All you tenkara fishermen....

[That Dang Guy]

...have got me interested!

I've always had a little interest in fly fishing, but it seems daunting trying to figure any of it out! I figured tenkara would be exponentially simpler, but it can still be a bit confusing.

What i'm looking to do is fish panfish from shore and eventually on a float tube. Ideally I would have preferred to find a blank to build, but it doesn't appear that any are available around here. I'm looking to keep the budget low on this first setup to make sure that it's something that I'll enjoy doing.

How do you determine the ideal length for a rod? Also how do you determine what type of line and tippet you need?

So far, I've looked at a Yokoshima 3908 and a fountainhead 13' stonefly rod. Does anyone here have any experience with these rods?

Thanks for any help!

[That Dang Guy]

Well I decided to go with a 6:4 rod instead of a 7:3.

I order a Wakata 3908. I haven't seen any reviews for it, so I'm rolling the dice on it. Going to match it with some Segaur 15lb Fluoro on a 6x tippet for a few casts before deciding if i want to go with a furled or hi-vis level line. I ordered some Punk Rock Sakasa and Ishigari Kebari to try out as well. If things go well, I'll probably end up tying my own flies.

Thanks for the awesome tips!

...man this forum isn't what it used to be.

[City Dad]

Dang, I didn't notice your original or I woulda responded.

Are you looking to build a Tenkara rod or a Traditional fly rod?

[That Dang Guy]

It's all good man.

I'm looking at a Tenkara rod. Since they breakdown to 20" and are still rigged, i want to be able to leave it in my car and quickly deploy it out. The learn curve looks simpler than the traditional fly as well.

[City Dad]

Oh. Well, I don't know much about tenkara... but for what it's worth, if I were buying a rod specifically for tubing panfish, I think I'd go with an 8' 3wt.

[seal]

Tenkara from a float tube? That I've got to see!

[Fishnfun]

DG,

Sorry, didn't see your post earlier. Looks like you've already ordered a rod so this may be just for your future info. The first tenkara rod I bought was a Stonefly 13' and it is a good all around rod, especially for the price. I've only caught panfish and a few small bass on the rod and it handled them easily. The rod is nothing fancy but quality is good. I fish a 18', 4.5 level line on mine. The heavier line is easier to cast. Usually add a 4', 4# tippet. The length of the rod usually depends on how much open space you have to fish in. just like fly fishing, watch out for the trees and bushes on the back cast. I now also have a shorter, lighter 10' Daiwa rod that i like for fishing panfish. The kebari flies will catch panfish, but for greater numbers, go with a dark or black haers ear in size 16. If you want to think outside of the traditional tenkara box, the mini trout magnets have been killers for me on the panfish. I can't wait for trout season. I'm sure your Wakata will work fine.

[That Dang Guy]

I'm not opposed to western style flies or tactics, I just want to try it out in the traditional manner first and work from there. The main reason I decided to go with the Wakata was it's weight. I figured the lighter in grams the rod, the lighter power it would be. I'm going to mainly targeting panfish that only get up to 10-11'' and small stocker trouts. Although it's not tenkara, I do want to try to work some crappie with some 1/100 jigs at perris.

Thanks for the info!

[The Fishing Queen]

I'm sorry for the late response to your question about Tenkara! I haven't fished that much or checked in at this website for a while due to an injury on my right shoulder..... Anyhow, I hope this is not too late to give you some info for starting your Tenkara experience.


For panfish or stocked trout, 3.5 level line would work with 6x or 8x tippet. And a 13'-15' level line, a 3'-4' tippet would be standard for a 12' rod. I like to use 16' or 20' long 4.5 level line, a 3'-5' 5x tippet for targeting the aggressive brown trout or decent sized bass with a 6:4 action 13'7" Tenkara rod. In general, the downside of a longer length rod is that it tends to feel 'tip heavy' after you fish for a while. It will need more open space on either side of you and overhead to fish (until you learn how to avoid snagging the fly in the branches). In this situation, I would do side casting or a sling shot cast. Sometimes I have to shorten my rod when I pull in a fish because of the overhanging branches. The longer length will benefit you with more distance and a longer line. Some long rods like Tenkara USA Amago or Fountainhead stonefly are 13' to 14' and are pretty well made. They are able to handle larger fish than just panfish. Since you are going to mainly focus on panfish, I think 6:4 action rod would work perfect for you. You can always buy another rod with 7:3 action in the future if you want to target the bigger fish. All of the Tenkara anglers that I know have had more than one rod. I own a 7' Chinese Tenkara mini rod, a 11' Chinese Tenkara rod, a 13'6" Tenkara Amago and I just bought another 8' Tenkara rod. I use the small rods for streams or creek fishing. Longer rods for larger water like rivers or lakes. I have used my 7' Tenkara for lake fishing sometimes, but I mix the traditional Tenkara rod with western fly fishing techniques in which I roll cast a longer line with my 7' Tenkara rod. Yes, I know that I might be pissing some traditional Tenkara anglers off, but I am a flexible person and what I care about most is catching more fish with different styles and skills.

I use traditional Tenkara flies, but I also use other flies like Caddis, Nymphs and others... ( whichever fly works best for me on that day or at that lake). Honestly, some days the Kebari didn't attract trout but after I change to an Elk Hair Caddis, the trout went crazy for it and I got more action with that fly than the Kebari. I am not faithful to just the traditional Japanese fly if the fish are not biting it that day. If plan A didn't work out, I would try plan B instead. Fishing to me means more fish caught. Well, this just my two cents on flies. I know that you might want to just try and stick with Tenkara flies and traditional Tenkara fishing to explore the new experience.

Additionally, I am going to send you a PM with a couple of websites and a video I found that might be useful and helpful to you with your future Tenkara experience. I hope this reply is not too late in helping you start Tenkara fishing. If you have farther questions regarding Tenkara fishing, you are welcome to PM me or Vivid-Fly or Fishnfun and I am sure any of us will be happy to help you out as best as we can. We have received questions and helped others through PMs in the past. I know the Tenkara fishing is limited on this forum, so the best way to get hold with us is through PM since we generally don't check on other areas besides freshwater reports or questions.

Good luck and have fun with your new Tenkara rod and welcome to the Tenkara world!