Tenkara: Radically Simple, Ultralight Fly Fishing - Paperback

by Kevin Kelleher (Author), Misako Ishimura (Author)

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 simple: 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.

Back Jacket

Fly fishing, that most contemplative of sports, can be complex and costly. And yet it doesn't have to be. Not with tenkara. This Eastern approach to fly fishing has no cumbersome gear. The line is hitched directly to the end of a long collapsible rod, and without a reel casting becomes easy and intuitive. The gear is not only inexpensive but also highly portable, perfect for hiking and camping. Long overlooked in the West, tenkara is taking the West by storm. Beginning and seasoned anglers will find the information needed to make the transition from Western to tenkara fishing: the essentials of gear and rigging, fishing dry lines, subsurface fishing and casting, knots, tenkara backpacking, and tenkara for women. Regardless of your skill level, it's the simplicity that's going to win you over. Tenkara has everything you love about fly fishing, but with a liberating minimalism.

Author Biography

Kevin C. Kelleher, MD, is a family physician, an adjunct professor of medicine, the author of a monthly medical advice column, and an award-winning painter. He is also a backpacker, canoeist, and tenkara devotee. Misako Ishimura, a top international fly-fishing competitor, was the charter director of the International Women Fly Fishers and the founder of World Fly Fishing of Japan.