Best products from r/Tenkara

If your main requirement is lightweight, Tenkara is indeed your best option. However, it may not be the best option for the water and fish you might encounter. For instance if you think you'll be hitting lakes and ponds for bass, a collapsible/telescoping spinning rod and reel might be the better choice. Though if you expect to be fishing rivers and streams for smaller species in close quarters, well you've come to the right place.

Rod length is also a choice based on the type of water you'll be fishing. If you've got wide open spaces or expect to be some distance away from a fish holding feature (maybe you intend to fish from shore), then longer is generally better and 12 foot might be your minimum. And if you intend to be in a tight stream with a lot of overhanging branches, you should be looking at shorter options. 2 additional things to consider - a long rod can be difficult to handle for a shorter person, and for backpacking the collapsed length of your setup is an important consideration.

The shortest tenkara rod I have (and maybe the shortest available, not sure) is an 8' Wetfly Kodomo Creek (excellent deal right now @ $70 with a hard case, line, tippet and flies). This is probably the rod I use most because the river I'm on is essentially a tunnel of branches. There are also "zoom" Tenkara rods which typically have 2 usable lengths for different fishing situations. I have a Badger Bad Axe which might be right up your alley - it fishes at 9'10" or 11'6" and is my choice on new water.

Goture isn't the worst you could do, but personally I would consider it to be at the bottom end of an entry level rod. It'll be heavier and less sensitive then most other options. Still, for a new fisherman who might be worried about damaging an expensive set-up on a hiking trip it's not a bad choice.

You're pretty close on what a full setup consists of. The line is usually 2 lines - a "leader" which is a heavier section attached directly to the rod/lillian roughly the length of the rod or slightly longer, and a shorter section (2' is probably average) of lighter weight material called "tippet" that is attached to the leader and then your fly. People generally use fluorocarbon for tippet because it's nearly invisible underwater and it sinks. There are many different options for leader material, but to keep things as simple as possible I would be looking at a level line leader which is usually a colored piece of fluorocarbon making it easy to see your fly drift. Both the leader and tippet have unique sizing designations that I won't get into right now, but if you make a rod choice I'd be happy to help.

2 other things you will probably want is a spool or 2 of some sort to store your leader/tippet set-up(s), and a protective tube for your rod while backpacking. The spools can be very simple and are designed with a hole in the middle to fit over the collapsed rod. This one is a bit more expensive but is a really nice bit of kit to easily keep lines from unraveling and storing a small amount of flies. Trouble with a spool and backpacking is that you will probably want a protective tube for your rod and the spool won't fit in the tube. If that's the case, you might want to look at a line keeper like this or this. The second option is better for smaller rods because you can use different sized o-rings to keep it snug.

So that was a lot more words then I was expecting to type out, especially since Tenkara is all about simplicity, but I hope it helps. Really jealous of a month long backpacking/fishing trip. Enjoy!

If you're interested in fly fishing I'd strongly reccomend WildWater's 5wt (technically 5/6wt) rod. It's $90 on amazon, is amazon prime eligible, and has an awesome lifetime warranty (its like $15 bucks to replace a rod with the warranty). Oh yeah, it also comes with a handful of trout flies, 4lb leader and a nice fly box. If you have any questions about fly fishing I'll do my best to answer them.
https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Water-Fly-Fishing-Complete/dp/B001IAHX6A/ref=sr_1_1?s=sports-and-fitness&ie=UTF8&qid=1498081368&sr=1-1&keywords=wildwater

I remember you asking about how to cook and clean trout last year; your transformation to the dark-side (Tenkara) is almost complete. :)

Shadowfire is a good first rod for sure. Anything from TUSA is good, TRodCo stick with the Teton or the Sawtooth. (EDIT: Massdrop runs sales on Teton packages semi-frequently. It's worth keeping an eye on if this is the rod you want)

With all that said, I do prefer Japanese rods and would recommend THIS NISSIN as your first rod.

Generally speaking, you want something that is 6:4 flex and about 12' long. 7:3 flex will work too, but for the Sierra's and smallies, I like 6:4.

You are going to want level line probably in Size 3 to start. You will need tippet as well (6x is good,) and flies. Don't get hung up on Tenkara-specific flies (kebaris, etc.) any unweighted fly will cast the same and may be more productive.

I wet-wade both the Silver and S. Fork American, -its cold but no big deal. Quick-dry pants and good water shoes for me. Be safe though, especially in Spring.

If you want, I can meet you and your hubby up there sometime and let you try various rods. I have 2 TRodCo rods (Sierra/mini-Teton,) 2 Daiwas (Sagiri 39MC/KeiryuX39,) 2 Nissins (ProSpec36/RoyalStage36), and a Tenkarabum Traveler 44

Tenkarabum does a really good job breaking down the differences.
I currently own three corkless Keiryu rods: Kosasa 150 (4.9ft), Kiyose 24SF (7.4ft), and Kiyotaki 36 (11.5ft). They are all on the stiff side, with more tip flex and a stiff mid-section and butt.
My next rod will likely be something in the 2.9-3.2m range, and i want something softer as well- a 5:5 or 6:4, possibly even a LL (level line) rod with very slow action.
I'm looking at the Nissin Air Stage 290, Suntech Kurenai HM30R, and mostly the Nissin Pro Spec 320. I think the Pro Spec will win out, with the added flexibility of the zoom from 2.7 to 3.2m, and it'll be my first cork grip rod as well.
Here's the fun part- the first two rods are right around $100 on Amazon.jp, and the Pro Spec is like $90. Look how much TenkaraBum asks for them. I'll only be paying $18 for 2-3 day EMS from Japan through Tenso.

Not necessarily a great way to start out, but just showing how much this route can save you.

Personally, of all the "starter kits" mentioned above, I'd either go with the cheapest american company that has a great warranty/service, or I'd get the Nissin kit from TB or Amazon.jp:
http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00B7YHYZ2

Thanks for the article. It is helpful to know the pros and cons. Although I can see it being helpful to have different lengths for different waters, I feel like the rivers and streams that I fish aren't that much different in terms of size and i could just change my tippet size to make up the difference.

Can you buy any fluorocarbon bass fishing line and use it as a level line?

For example something like this? http://amzn.com/B008J4CBBU

This guy seems to like the level line a lot better.

http://www.tenkarabum.com/level-line.html

I have a Teton, slick little rod, great feel. He'll be happy. If this is for Christmas, I bet they will have a Black Friday deal, so you could save a little money, or spend the same amount and buy him an accessory, maybe a little chest pack or similar. I have this one, paid $25 for it on a Black Friday sale two years ago and love it.

If you really want to dive into tenkara, head over to https://www.discovertenkara.com/ They are by far the best English language source of tenkara information. They have a ridiculous amount of free information including history, flies, techniques, and more. They also have a YouTube series called Tenkara in Focus with a ton of free info.


If you are of the mind of paying for some content I HIGHLY recommend:
How to fool fish with simple flies (either print or e-book, the e-book is cheaper)
Manipulations Volume 1


Seriously, if you are new to tenkara, those two purchases will have you well on your way. If you could only buy one, buy the book (the e-book is like $7).

You can try making your own furled leader if that's what you prefer

I bought this level line I first started tenkara because it seemed like what most were recommending.

I don't fish tenkara much these days as I've fallen for euronymphing. However last summer, I had my tenkara rods on a family trip and no leader. I ended up just used this indicator line by Rio and it worked great!

Personally, I think any preferable size of nylon or fluoro will work for level line so long as you can see it. You probably don't need to spend $20 on imported, Japanese fluoro. I haven't messed around with it, but I could see Amnesia being effective as well

Sorry, realize it's not bamboo but if anyone is looking for a good Japanese made carbon rod, this one is amazing at 40 bucks https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B00Y0ON5HW/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I can't speak for others, but I got a whole kit from maximumcatch on amazon for $80 and it's served me well. If you look at my most recent post you can see the fish I landed using the 13' rod from that kit.

The kit in question if you're curious:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QTH821D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1&psc=1

I wear the 2mm NRS wetsocks with my existing non-Goretex trail runners. When needed I supplement with some cheap neoprene gaiters I found on Amazon.

This year I am interested in trying out some approach shoes, such as the La Sportiva TX3, for better grip on the rocks.

i recommend the nissin fine mode kosansui 270, i still use that rod for small creeks, and i have 8 fixed line rods

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edit- https://www.amazon.com/Uzaki-Nissin-Fine-landscape-contrast/dp/B005NGTQRY/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=nissin+fine+mode&qid=1554752310&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spell