Tenkara: Radically Simple, Ultralight Fly Fishing

by Kevin C. Kelleher, Misako Ishimura

Fly fishing is complex and costly with too much cumbersome gear, right? Well, tenkara’s different. Long overlooked in the West, tenkara is economical and simple, productive, and pleasurable This Eastern approach is today taking the fly-fishing world in North America and Europe by storm. Its tool kit is a long, collapsible rod; a length of line tied to the end of the rod; and a fly. Without a reel, casting techniques become easy and intuitive. The gear is inexpensive and easily portable, perfect for hiking and camping.

This pioneering book is an ideal guide to tenkara, covering the essentials of gear and rigging, the roots of tenkara, fishing dry flies as well as subsurface fishing and casting--as well as tenkara backpacking and tenkara for women. Tenkara has been the subject of features in Field & Stream, American Angler, and Fly, Rod & Reel magazines, and has been endorsed by the likes of Patagonia CEO and environmentalist Yvon Chouinard. Major retail outlets are now selling tenkara rods.

Genres: Outdoors

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Philip DeTrana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a very helpful book to help me learn about a hobby I’m just starting to get into. Some of his descriptions would be better suited as a video, but I’m still glad he included all that he did.

Side note: very cool that this guy is a family practice physician who still practices in Roanoke, not too far south from me… very small world out there.

[Beau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good info, but could probably use a few more images. However, the author seems to have gone to lengths to make the book resemble Tenkara (very stripped down to essentials) so I understand, stylistically why there aren’t many images, aside from some lovely pencil renderings. Particularly, the section on making lines is impossible for me to visualize with text only. I especially appreciated advice on how to choose gear and flies as well as casting techniques and when to employ them.

[Dwayne Mchottie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good primer

This is a good primer on Tenkara. It covers the history, the gear, and techniques of the art. Written well.

[Carolina Liechtenstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful and pleasure to read. It’s about a growing and simple way of fly fishing.

[Dori Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done, big brother!

[Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very solid book on tenkara including tackle, strategies, and philosophy. Also included are some more tangential topics like accessories, creating furled lines, aquatic insects, etc. I would recommend this book over the only other tenkara book out there (as of late-summer 2013), Tenkara Fly Fishing: Insights & Strategies, by David E. Dirks, which I found much less informative and more subjective in its scope.

The overall introduction offered by this title is perfect for those new to fly fishing and tenkara specifically. Even after fishing tenkara for a little while this summer, I found the overview of various lines, fishing techniques, and strategies very nicely handled. The author's style is relaxed, conversational, and filled with unique information that I've not seen elsewhere (for example about trout vision underwater, line lengths preferred by various fishermen, and fly choices during different times of year).

Overall, I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in tenkara as their primary source on the techniques involved. I have heard that Craig Mathews is publishing a book on tenkara later this year (2013) which I eagerly await, but in the mean time, this book is my primary choice for reading up on tenkara.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It does its job perfectly, introducing tenkara fishing in a way that's as simple as the sport warrants, yet still relatively comprehensive. Experienced anglers won't be bored, and new anglers won't be overwhelmed.

You could probably just about go from knowing nothing to catching a fish simply by using the book. That said, it works best in the context of other fishing instruction/literature (and, of course, nothing teaches like time on the water, ideally with an experienced person). There's plenty of more room for talk about reading the water, etc. My only other wish is that the knot illustrations had been clearer (or shown more steps).

[Bill Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

Introduction to all aspects of tenkara fly fishing

I have wanted to try fly fishing for several years, but found the terminology and complexity a bit bewildering as a neophyte. Tenkara strips out everything not strictly necessary. Best of all, because it's simpler a d lighter, I can bring tenkara gear with me hiking and even trail running, opening up more fishing opportunities. Tenkara, and this book, brought me into fly fishing, and I'm loving it.

[Ty Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must read for the Tenkara curious or veteran. Great to hear the practical applications of Tenkara principles, as well as an open minded approach to fly selection, line preference, and experimentation.

[Doug Alcorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tenkara is about simplicity and this book is an excellent introduction to that mindset. What I liked best were the parts where he talked about mindfulness, how to read the river and literally how to hunt the fish.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good book on the overview of Tenkara fishing. It's hard to learn how to fish from a book, though, and even with how commendable of a job this book does I'm not sure this book is any better than just spending an hour or two reading blogs and watching videos.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, easy to read and very informative on the aspects of Tenkara Fishing.

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ummm, just not worth it