Tenkara TalkTenkara Talk
Tenkara Talk
a tenkara fly fishing blog
Search TenkaraTalk
  • Home
  • Tenkara Gear
    • Tenkara Rods
    • Tenkara Lines
    • Flies
    • Line Holders & Spools
    • Fly Boxes
    • Nets
    • Packs, Organization & Storage
    • Clothing & Accessories
    • Wading Gear
  • How-To & Resources
    • What is Tenkara?
    • Tenkara 101
    • Presentation Techniques
    • Streamcraft
    • Tenkara Videos
    • Fly Tying
    • Knots
    • DIY & Hacks
    • Warmwater Tenkara
    • Books & Media
  • News & Fun
    • Trip Reports
    • Interviews
    • Philosophy
    • Humor
    • Art
    • Tenkara News
    • Events
  • Tenkara Links
  • About Me
  • Contact
FacebookTwitterYouTubePinterestInstagram
  • Home
  • Tenkara Gear
    • Tenkara Rods
    • Tenkara Lines
    • Flies
    • Line Holders & Spools
    • Fly Boxes
    • Nets
    • Packs, Organization & Storage
    • Clothing & Accessories
    • Wading Gear
  • How-To & Resources
    • What is Tenkara?
    • Tenkara 101
    • Presentation Techniques
    • Streamcraft
    • Tenkara Videos
    • Fly Tying
    • Knots
    • DIY & Hacks
    • Warmwater Tenkara
    • Books & Media
  • News & Fun
    • Trip Reports
    • Interviews
    • Philosophy
    • Humor
    • Art
    • Tenkara News
    • Events
  • Tenkara Links
  • About Me
  • Contact

Category Archives: Philosophy

10 Things to Do When you Can’t Go Fishing

As I sit here looking at the aftermath of the recent snowstorm through my office window, I’m reminded of the cruel joke nature sometimes plays on anglers:  the thwarting of fishing plans.  You know, those days where you could go fishing, but the rivers are frozen over, or blown out.  It’s a bitter irony and…

February 25, 201320 CommentsPhilosophyBy Jason Klass

Tenkara Rod Rating System

A Better Tenkara Rod Rating System

For as long as I can remember, describing fly rod action has always been problematic. The typical adjectives used such as “fast”, “medium” and “slow” are not only inadequate, but also subjective. What does “fast” mean? And does it mean the same thing to you as it does to me? At some point, there was…

February 12, 201319 CommentsPhilosophyBy Jason Klass

Tenkara on fly fishong only water

Why Tenkara Should be Legal on “Flyfishing Only” Waters

Ever since tenkara was introduced to the U.S., there has been quite a bit of discussion on whether or not it is legal on designated “fly fishing only” waters.  There seems to be quite a bit of confusion over interpretation of the law–even among govenrment officials since the legal definition often includes language dictating that…

February 8, 201327 CommentsPhilosophyBy Jason Klass

Tenkara Marketing

Marketing from Heaven

Over the last few years, I’ve read some pretty harsh criticism on the marketing of Tenkara. I find this curious because all of us are surrounded by marketing in nearly every aspect of our everyday lives, yet those same critics don’t seem to complain about it (at least not with the same vehemence).   We’re…

February 1, 201316 CommentsPhilosophyBy Jason Klass

Tenkara Fishing

Flow Like the River

Anyone who fishes with me for the first time invariably makes the same comment:  I move.  A lot.  I pretty much take a few casts in a spot and if I don’t hook up, I move on. Part of this is practical.  Like Dr. Ishigaki and many other tenkara anglers, I’m of the philosophy that there are…

January 25, 201317 CommentsPhilosophyBy Jason Klass

Me test casting prototype lines in my backyard

Fishing without Water

There’s an interesting phenomenon I’ve observed on many social media fishing sites.  It basically goes something like this:  Someone posts an idea.  Maybe it’s a new fly tying technique, a DIY project, a new way of rigging, etc.  Someone else responds to it saying that it’s too complicated, or takes too much time, and they’d…

January 12, 201319 CommentsPhilosophyBy Jason Klass

A banished sakasa kebari

My Fly Culling Ritual

Ever since a I can remember I’ve been doing something that might be considered strange and have always wondered if I’m the only one, or if other anglers do it as well. Basically, I “cull” flies from my fly box. That is, when I take a fly out of my box to fish it, that’s…

October 22, 201212 CommentsPhilosophyBy Jason Klass

Sakasa Kebari

What makes a fly a “tenkara” fly?

Don’t be put off by the title. I’m not about to incite a heated debate about what is or isn’t a “tenkara” fly and delve into an infinite loop of semantic minutia.  Instead, I thought I would simply list out the criteria I use when selecting patterns that I think work well for tenkara.  And…

October 20, 201221 CommentsPhilosophyBy Jason Klass

Ito-on-S.-Platte

Why Getting Skunked Makes you a Better Angler

It might sound strange, but I have come to believe that fishless days can actually be a good thing (well, every once in a while, that is).  And I’ll even take it a step further and add that ultimately, I think they make us better anglers and deepen our appreciation of the sport.  I’ve been…

September 24, 201225 CommentsPhilosophyBy Jason Klass

Best all around size for tenkara flies

Is #12 the “Goldilocks” Size for Sakasa Kebari?

In western fly fishing, a lot of emphasis is placed not only on the fly pattern, but also on fly size.  It’s considered standard practice to carry both a wide variety of patterns and a variety of sizes of each pattern.  The mentality seems to be that if you don’t have a good selection, you’re…

August 22, 201222 CommentsPhilosophyBy Jason Klass

Tenkara and the eleventh color

The “Eleventh Color” of Tenkara

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…

May 13, 201218 CommentsPhilosophyBy Jason Klass

Sakasa Kebari

Sakasa Kebari & the One Fly Approach

Ever since I started tenkara fishing, I’ve been fascinated with those who subscribe to the “one fly” approach. Imagine an angler so confident in their skills, having so much faith in one fly, that they choose to carry only one pattern with them.  It seems almost mythical.  Yet, there are some practical reasons why this…

April 3, 201214 CommentsPhilosophyBy Jason Klass

Tenkara Lake Fishing

Where Simplicity Really Matters

As tenkara takes hold in the West, many people are experimenting with different techniques, rigging, and DIY gear modifications. As someone who has a deep passion for innovation, I think this is a good thing. But there are many voices criticizing certain types of experimentation in an effort to preserve the intrinsic simplicity of tenkara.…

April 2, 20124 CommentsPhilosophyBy Jason Klass

The Ultimate Tenkara Rod

The “Perfect” Tenkara Rod

Sitting on the bank during one of those all-too-familiar fishless days on the South Platte, I started thinking about rod design.  With my current favorite in my hand (the Tenkara USA Ito), I began to think about what makes a rod “good”.  I’ve done a fair number of tenkara rod reviews and if you’ve followed this…

March 8, 201213 CommentsPhilosophyBy Jason Klass

Tenkara Simplicity

Tenkara: Diversity in Simplicity

This weekend, I sat in in a cabin next to a wood burning stove with the Arkansas River not 20 yards away from me.  I brought my Yamame and Ito hoping to get some fishing in but it was not meant to be.  The winds howled, rattling the wood stove chimney and everything else in…

January 23, 201212 CommentsPhilosophyBy Jason Klass

Tenkara Gear Addiction

Is Being a Tenkara Gear Junkie Hypocritical?

I’ve never seen any discussion of tenkara where the word “simplicity” didn’t come up at least a few times. It’s true that simplicity is an easily identifiable attribute of tenkara but this seems to put gear addicts like me in an interesting dilema. Is our love of gear antithetical to the intrinsic nature of tenkara?…

January 17, 201219 CommentsPhilosophyBy Jason Klass

Ito-on-S.-Platte

“Tenkara Fishing” vs. “Fishing with a Tenkara Rod”

[/caption] It was a beautiful bluebird day this fall on the South Platte when the revelation hit me like a miscast 4/0 Clouser to the forehead:  I have never really tenkara fished!  Now, before you use my own words against me and bring up the impotence of labels, let me explain.  I was fishing with Daniel…

December 21, 201121 CommentsPhilosophyBy Jason Klass

Daniel Galhardo on the South Platte

Is Tenkara Fly Fishing?

  I’ve seen this question come up in social media again and again (with some pretty heated debates).  I’m not sure why people seem to focus so heavily on labeling tenkara as “fly fishing” or not.  After all, we don’t obsess about the many, more incorrect labels and misnomers we use in our in our…

December 8, 201131 CommentsPhilosophyBy Jason Klass

Tenkara USA Catalog

American Tenkara Museum

  Today, I got the first ever TenkaraUSA print catalog in the mail.  Daniel was kind enough to not only autograph it for me, but also write a nice message.  This is a truly special item and as soon as I opened it, it reminded me of something I’ve been thinking about for quite some…

December 4, 201112 CommentsPhilosophyBy Jason Klass

Does more gear mean more fish?

Tenkaraphobia

[/caption]   Why is it that some people instantly embrace tenkara while others reject it outright? I have been wondering this for a long time now. I’ve read dozens of social media posts where people have written downright malicious comments about tenkara and tenkara anglers. The funny thing is, by their own admission, most of…

November 26, 201118 CommentsPhilosophyBy Jason Klass

tenkara fly

My Tenkara Story

  The picture above is the first Tenkara fly I ever fished and is the first fly I ever caught a fish with using a Tenkara rod.  It’s retired now and a little worse for wear with a tail missing and the dubbing roughed up.  But it sits on a shelf in my fly tying…

June 24, 20112 CommentsPhilosophyBy Jason Klass

Tenkara Simplicity

[/caption] As Tenkara catches on more and more in the U.S., I have yet to see one description of it lacking the following adjective:  simple.  Mainly by virtue of not using a reel, Tenkara is certainly simpler than what most Western fly fishers are accustomed to–and that is probably its main appeal.  Ironically though, many…

August 22, 2010Leave a commentPhilosophyBy Jason Klass
12
Prev page
About Me

Jason KlassJason Klass is a former fly fishing guide & casting instructor based in Colorado. He was an early adopter of tenkara in the West and has been fishing the method for a variety of species since 2009. Read more >>

Get an email when I post!
TenkaraTalk Sponsors
Dragontail Tenkara   Tenkara Times   Tenkara Rod Co   Zen Tenkara   TAO Tenkara   Tenkara Tanuki Tenkara Fisher
Search by Category
Send Jason an Email
Search TenkaraTalk
Tenkara Talk Archives
Tenkara + Backpacking!
Is there any other sport that goes better with tenkara than hiking and backpacking? Be sure to also check out my ultralight and DIY backpacking gear blog.

Tenkara and Backpacking
Latest Posts
  • Tenkara Memes
    Tenkara Memes Round 7
    November 2, 2019
  • Sources for Tenkara Fly Tying Materials
    October 25, 2019
  • Tenkara Flies by Jason Sparks
    Jason Sparks on Tenkara Fly Tying
    September 4, 2019
© 2019 | TenkaraTalk by Jason Klass | All rights reserved