and you’ll likely get the response that tenkara fishing is only for trout. And to put a finer point on it–small trout in mountain streams. For many, the concept of using tenkara for warmwater fish doesn’t register. And this makes sense since the small mountain streams of Japan are where tenkara was born. But since its introduction to the West, many anglers have used tenkara gear and techniques for many other types of fish in warmwater and even saltwater. Purists will say that fishing with a tenkara rod for bass isn’t tenkara fishing; however, I challenge this claim and hope to propose a more inclusive way of talking about using tenkara gear and techniques beyond the finite world of mountain streams.
First, let’s back up a little and consider fly fishing history in the West. Like tenkara, early fly fishing was once considered a “trout only” technique too. Purists scoffed at the idea of using fly gear to catch uncouth fish such as bass and the like. And to even suggest using fly tackle to pursue saltwater might have been unimaginable (if not sacrilegious). Yet today, saltwater fly fishing is a multi-million dollar industry. People have landed scores world-record size fish on fly gear. And catching carp (scoff) on a fly has become it’s own elite fly fishing sub culture. So how did fly fishing go from being a stream born pursuit to a universal way to catch fish?
In part, one could say that the development of new technologies helped. If the only tackle you have available to you consists of a bamboo rod and a horse hair line, it’s pretty easy to see why you might scoff at the idea of chasing tarpon. But advances in rod material, lines, and reels allowed fly anglers to push the envelope of fly fishing and expand it beyond trout.
While technology certainly played a role, that wasn’t the main reason fly fishing evolved into a multi-species sport. After all, someone still had to actually “push” the envelope. There had to be the first person to look at a 100 lb. tarpon and say, “I’m going to figure out how to catch that on fly tackle”. In other words, it was the pioneers that actually drove the evolution–people who saw the potential of fly fishing to be so much more than merely a stream fishing method. And when tackle technology caught up to their vision, they were able to push fly fishing into new frontiers.
Now let’s go back to Japan. Even though I said that tenkara has a pretty narrow definition, there seems to be some leeway given. Today, most people in the West are either told or tell themselves the story that tenkara follows a certain set of rules. You don’t use weighted flies, the rod must be “long”, flies are reversed hackle wet flies, dry fly fishing is not tenkara, etc. However, with very little research on the internet, you can find many examples where Japanese tenkara anglers don’t follow the script of this story. In fact, many fish weighted flies, dry flies, and not all tenkara flies have reversed hackle.
Even among purists, there is a recognition of some deviation from the script. In a recent post on the Tenkara USA blog, Daniel Galhardo writes:
Ask 10 tenkara anglers to show them the fly they use and they will show you ten different tenkara flies. Thus, in a play of words, it is often joked that “tenkara has ten colors”.
In fact, tenkara flies and techniques can vary from region to region (and angler to angler) in Japan. There aren’t literally “ten colors”–it’s just a metaphor to describe personal preferences. While none of them seem like a radical departure from what is easily recognizable as tenkara, at least this allows for some breathing room in the definition. Yet, the underlying dogma of tenkara as a trout-only pursuit remains.
Ever since tenkara was popularized in the West by Galhardo, western anglers have been experimenting with it. For the most part, I think this is a good thing. There have been hits and misses but I think the most valuable thing that has come out of it so far has been to push tenkara beyond the trout stream. To date, people have successfully caught a caught a wide variety of species using tenkara gear and techniques including bass, panfish, pike, carp, lake trout, salmon, and even saltwater fish that many previously considered impossible to land without a reel like tarpon and bonefish. In short, we in the west have pushed that envelope and demonstrated that tenkara can indeed be used for more than just trout. But for purists, I don’t think the question is if tenkara “can” be used for such species. I think their objection is that it simply isn’t “tenkara”. And semantically, they’re probably right.
Yet I think it’s a shame that a fishing system as effective and enjoyable as tenkara should be pigeonholed. And since the empirical evidence is already in that it can also be highly effective beyond just trout fishing, I suggest we find an inclusive way to refer to this new incarnation of tenkara. Remember the “ten colors” of tenkara? I propose that rather than labeling using tenkara gear and techniques outside of mountain streams “not tenkara”, we simply call it “the Eleventh Color”.
The Eleventh Color doesn’t have a strict definition per se. It’s simply a variation that subscribes to the basic principles of tenkara, but allows for the use of tenkara in applications outside of mountain streams without a value judgment or semantic argument. To put it another way, if traditional tenkara is the Orthodox Church, then the Eleventh Color is Universalist Unitarian.
A contemporary purist tenkara angler might point to me fishing for bass with a tenkara rod and say, “that’s not tenkara fishing” and then go on to make their argument about the tradition of the sport. I would simply point back at them and ask what is so “traditional” about their carbon fiber rod, fluorocarbon line, and chemically sharpened hooks. To me, tenkara is not so much about the actual gear or application as it is the spirit. As long as you’re fishing with the spirit of tenkara, I think the application becomes irrelevant. In other words, I take a more descriptive rather than prescriptive approach to tenkara. And that is the idea behind the Eleventh Color.
There’s a fine line between innovation and bastardization, but as far as I can tell, anglers who have pushed the limits of what tenkara gear can do are not doing so out of any kind of disrespect, ignorance, or arrogance. On the contrary, I see it being done out of a deep love of the sport and a desire to challenge themselves. I can’t think of anything much more humbling than going up against a tarpon with a tenkara rod and no reel. And after all, isn’t challenging oneself and relying on one’s own skill rather than technology part of the true spirit of tenkara?
Anthony Naples recently wrote:
We are now writing the book on tenkara in America—all of us early adopters.
This is indeed an exciting time and it will be interesting for all of us early adopters to look back after twenty years and see what shape tenkara has taken. It is up to us to decide what course takes not just in America, but in the West in general.
Traditional tenkara will always exist. Some might see new iterations of it as a threat to tradition. But I don’t think this is the case. I believe the Eleventh color will be able to peacefully coexist with pure tenkara because they need each other. It’s sometimes said that the popularity of tenkara in the West “saved” tenkara and certainly, the Eleventh Color couldn’t have existed without traditional tenkara. Probably a major reason that tenkara became so popular in the West is that many didn’t “follow the rules”. They interpreted tenkara in their own way and forged a new tradition. If anything, this didn’t cancel out the traditional definition of tenkara, but breathed new life into it. I suspect that strict dogma would have certainly impeded (if not prevented) the popularity of tenkara in the West.
All of this might seem unsettling to some purists and I’m not forcing this idea on anyone. After all, there are at least ten other colors to choose from if you don’t like this one. But to those who believe that it’s OK to push the envelope rather than merely preserve tradition for tradition’s sake, consider the following: where will tenkara be in twenty years if we continue to expand its horizons? Where will it be if we don’t?
Interesting developments but at the end of the day whatever you call it, tenkara, eleventh color or something else, it’s all basically just fly fishing, catching fish on a fly, no argument!
Good writing Jason!
I don’t understand the anger that some purists feel because someone doesn’t view the world with their eyes, walk your own path and don’t force people to follow.
I like Tenkara because it follows my life philosophy of “less is more, so for my part I see Tenkara as a method/tool to fish with less distractions and emphasis on gear. But I fish for fish and not a particular species nor do I fish with a certain fly but rather a small selection. I can add that I’m just as happy when pole fishing as when I’m using my Tenkara rod though the grace of casting and the light weight gear is very appealing.
Jason, Great article.
To be honest I think the dogma or purist attitude you describe about tenkara are being blown out of proportion a bit, and I would be tempted to say don’t exist in the way described. If someone were to be considered a purist, that would certainly be me. I don’t think anyone tries to approach tenkara from as purist a way as I do. BUT, this is just how I approach tenkara.
I talk a lot about the traditional way tenkara is fished because I need to share it. As I have said repeatedly, I expect people to deviate, so I want to provide a starting place for that to happen. And, as I have mentioned a few times, including in my article on the Fly Fish Journal, everyone has to find their own tenkara. I do not tell people how they have to fish tenkara, I share how tenkara is fished, everyone has to find their own. Part of the “10 colors” of tenkara is that ability to interpret it.
But, with that said I always like to make a distinction between using tenkara as a tool (rod, line and fly in whatever way one wants) v. tenkara the method, which has a lot to teach us and we’d be silly not to take advantage of. If the method was not described and we didn’t promoted it, tenkara would have only been used as a czech-nymphing rod or for catching bass from the beginning, and all the stuff the Japanese tenkara anglers have learned over time would have been lost in favor of things we had already become familiar with from past issues of Fly Fisherman magazine, etc.
So, it is not because of a purist attitude, or from a “do as I tell you” perspective that I share what pure tenkara is, it’s just so people know what it is. And, again I will say that the attitude you describe isn’t quite there. There are plenty of examples of people using tenkara for bass and other fish in our forum and plenty of encouraging and accepting words. I have never seen someone being criticized for using tenkara to catch bass, bluegill, or tarpon, much the contrary. What I do fear is stuff I read the other day, someone mentioned on an online forum that he decided to give tenkara a try, bought a crappie pole at walmart, put some weight and a jig on the end and went to catch bass. It is not the bass fishing that made it cease to become tenkara, but what he described, with the heavy jig in a lake can not be considered tenkara. There are dozens of methods of fixed-line fishing in Japan, each has their own name and each is different. So, tenkara does have to maintain a certain narrow definition otherwise it has to be called something else, e.g. tanago fishing.
Interestingly, Yvon Chouinard just published an article about tenkara in Fly Fisherman magazine, and I’ll quote it here for the reflection of anyone who reads it:
“It’s been my observation that in Japan and Italy, those who fish tenkara rarely, if ever, fish with regular fly gear and vice versa. In both places the flies and techniques are similar and dogmatic. Something that’s been done the same way for 500 years is not about to change. And that’s the beauty of it.”
Hi Daniel, thanks for the insightful response. I have always appreciated the fact that you strike a good balance between promoting traditional tenkara, while not being preachy or dogmatic and allowing people to have their own interpretation. You’re right about having to have a starting point. I also think you’re right that (for the most part) using tenkara as a tool is accepted in the West; however, I also see some purists take it to the extreme and criticize others for deviating from their definition of tenkara. I was only attempting to offer another way to talk about using tenkara as a tool that wasn’t so exclusive. At any rate, I think what thetroutfly said is right on. At the end of the day, it’s just catching fish. But it’s also interesting to put these ideas out there and see what discussions it leads to. 🙂
Jason, thanks for another great thought-provoking blog post. I’ve often said there are many similarities between tenkara and traditional archery. Inside both there are variations, and there is also an element of elitism, to one degree or another. Pushing the limits of tenkara is fine, and I do a bit of it myself with fly patterns and technique, but I also agree with Daniel that an understanding of the history and fundamentals of traditional tenkara technique is necessary and very beneficial. It should be the cornerstone of any tenkara angler’s knowledge base.
“Eleventh Color” makes sense…I like it!
Interesting posts by all. Being new to Tenkara, it is interesting to see the passion that this style of fishing brings to the table. I think it is a good thing. It shows the deep passion that people feel for this very traditional style of fishing.
Great post Jason! I have used my tenkara rods in the manner for which they were intended and in not so traditional ways such as bass fishing or in saltwater for bluefish. Bottom line….no matter who or how it’s defined it’s a fun and effective way to fish and I for one will do it until I can no longer physically do it!
Great read and great comments. As I have said before, call it whatever you want to call it, I will call it fishing. I am one that will fish it mainly for warmwater in lakes and ponds. I also use weighted flies, ice jigs, and small jigs with plastic. I have use tube flies, size 6 worm hooks with Berkley 3″ trout worms, and spinner flies. I do not care to limit my self to certain flies or lures. To me it is the ultra light tackle that draws me to Tenkara. Catching fish on light tippet is a blast regardless of the size.
The Japanese have other “tenkara” rods for other types of fishing. It’s exciting to catch a big fish on a tenkara rod indeed and you can call your fishing what ever you want. I would suggest that you research tenkara in the Japanese books on tenkara that predate the introduction of tenkara here. I can tell you this, bait was used on tenkara rods, indicators and such. It wasn’t all about what you read in the media. In Japan, tenkara is not all that popular. It is becoming popular as it is here but every Japanese angler, fly fisher and otherwise does not know what tenkara is all about. It is difficult to understand but if you research, you will find that the Japanese have developed nesting carbon graphite rods for much of the type of fishing you have described. Americans are just realizing it themselves and are not so much innovating as they are reinventing the wheel. I believe your tenkara rod would be better used for what it is designed for. Try a Hera rod. It is a rod made for carp. Or your tenkara rod and call it what ever you want. The Japanese Federation of Fly Fisher’s write about the “Westernization” of their anglers. Now you have a truly Japanese form of fly fishing, purely Japanese and now we are Westernizing it. Unfortunately, as the world grows smaller and the multitudes of people search their interests, we often “invent” at the same time in different areas, the same thing. But “Tenkara” is a narrow scope. The rods are ultra-light. The same rods are built in heavier weights to handle heavier types of fishing. Personally, you can write that you are fishing tenkara rods for bass, but as you point out, your description of tenkara for bass is just that. Lefty Kreh said that tenkara is a fad, I could not agree more. Your article was an enjoyable read however there is a lot more to the story.
I don’t think I could every fish the pure Japanese method. I have too much love for the entomology of the rivers I fish and enjoyment tying flies to match the species of insect I find. To fish with a single pattern would be to cut out too much of my fishing pleasure.
I came to tenkara from a Czech nymph, French nymph competition fishing background and I do believe that some of the ideas and developments of those techniques compliment tenkara. Watching the line for takes, a simple idea but add black zebra stripes or use contrasting colours on your line and the sensitivity of watching the line for takes is dramatically improved. I believe we are missing many subtle takes even when using hi-vis fluorocarbon.
Tenkara is a very effective method of fishing but humans have this habit or striving to be better. Why not strive to make tenkara even more effective while keeping it simple?
I enjoyed your article Jason, and I wholeheartedly support the “simplicity” ethos of tenkara. I guess I am one that will always be bathed in the eleventh colour when I’m out fishing.
I think One thing that seems to get passed over a lot in these discussions is a matter of culture rather than “fish” from what reading I have done it seems to me that in Japan they seem to taylor a style of fishing to the fish (i.e. smelt fishing, ayu fishing, tankara,) so I dont think that they believe that small trout fishing is strictly the realm of Tenkara, its just that tenkara is how small trout are fished, just like little tiny poles with electric reels is how smelt are fished. not that it would be sacreligous to use a tenkara rod on smelt, its just why would you do it. where as here in the west we tend to find a style of fishing that we like and apply it to as many fish as possible. to better clarify, now that I have found tenkara I would never think of taking anything else on my high mountain streams, but when it comes to catfish im still gonna use a spinning rod with a big ol’ gob of chicken livers on a hook. its not that I dont think a person couldn’t catch a catfish on a tenkara rod, I know they could (and that would be awesome.) its just for me, catfishing is always gonna be sitting on a beach with a spinning rod propped up on a stick and a beer. 🙂
I think that may be where we are getting lost in the translation.
I consider myself a traditionalist when it comes to tenkara, (pretty much one fly, no indicators or weights, and primarily high mountain streams) but believe me thats not gonna stop me from snaking the occasional bass out of the tooles. 🙂 and Im not gonna feel bad about it either 😛
In my humble opinion, tenkara style fishing in the west has breathed new life into the standard fly-fishing method. When every magazine, catalogue and forum touted the latest “whoop-de-do carbon/graphite conglomeration” for only $700 and precision crafted aircraft grade large arbor fly reel for $400 and a “precision” fly line for every species and every weather condition. A bit complex and overwhelming to my way of thinking. Tenkara answers that with the ultimate in simplicitiy. A rod, a line and some flies. Additionally, all can be had at a fraction of the cost of a western outfit. I see tenkara as brining more people into the flyfishing fold. Once they are competent in tenkara, western style flyfishing would be the next logical step.
When I first started flyfishing for trout, I bought every piece of equipment and fly that was recommended by various tackle manufacturers and authors. In the end, I caught just as many fish with my “cheap’ flyrod and the same 3 or 4 flies. Excessive gear made a simple sport complicated.
I am sorry this is not as philosophical as some of the previous posts. I subscribe to the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid) and tenkara is the ultimate KISS! If it swims and has gills, I will use tenkara for it!
I have always thought of it this way: To fully understand tenkara the way the Japanese angler understands it is probably nearly impossible. I don’t propose that it isn’t prudent to learn about the tradition – but in some ways I think we do it a disservice when we pretend that we can fully translate it to our own context. Each angler will digest tenkara in his or her own way – it is only natural. We don’t all have the time or resources to learn Japanese, study the culture, travel to Japan and study with a tenkara master (I’ll be happy to do so if you all would like to get behind me as financial backers). So inevitably there will be things that are lost in translation. Let me add that luckily there are some folks that are doing these things for us to help us understand tenkara in a traditional way, and thank you very much(I think you know who you are).
Also, I think that you have to be careful not to imply that any level of study into the history is necessary at all – some folks like that sort of thing (I do) and some folks can’t be bothered. Get your tenkara kicks how you like them. The more tenkara anglers the better (I’m thinking of the lack of respect with regard to Fly Fishing Only waters that we seem to be getting.)
For myself – I feel a whole lot more comfortable talking about “American Tenkara” – than pretending that I can intelligently discuss and correctly present Japanese Tenkara in a correctly nuanced way. I’m not saying that some folks can’t.
So no matter how you slice it, like it or not, American Tenkara, or the 11th Color of Tenkara is here to stay. I’m glad it’s here and like Jason says – it will be fun one day to look back through the lens of decades and see how it all played out and know that we were there in the beginning of it, and played at least some tiny role.
Sorry for the rambling
Great post Jason! For me the bottom line is that I love fishing. Sometimes its with a Tenkara rod, sometimes with a fly-rod, sometimes with a spinning rod. I’ll use a Tenkara rod if I feel like it (and the conditions and circumstances allow for it). But sometimes I like to double haul a big weighted clouser at a pike, or long line a spoon for a lake trout. Maybe next time I’ll get pumped to fish some powerbait on my Tenkara rod. I’m not going to get all weird about it, I’ll just do it and have some fun with it. I’m not the type of guy to limit myself, or the type to judge others for their particular technique or gear of choice. Everyone is basically doing the same thing, its called fishing.
In my humble opinion, the reason we find it so easy to extend the Japanese method Tenkara to fishing beyond trout is that we come to the method from a Western point of view rather than a Japanese or Eastern point of view. When we find something that attracts us we approach it by considering the tools, in other words we are attracted by the “things” required to accomplish the tasks of the process. So we look at Tenkara in terms of the equipment. To us Tenkara is a method of fishing that incorporates specific tools.
The Japanese looking at it from an Eastern point of view are concerned with the internalized considerations. They simply ask, “how can I best fish for small trout on equally small waters?” Their answer, dating back hundreds of year, included only the need to incorporate a rod, line and a disguised hook. It did not consider all the modern tools that attract us. In short, it was a specific method developed to fish for trout in a specific environment. They called the method Tenkara.
We, on the other hand, look at the equipment and ask, “Where else can we apply these tools?” Because we do not consider Tenkara as the Japanese do we consider anything incorporating these tools to be Tenkara. That is our mistake and that is why applying Tenkara rods, line and flies to fishing anything other than trout is considered as not purist. If we were to call it anything other than Tenkara, the problem goes away. In it’s simplest form it is nothing more than a form of fly fishing without a reel, just as I did as a boy using a willow stick, line and weighted fly.
A fine article and thoughtful comments. For me, Tenkara was the “gateway drug”. What you call the eleventh color of Tenkara I call fixed line fly fishing. Though I’m still using my original Tenkara rod, I quickly branched out, trying every technique and variation on the basic approach that I thought might improve the effectiveness of how I fished the given body of water I happened to be fishing on a particular day. I still fish some traditional style Tenkara, but I also fish dry flies, weighted nymphs, and big ugly streamers. While I’m having an absolute blast I still fish my western gear as well and honestly think my western style fishing makes me a better fixed line fly fisherman and vice versa. What I realize is that my original Tenkara rod is far from ideal for all the way I use it. I need a collection of many types of fixed line rods. Some have realized there’s a business opportunity there.
Wow, what a great post, how could i have missed this great discussion back then?
Anyway, Congrats Jason for this really precious writing.