Tenkara Rods

What a tenkara rod is

Take a fly rod, remove the reel seat, make the rod telescope into itself and tie the line to the tip. That is a tenkara rod. Wikipedia describes tenkara as a traditional Japanese style of simple rod angling used mainly for mountain stream trout, needing only a rod, a line and a fly, with no reel. It adds that rods are usually 11 to 15 feet long, with about 12 feet common, that many telescope, and that modern ones are made of carbon fiber or fiberglass where early rods were bamboo.

Gary looked for the reel seat on his first tenkara rod. There isn't one. He took that as a design oversight, and the rod as a personal affront.

The result is a rod that is light, quick to set up and small enough to ride in a pack. You pull the sections out, attach the line, tie on a fly and fish. Because the line is fixed, you control the fish by the rod and your arm, not by a drag. That limits the size of fish you can reasonably handle, and it is why tenkara is associated with small to medium trout in streams. The table lists 23 of them at our last check, from Tenkara USA, Wild Water, Aventik, DRAGONtail Tenkara, Goture and Daiwa. The list changes weekly.

Why the table looks different for tenkara

Most rod tables on this site show a line weight ruler from 1 to 12. For tenkara that column is mostly a dash, because these rods are not rated by fly-line weight. A fixed line goes with the rod, and the rod length and stiffness do the work. I do not assign a weight to a rod whose maker does not, and a dash means not confirmed.

Instead, the numbers to read are these.

Length (extended). Our data runs from 6 feet (the Wild Water 6' Tenkara Rod) to 14 feet 7 inches (the Tenkara USA Ito). A tenkara rod's length decides how far you can reach and how much room you need to move. A shorter rod fits under branches. A longer one helps you lift line off the water and hold more of it clear of the current. Many of the rods sit between 10 and 12 feet.

Collapsed length. This is the figure that sets tenkara apart. DRAGONtail's TinyTALON 245, an 8-foot rod, collapses to 11.34 inches. The Tenkara USA Ukiyo (about 9 feet 10 inches) collapses to 14.5 inches, and the Iwana (12 feet) collapses to 20.5 inches. The Tenkara USA Ito, the longest in the table, collapses to 25.8 inches. If a rod must fit in a daypack or a carry-on, check this column first.

Weight. Listed in ounces where a maker states it. Our data shows the Wild Water 6' at 1.6 oz and the 8' at 1.8 oz, the TinyTALON at 1.9 oz, the Ukiyo at 2 oz, the Iwana at 2.7 oz and the Ito at 4.1 oz. Lighter helps over a long day, because you hold the whole rod, not just a reel's worth of weight.

Blank material. Mostly graphite, with the DRAGONtail TinyTALON listed as composite. Where a source is the Amazon listing, the table shows the "listing" mark.

Action. Few tenkara rods in the data state one. The Aventik FreshStart rods list medium-fast and the Tenkara USA Amago listing says medium. Most show a dash.

Warranty. Tenkara USA lists a lifetime warranty on most of its rods in our data. Aventik lists 25 years for the original owner. DRAGONtail Tenkara's wording is a one-time rod replacement with a fee per model, for the rod only. Wild Water, Goture and Daiwa show a dash.

As always, the small mark under a value says where it came from. "Maker" is the manufacturer's page. "Listing" is the Amazon listing, not confirmed by the maker. "Claimed" is a maker claim with no standard behind it. A dash means not confirmed anywhere. Several values for Wild Water, Goture and Daiwa are listing-only, and the Daiwa Expert Tenkara LL 36 shows nothing but its format, so open the maker page for that one before you decide.

How to choose a length

If you fish small, brushy streams, a rod around 8 to 10 feet keeps the tip out of the trees. If the water is open and you want to reach a seam on the far side, 11 to 13 feet is the common range, and Wikipedia gives 12 feet as the common one. Beyond 13 feet, rods like the Tenkara USA Satoki (13 feet 7 inches) and Ito (14 feet 7 inches) give extra reach at the cost of weight and a longer collapsed length.

Some rods are sold as adjustable. Wild Water's Zoom models list a range in their names (12 to 13 feet, and 7 to 8 feet), which signals a rod that can be fished at more than one length. Confirm on the maker page how the sections lock, and which lengths the rod is meant for. For a first rod, a fixed length is simpler.

Ask three questions. How much room do I have? How far do I need to reach? How far will I carry it? The answers point to a length, and the collapsed length tells you whether it packs.

Line, tippet and what is in the box

A tenkara line is not a reel line. Wikipedia names two traditional choices: a tapered, furled line about as long as the rod, or a level fluorocarbon line, which has the same diameter along its length. Between the line and the fly goes tippet, typically 30 centimeters to a meter by that article. A rod that arrives without a line is not broken. It is a rod, and you buy the line separately.

Kits change this. The Aventik FreshStart is listed as a 7-foot kit and an 8-foot kit, as well as an 8-foot rod only. The Goture 12-foot rod is listed as a kit with an extra tip section. If you are new to tenkara, a kit saves a purchase. If you already own line and tippet, a rod alone is the tidier choice. Check what is in the box on the listing, because the table can show the contents only when a source states them.

The fly lines page covers the lines made for reels. They are a different product from tenkara lines, so don't assume one fits the other.

Brands in the table

• Tenkara USA has the largest group in our data: the Ukiyo, Rhodo, Hane, Yama, Iwana, Sato, Amago, Satoki and Ito. Its Iwana page lists the rod at 12 feet, 20.5 inches collapsed and 2.7 oz, with trout 20 inches or less and most species as the target. Its Rhodo page lists trout 18 inches or less and smaller fish or panfish.
• Wild Water sells five rods in our data, from a 6-foot rod to the Zoom models. Several values are marked "listing".
• Aventik has the FreshStart kits and rods and an 11-foot ten-section Pro IM12 Nano, with a 25-year original-owner warranty.
• DRAGONtail Tenkara has the TinyTALON 245, Shadowfire 365 and HELLbender, all listed as one-piece with a collapsed length stated.
• Daiwa appears with the Expert Tenkara LL 36, and Goture with a 12-foot kit.

Who tenkara suits, and who should skip it

Tenkara suits an angler who fishes small and medium streams on foot, wants light gear and likes simple systems. It suits a backpacker, since the rod collapses so small. It suits someone who wants to learn one thing at a time, since there is no reel to manage.

It suits less well an angler who targets large fish, fishes lakes from a distance or wants to cast heavy flies. With no reel, you cannot let a big fish run, so the rod and the line have to handle it. Makers state limits: Tenkara USA's page for the Iwana lists trout 20 inches or less as the target. If your water holds bigger fish, a conventional rod and reel has more headroom. The tenkara vs fly fishing guide compares the two ways of fishing, and what is tenkara covers the basics.

Care and what to check at delivery

A telescopic rod is only as good as its sections. When it arrives, extend it fully and check that every section seats and the tip is straight. Keep dirt out of the joints, because grit in a telescoping rod acts like sandpaper. After fishing, dry the sections before collapsing them, and store the rod in its case or cap. Many tenkara rods in our data come with a hard tube; others, such as the Wild Water rods, show no case in the data.

Tenkara rods tend to be thin at the tip. Treat the tip like tippet-weight gear and do not heave on it. I'd handle it as I would any light rod: pull toward the butt, not sideways.

How to use the table

Start with the length you need and the collapsed length you can carry, then look at weight. Filter by brand if you have a warranty in mind. Sort by weight or length with the column headers. If a rod looks right, open the maker page, check what is in the box, and then press Check price. Treat anything marked "listing" or shown as a dash as an open question for the seller, not a fact.

For the wider category, the fly rods hub has the single-hand rods that use reels.