Fellow beginners, I'd love to get a thread going where we share our tenkara experiences. Most of the discussion and writing online comes from folks who have been at it much longer. They're in a different place than us beginners. We can learn from each other.

Did you come from other styles of fishing, or are you brand new? How have your "firsts" shaped you: first rod, first water, first trip?

What do you find most fascinating about the sport (casting, reading water, flies?), and what aspects are you ignoring for now?

I'll start in the comments. Curious to hear where everyone is at.

A very cool melding of western gear with tenkara techniques. The rig is not perfect, but its a very interesting use case nonetheless. Enjoy!

#flyfishing #tenkara #dreamstream

Just came across a video from Tenkara Addict about his two favorite rods being the Zen Tenkara Suzume and Tenkara Bum 40 and got to wondering what is everyone’s favorite go to rod(s) that they reach for the most for their local streams. I’m not looking for any rod buying advice or anything. I have enough rods in my quiver at this point I don’t need any more for a while. I understand rod choice is based on situation but curious if anyone has any true go tos right now. I tried to find this discussion on here but all I found were posts looking for advice on their first rod. Feel free to revisit this in the future as long as this post is up to update your go to rod.

Tax free plus 10% off means 20% off. This is the 3rd Joshuya I’ve been to in Tokyo in the past week. Better prices than Sansui and tax free, but the selection can be hit or miss. Hit the jackpot here though! Picked up the Mini, Royal Stage, Pro spec 2-way, and the 3.5 meter on the far left that Google can’t translate but feels amazing.

Hi everyone. I’m looking for an Okuma Scorpio Tenya SP190M fishing rod. It’s been one of my husband’s favourites but it sadly enough broke a couple of months ago. I am based in the UK and have searched everywhere to source one and I can’t find it anywhere. If any of you have any advise on where I may be able to find one I would really appreciate it.

Who all is participating this fall?

Very small large mouth.

Hey everyone!

The temperatures are definitely dropping where I am, and the fall/winter chill is starting to set in. To keep the fishing itch at bay, I’ve been looking back through my photos from the warmer months.

Here is a collection of my favorite tenkara catches (that I got phos of) from this past summer. There's nothing quite like looking back at these memories while waiting for spring!

This kit actually came to life after a bit of a realization. I have a rod with a serious, stiff backbone that fishes much more like a traditional Western fly rod than a soft, full-flex tenkara rod. Because of that unique action, it just didn't share systems or lines well with the rest of my quiver. Instead of fighting it, I decided to lean into its strengths and give it its own dedicated, completely independent ultralight setup.

The goal here is zero bulk, minimal redundancies, and absolute competence if I happen to stumble across a beautiful small creek or an alpine lake. To keep things as sleek as possible, I skip bulky rod tubes entirely and just slide the rod into a stretchy side pocket or a small corner of my pack.

Went to one of my favorite holes to see if the hurricane brought water levels up a bit. Ended up catching my PB Rainbow for tenkara and PB Yellow Perch on tenkara. Another nice rainbow on a jig streamer after too.

Funny enough I had more luck on this little random creek than any of the major world class rivers around me. I really want to get into these super tiny creeks. My wetfly backcountry is definitely too big (10 ft). I was thinking the Wasatch Snub Nose IV Ultra would be good for this. I feel like some of the other 8ft+ options would be too much. Any advice?

Snagged this old school Daiwa glass rod for ¥1600. Perfect size to use with a pump mount on the bike. Also pictured, the first lil’ kawamutsu on that rod at the neighborhood stream.

I'm relatively new to tenkara and looking for some advice on how to approach small streams like the one in the picture.

I'm currently on a bit of a mission to find native brook trout in my area of Massachusetts. Unfortunately, a lot of the places that historically held them have lost much of their native trout populations due to habitat loss, dams preventing fish from moving between streams, and other environmental changes. I'd really like to find some of the remaining wild populations. A lot of this is blue lining mapped or unnamed cold water streams. The stream pictured is mostly what I will be fishing or at least trying to and I have some questions for those with some experience. I have had some success on a bigger river with larger trout populations but I am really struggling with trying to get this right in tighter spacesin these smaller streams

1. How long of a rod should I be using, most streams will have dense overgrowth and overhanging limbs. Not much room to cast, I currently am using a 7 footer

2. How long should my main line and tippet be in comparison to my rod? Right now it's a little longer than the rod itself. And it sort of feels like it is too long to cast well but not long enough to really get to spots without spooking these very cautious fish

And I thought tenkara was expensive. This rod rest was pricey on eBay and it didn't even come with the bamboo pole, had to steal it from a broken crappie pole and fit it myself. I fell down the rabbit hole of tenkara, tanago keiryu and now Hera style fishing.

Popped into Mad River outfitters in Columbus, Ohio today. Picked up these perfect size 12 kebari from Tenkara USA. I will fish 2 of them and keep one as a little piece of art. Fished one within 10 minutes of purchase... got fish.

I threw the kitchen sink at them with my spinning reel today. Every Rapala, Rooster Tail, Senko, and jig I had. Nothing!
Meanwhile, the first and last cast with the tenkara rod produced three smallies in less than 10 minutes. Sometimes, keeping it simple is the way to go!

Northern Nevada.

First time using a Tenkara rod. So much fun.

On a WetFly Backcountry 10 foot rod.

Even a largie this small is a blast on a tenkara. Was targeting bluegill. Every once in a while one of these guys shows up. I'll take it.

I’ve fished my whole life but only with a spinning reel. I find myself by small streams a lot so I tried tying a fly onto my ultralight but it sucks. So when I found a used tenkara rod for $10, I quickly snatched it up. It’s the Aventik Tenkara Rod Pro IM12 Nano 6:4
in the 11’10” length.

Now I just need to know how to set it all up because it didn’t come with any line or flies. I’m in SW Michigan and most tackle shops near me carry spinning and trolling tackle and occasionally a small section of fly fishing stuff. So I don’t really have a salesperson to ask or shelves to pursue and I’m hoping you can help.

From what I’m reading, I need special tenkara line, right? Or can I use some type of normal fly line instead?

Is the tippet just regular mono or fluoro? I have several spools of both but a pointer on what weight to use would be appreciated.

I know flies are very specific to the time and area so can I just follow whatever the fly fishermen are recommending?