Fly Fishing with Tenkara in the Smoky Mountains

Fly fishing guides Ian & Charity Rutter discuss the use of Tenkara for trout fishing in the Smoky Mountains.

[@user-fr4nd4ct9i]

*I love it **enjoyable.fishing** recommend I’m using it for my 1.0 Crankbaits and small Jerkbait. Paired with my Assassin. Works great, feels great. Would definitely recommend this setup.*

[@__-pl3jg]

Thanks for the great video! It answered all the questions I had about Tenkara and several I didn't. I might give this a try on my next back packing trip.

[@homegrowncrepe]

Ian and charity my name is Matt, I love the videos please keep posting I am a dedicated follower and love your work. I love wild trout fishing the south toe and streams around the Morganton area as wellas the Tennesse tailraces. Somehow I have never made it to the smokies. When I finally do I hope to run into you guys or possibly get a guided tour! Keep up the good work it is greatly appreciated!

[@ArkRed1]

Right! Cane poles were what I grew up on. I've always heard what goes around comes around, and now I know it's true.

[@MMABlackBelt09]

Matt, if you get the chance to see Ian and Charity in person, you'll see that they are two of the nicest people you will ever meet. At Troutfest in Townsend, TN, I was also blown away at the accuracy both have with the fly rod. ...definately a humbling experience.

[@DrJohn493]

Reminds me of the old cane poles we used when we were kids. BTW, enjoyed your book.

[@1BlueStarRising]

Awesome Tips ! Nice filming and information :-)

[@DS-zk7ms]

Great Instructional video. Getting a tenkara rod now

[@dabaird12]

May have to give this a try.

[@edwardsmith7493]

Nice job, thanks!!

[@ccmusic2249]

Great video! Which streams were you fishing on? Thanks!

[@robbiesflytyingchannel]

Very cool looking channel!

[@Randrflyfishing]

Matt, Great to know you like what you see. Hope to see you on the river some time.

[@tannergrant1887]

What stream is that

[@stevesnaps1]

Nice video guy's,i fancy trying Tenkara out myself one day.ATB Steve.

[@mymessagetomark]

I live in the area and fish the Smoky Mountains with an 11 foot Tenkara USA rod and find it out fishes regular methods easily. I've used Tenkara flies but still favor a nymph I tie that's a variant of a Tellico nymph. The old time yaller hammer is a favorite too but becaue the bird is protected I substitute the hackle with a trimmed yellow died guinea fowl feather.

[@gregpatterson134]

What’s tenkara models have you found work best is this area? Thx for great video

[@lauricolognese]

O lugar é de cinema, e os peixes bons de briga ! Abraço.

[@MjfMajanFishing]

Wow amazing

[@flairball]

Nice video. I bought my first tenkara rod in Japan 20 years ago. I don't use it often, but it does come in handy at times. However, tenkara is not a method of fly fishing. it is a method of fishing that loans itself to using a fly. Go to Japan, and you will be surprised at how many people use them with a bobber and bait; 85% I'd estimate.

[@AkolytosCreations]

I think you’re talking about keiryu. It uses very similar rods to Tenkara, but isn’t fly fishing. Tenkara is the term specific to fly fishing.

[@adventureswithfrodo2721]

Really it is also the type of fishing used In most countries. The Complete Angler was just a long willow whisp.....

[@robertchanningritchie5647]

Down south we call that rod a Bream Buster.

[@gagalmg]

good stuff

[@nolanminor6761]

What do I do when a 20" brown (they do exist in streams that size) grabs my fly and decides to leave the pool through some rapids? I'm sticking with a reel for now

[@Randrflyfishing]

Nolan Minor Fish of that size are exceptionally rare in streams like this, but they do exist. We have landed fish up to about 16" with Tenkara though. The exceptional flexibility of the rod makes it tough for a fish to break a tippet. Also, whatever the tackle, you will need to chase a big fish like that in streams like this.

[@joshhigdon4951]

Nolan Minor if you catch a fish on our little mountain streams that you need to have it on the reel, you need to check your abilities before anything else. The fish ain't going to make any big, spooling runs. chase it, as you should be doing even on the tailwaters, where applicable.

[@mikehuntsmels9680]

thats a fucking joke right, if your seriouse i still beleive its a fucking joke

[@sawyersink9718]

I have caught a 22’’ rainbow on my tenkara rod! It held up great

[@1790jman]

I wonder where this is I just got a tankara rod I live around the smokies

[@michaelbias1609]

Which GoPro lens do I see at 1:19? Dive housing?

[@Randrflyfishing]

Michael Bias The Hero 2 casing didn't produce clear video underwater due to the curvature of the lens and the angle of light refraction in water. It was a little aggravating since we bought the camera primarily to take pics of fish underwater. We got an after market attachment to go on the GoPro casing to correct for focus underwater. The issue was addressed in later version of the GoPro and the Hero 3 is good to go underwater out of the box.

[@biesplezikczad]

What kind of line do you use?

[@rjflower3462]

you can buy a decent tenkara rod for 80 bucks ?

[@thornvfx]

I can take a 14ft cane pole and use tenkara line with a tenkara-style cdc fly etc. and do the exact same thing for $20. The only difference is that I can't collapse the rod. Is it as nice or identical--no. Is it damn close and fishable--yes. That's all I'm getting at really. It might even be a good idea to get someone into tenkara. If it would quit raining/snowing here in the Smokies, I'd get out to try it myself.

[@mikehuntsmels9680]

and i can go on amazon buy a 10$ 13 ft carbon fibre tenkara rod wich i already got make my own line out of uni thread tie my own flies and have a rod and all my stuff for 15$

[@flairball]

Bought my first “tenkara” rod in Japan 25 years ago. The expanding rods are called furidashizou. Contrary to what is being touted as tenkara here in the states, 95% of tenkara rigs in Japan are used with a worm and bobber. That said, on a small stream it is a great way to flick a fly.

[@gesman5000]

flairball no, what you’re thinking of is keiryu.

[@orviskid]

Tough landing the fish though. 13 foot rod, another 10-15 feet of line and you can’t retrieve it. The fish will always be that far away from your net.

[@brianbelchuk9612]

🤠👍🎣

[@POWARENJA]

Awesome video! I want to try tenkara so bad but man they're expensive. :P

[@Sportmanfun]

Ofcourse it's the same as the hype from back now called "czech nymphing" exactly the same but with all type of flies. And the czech nymph "style" is just what you automatic do when the spot/situation needs that . So, as fun as it is. It's nothing new. In fact, when people only are fishing with tenkara,there will be moments when they think: there should be a quicker system to shorten or lengthen my line.....And the reel is again invented. That said. If you have a river where you often come that has to much bolders and rocks ,you just have to pack a tenkara style rod.

[@Shinobi1Kenobi]

"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9 NIV Lao Tzu said pretty much the same thing. It's a common saying in Buddhism, too. People who have a linear (ie progressive) world view miss the point. I learned to fish Keiryu in Japan in the 1990s. Tenkara is one sub-set (wet fly) of Keiryu fishing. Keiryu = small mountain stream fishing. But I learned this from a man whom I met while he was fly fishing with ultralight Western style fly tackle. "All bottles are good. There is no BEST bottle." Shimabuku Tatsuo

[@uncutfishing]

It's interesting to observe how this "method" got the Japanese name. On the one hand, for hundreds, probably even thousands of years people everywhere fished with rods that had no reels. I suspect if we went back, say, 100 years, we would see that majority of anglers in the developed world fished without them or at least had such rods for specific ocations like catching small fish or alike. On the other hand, how do you brand a rod like that so that people actually buy it? ;) BTW, it is very strange to see that the line is tied only to the very tip. maybe in modern conditions that's ok, because these rods are unbreakable (although they sure do not look that ;). But in reality (I've had several wooden rods like that in my childhood; they were amazing) people would twist the line around the rod and would tie it somewhere closer to the thick end. The length of the line is still fixed, but in the case of rod breaking, you do not lose your tackle (and, hopefully, the fish ;))

[@tomliny709]

Hmm this looks a lot like a cain pole to me :)

[@backpackerone]

You can buy an entire Tenkara outfit from Orvis for $215.00. That's rod, both lines and flies. That is NOT expensive.

[@vibratingstring]

You can buy a spool of leader for $5. A long ultralight Shakespeare spinning rod for $25. Or if you really want an 11 footer, you can get a noodle blank for under $100. So actually $105. :-)

[@troutstalker7855]

bearburrito thanks bro for the heads up..

[@mikejones3155]

A traditional fly fisherman would just cross the river or creek to get the right drift ..

[@huytivi4477]

Đẹp thật

[@POWARENJA]

Tenkara rods and gear is not even close to 1000's of dollars. Maybe 100's but no-where near 1000's. Cane pole fishing is pretty much the bait fishing equivalent to fly fishing tenkara. Two different types of fishing, but no, cane pole fishing is not the same.

[@stevedavis2056]

Long before Tenkara , didn’t we ( especially in the smokies ) use a cane pole with tied on line……….. get real folks ………

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

Tenkara? Izaak Walton.

[@aegiDiusMrChef]

:) Save some money, take of a branch - tape the fly line on and u almost have the same lol... "Bambus rod" ?

[@wallpaperkilla]

"Tenkara is more about pretending, than actually doing." -Daniel "Swedish Last Name"

[@nichtverstehen2045]

tenkara is japanese word for "i failed to learn fly casting" :)

[@TheVonhammer]

Tinkara is for those that can't fly fish