Tenkara was recently featured in Midcurrent as leading fly-fishing online resource.

In the article, the author poses the question of whether tenkara “has a chance of revolutionizing U.S. fly fishing the way two-handed techniques did thirty years ago, but there’s no question that it provides an interesting, simpler alternative to fly fishing formulas that seem only to get more complex.”

We believe it does indeed. Tenkara is a specialized segment of fly-fishing. Two handed rods are the special niche for big rivers, and until tenkara found its way to the US there was not a specialty type of fishing for small streams. Of course, there are 1-wt rods, and even 00-wt rods. However, these are just lighter variations of any fly rods. Tenkara offers a new system that is highly effective for small stream angling, and is truly ultra-light. Further, fly manipulation and control, important things in small stream fishing, are made easier with 11 – 13 ft long tenkara rods, as opposed to short fly-rods.

This weekend Tenkara USA was present at the Spey-O-Rama event at the pools of the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club.

The event attracted a large crowd. When stopping by our table and learning about tenkara, most people quickly exclaimed the, “this would be great for backpacking”, and “I know some streams where this would be just perfect!”.

Guests got to try several different tenkara rods and quickly learned the way of casting with a tenkara rod – just a bit slower and with a shorter stroke, many likened it to casting with a bamboo rod and a shorter stroke. Most people were amazed with the lighteness of the rods and the fact that they are telescopic.