The Complete Video Guide to Tenkara: 17 minutes covering everything you need to know to tenkara 

Nice to meet you. I'm an immigrant from Japan to Canada. Recently, I've been thinking of resuming fly fishing after 35 years. (I was too busy make it new life in Canada) I've been watching various fishing videos and was surprised to see that Japanese tenkara fishing has become popular in North America. and I was very happy. I learned tenkara fishing from my father before I became a fly fisherman, and watching your video brought me back to my roots. I love simple fishing. I like to keep it simple, and when I fly fish in North America, I prefer to fish for small trout. I'm sure that tenkara fishing is the best choice for me. In your video, I felt a lot of respect for the nostalgic Japanese mountain streams, Japanese fishermen, and Japanese culture. Thank you for such a wonderful video. I hope that as many people as possible will be able to share the appeal of tenkara fishing. Once again, thank you very much. From B.C. Canada

Nice tutorial. From Malaysia to try Tenkara Fishing as the age getting to old now. Thanks for the guide.

Rod/reel combo with fishing kit as an emergency setup ru-vid.comUgkxntWMOZsO1Zfv-pdn_XuffEtNkTYAYu4Z recommend but started to use this every day. The rod is thick and seems durable. I keep it neatly tucked into a regular backpack all the time with my fishing gear, and can grab it anytime, put it on my back and go anywhere. I just read in another review that the rod length below the reel is adjustable as well, so I will try that too for even more portability. Probably the best setup I've ever owned. I lost the cap for the eyelets, but no big deal since I still have the black cloth sheath that came for the pole and I use that. Very portable and high quality.

Thorough and to the point. Thank you.

I have never done Tenkara fishing. I have just got my rod, and I am excited to use it. Thank you for this VERY helpful video!

Simple and fun. It's like an old fashioned cane pole with fly line!

Wow thank you for sharing...actually I'm making may own tenkara for sea water fishing and I use ajing fishing rod to cast and I love using on it...

Really good video 👍. Nice, and clean presentation, and easy to understand. That's how it's done. 👍👍

Excellent ! Thank you ! 🙂😎👍

Nice instructional vid. Thanks for all the tips!

If it’s a good fish, I’ll release it into my skillet!

Wasn't this called "dabbing" in the UK since at least the 17th century? Excellent guide, though!

As an old (83) guy who first "fly fished" with a 12 ft cane pole, small twine, and dime store flies, and since, has gone broke with waaaaay too much "stuff"....... .....what is the ACTUAL difference between a $200 Tenkara rod and a $20 telescoping Crappie pole ?

16:25 Common misconception. Catch and release still results in many dead fish. The mortality rates is far higher than many realize. Simply practicing C&R doesn't help or improve fishing conditions. Selective harvest is the way to go.

잘보고갑니다

Release fish? Take it to the bank and grill it more like 😄

Is this like fly fishing for newbies who are too cheap to actually get into the sport? Puzzling

don’t fall for this BS please buy a proper rod and reel

tenkara is a joke!

Good video. The only thing, that I would add, is to make sure you wet your hands, before ever holding, or touching, your catch . It helps maintain the protective slime, on the fish.

Beginner here and this video answered every question I had. Thank you for such an informative guide!

I was just introducing a friend to Tenkara. This complete guide arrives just on time. Thank you Daniel and TenkaraUSA

I always tell beginner fly fishers, your number one job is to keep your fly out of the trees and bushes and don't tangle your line. Nothing will ruin a beginners day like spending all day dealing with snags and tangles and lost flies.

This is probably one of the best and most informative videos I’ve watched on fly fishing. Thank you

I am a fly fisherman, who was having a hard time wrapping my head around the exact setup for Tenkara. This is perfect, I am ready to go! Thank you! Great stream footage too in the video. All around a great video.

If you Brook Trout fish in small streams this is the ticket. Half of the adventure is exploring, the other getting the fly in very close quarters. This makes both much more enjoyable.

Just got my Ito rod and headed up to the Conejos River in Colorado in a couple weeks to give it a try. Wish me luck!

I just ordered my first rod from you as my birthday gift to myself. I’m glad this video came out as a starter for a beginner like me. Thank you.

This aint something we just learned this from the Japanese. My Ole man been fly fishing like this with a cane pole like in the deep south of Arkasas back when he was a kid.

Phenomenal guide! This is all you need to get started and have lots of fun. There really isn’t much more to know in order to tenkara.

Really fantastic video! I am switching over from fly fishing to Tenkara due to the amount of small stream access I have in the mountains this helped a lot looking forward to heading up the stream in a couple days

Absolutely the best video on beginning tenkara Daniel! Can't wait for more like this.

私の1911年生まれの祖父も山猟師でテンカラの名人だった。私も逆毛針の巻き方や色々教わった。日本古来の伝統的な釣りですね。 逆毛針はキジの毛と鴨の毛で昔はハリスに馬の毛を使っていたらしいです。

Very interesting, in Italy there is a fishing sistem like that, "Valsesiana" in North and in Florence "Frusta toscana". The second maybe extint.

These techniques can be done with a long fly rod, including dapping, where you only let the fly touch. Some stealth is involved. No tromping around like t-rex and keep your shadow off the water as much as you can. When comfortable, you can invest in the Tenkara rig. I learned some just using a bamboo pole as a kid.

Cane pole fishing!!! @hudge fly fisherman

This type of fishing looks to be very fun. I am limited to how I can fish and what rods I can use. What is the difference between Tinkara USA and buying them directly from China like Tinkara USA does? I would rather pay for the same Tenkara Rod at a fraction of the price than to over pay for the same product. 😮

This technique appears to be only targeting rising fish, Are u able to use sink tips to allow for drifting deeper into the water column , say depths of 2-3ft ?

Muito bem Daniel, gostei demais das técnicas de tenkara que você apresentou neste vídeo. Obrigado pelo seu trabalho em nos ensinar!!!

Can you fish larger game fish, such as bass with a Tenkara rod?

Great info, thanks for taking the time to help us learn. I’ve never tried it before so it’s something I hope to do soon. I love fishing, it’s so rewarding and fun!

Great video, the only thing I'd like to add, for beginners, is that if you are doing catch and release, or need to release a fish that isn't legal to keep cause of species or being too small or something, if you wet your hand before you touch the fish, it helps protect the layer of slime on the fish, that is critical for the fishes survival. It protects the fish from water born pathogens, and helps it move through the water efficiently, saving energy and increasing the survival rate of the fish. When I was a kid in the 80's and 90's, we used to swim around popular fishing spots, and scrounge fishing line and lures that had been snagged and left by other fishermen. We would also use huckleberries we picked as artificial salmon eggs, using sticks cut on location for a pole, to tie our scrounged line to, essentially making a tenkara style rod. Life is so complicated these days, I think we are all looking for ways to slow down/simplify our lives, at least our entertainment, if we can't simplify our work lives.

Im a avid fly fishermen, so tenkara is fly fishing but without the fly reel? What happens if you hook a really big brown and your lines only so long...does your line just snap off? This look interesting

Nice. I have done every other kind of fishing. Finally ready to get into fly fishing. Tenkara will be my starting point

Props to you guys for featuring Takénobu in your vid

Awaiting my first Tenkara rod right now, a Yari I ordered from Tenkara USA. At 76 years old, I have fly-fished since my first rod at the age of 12. I am a very proficient angler but that might work against me for a while. Tenkara seems to be a purist sport and I am sure I will commit acts of sacrilege. Can you recommend any material on Tenkara history, technique, and culture?

Oi Daniel, parabéns pelo rico conteúdo!! Aqui no Brasil, pesco com Tenkara, desde lambaris até Tilapias de 4kg! Muito eficiente e emocionante!

16:40 why? I’d rather eat the fish…. :)

Was helping my mother in law clean out her garage a while back. She's from Japan. Found what turned out to be a Tenkara rod in the corner. It doesn't have a line on the end to tie to, it has a tiny eyelet epoxied(?) to the tip. Don't know if that's a repair or just the way it was made. Do you think I should tie my line directly to the eyelet or add one of those short pieces and then tie to that? Not sure what difference it would make. I'm itching to get out there after seeing this. Thanks.

sure would like to try this spider rigging for crappie but with the ability to adjust length from 12 foot to eighteen foot and plenty of backbone

Give me the real fly rod and the finesse to use it. This is more like using a bamboo pole to dunk the worm except it is lighter and the lure is different. To each their own but there is, for me anyway, a certain pleasure in watching the line lay a dry fly gently on the water and seeing the swirl as the fish takes it.

I can see you are very interested in Tenkara. My question is were you actively involved with traditional fly fishing before Tenkara or did you see something that made you aware of Tenkara and then you became interested if fly fishing?

In America we call this pole fishing traditionally a river cane pole

Am I able to use leader as the tenkara line? I’m quite new to tenkara and I just have tippet and nylon leader.

I now wanna try it as the simplicity of it really attracts me. Thanks

Tenkara is the ukulele of fly fishing

A friend just told me about the Kara fishing this morning and I had no idea what it was. Very cool! One day I’ll have to get a proper set up and try it myself.

Really nice reminder of best practices. Thank you.

Do you keep any of the fish you catch? They all look so small....

Really great idea to have that place to store the rod cover.

I'm from Serbia STATE in Europe,well TENKARA is different from fly fishing rods this stick is the simply the best from fly rods,and I want buy Tenkara but....,where I can buy this rods in Europe,because We don't have any shop in my country...Thanks!!!!See You...

Excellent video ! That's exactly what I was looking for. A comprehensive short but complete summary. Congratulations. What a shame it took me about a week to find it !

Can you add a indicator just like fly fishing ?

Can I pull in 15" rainbows with this rig?

Great video! Look forward to more.

Cool rod but how is this different from a telescopic crappie pole? $25 vs $250? I loved fly fishing and this intrigues me but wondering the difference?

This would Brilliant for my Bikepacking adventures if you ever need tester let me know

Hahaha love to see you hook a large wild trout 6lb +

This might be a dumb question but do people keep fish they catch on tenkara or are all released?

Tenkara relies on one concept.....an appeal to antiquity. All Asian products sold to westerners rely on appeals to antiquity. 100s of years old.....1000000000s of years to master....etc.

I just found my next bream pole!

very informative ! Thank you ! I enjoyed it !!!

Unless you don’t like eating fish, or they are undersized, why release them? Fish are a renewable resource if harvest limits are followed. That’s why we pay the fish n game people, to efficiently manage the fish population.

Best Basic Instruction Video on RU-vid

Brother, On episode 8 landing the fish: I find it easier doing a tai-chi method, where my dominant hand is holding the Tenkara rod with a controlled tension. My other hand has the net. So my dominant arm is in the air and my other hand holding the net is lowered. Think of an L pattern. I’m right-handed which is the vertical part of the L, whereas my left hand holding the net is the horizontal part of the L. As I bring the fish closer to me, my right arm is starting to raise up, my left hand holding the net stays horizontal the whole time. Thus I call it the Tai-chi L method

Awesome video very well said

It’s not fly fishing.

One question, what is the ideal length of this fishing rod? I want to try my place to find baby fish hampalla I am willing to answer

This is literally just stream angling that we used to do as kids, do Americans not have tip-tied fishing rods or what?

Highsticking just feels so wrong as a fly fisherman. Might pick up a tenkara rod to make it quicker and easier fishing from the motorcycle on the small waters I come across.

Great intro video. So much information in a very compact and simple presentation; kinda like Tenkara!!! I appreciate the bit at the end on how to release the fish. I see guys putting fish in towels, using pliers to rip the flies out of he fish's mouth. Awesome video, hope to see you out there. Practice good stream etiquette and remember to pick your trash.

I've had maybe five telescoping fishing rods and 100% of them jammed open.

I have been looking at these rods for a while now. Looks like it’s the Sato is my choice. Great instruction also. I fly fished for the first time last weekend. Now I want a Tenkara to keep in the truck for that spur of the moment fishing.

hi can you do euro nyphing with a tenkara rod

I have a first season with tenkara. I very like it. Now i planning to bring in longer main line as experiment. Biggest fish for now - 0,7 kilograms chub.

Thanks for this all in one video. The only thing I found missing is the best time to catch fish. Season and hours. Thanks a lot. Me and my son will have a great time fishing.

I'm looking at trying this. Thank you for all this information in one spot. Outstanding presentation.

Great video, very helpful. One question I have that I have not seen anyone talk about is what should happen to the line when you cast. When I was fly fishing I would cast, then mend the line so it was in the water above the fly that was drifting down stream. In Tenkara when casting with furled line are you supposed to keep the furled line out of the water and only have the tippet and fly in the water?

Do you only fish with a floating fly?

Great informative video. Thank you. Also enjoyed Takenobu!

Thank you so much for this, I am going to give this a try while living in Japan. Should be interesting.

You can use whatever kind of flies you want right? Or am I missing something and they have to be tenkara flies

Just got into fly fishing last year and I’m definitely going to add one of these to my collection. Just a random thought but does anyone know where I can get that shirt the man in the bamboo hat was wearing? I thought it was cool😁

Excellent video. Never thought about trying this method, but I'm always up for something new. Going to start looking for a rod soon.

Cain pole

So a cane pole with a fly on it?

Reminds me of a Bream Buster

I have just been introduced to this style of fishing this morning! My initial thought is that it looks a lot like euro nymphing, or tight line fly fishing. I’m wondering if you could have some success fishing with nymphs using this kind of set up. Any thoughts?

Thank you for the good video. I am one of the people who respect Mr. SEBATA, who is famous as "The old man who talks mountain rivers" in Japan. TENKARA and fly fishing seem to be similar, but quite different. TENKARA's greatest appeal is its portability, but it also makes the insects act as if they were alive. I'm trying to do something similar to Tenkara with a fly rod, but I still need to practice.

I intend to be a Tenkara fisherman soon. Now, I'm off to shop on your website.