A Sea of Information

Heritage Team
Jun 3
5 min read

Written by Martin Montejano

A lot has changed since the time that access to the World Wide Web became public in the early 90’s. From the days of dial-up connections and internet cafes, the internet has connected so many people all over the world and been the catalyst for many things, and with the era of social media and cat memes came the introduction of tenkara to the United States.

Today, there is a lot more information online revolving around tenkara now than there was even five years ago. We weren’t in the early bird wave of tenkara in the U.S., so I can only imagine the very limited amount of information there was in 2009 when Daniel Gallhardo started TenkaraUSA.

Looking back in time and reading through plenty of online articles and blog posts from various sources throughout the years, you can see how tenkara has changed since its introduction to the west. More and more resources have popped up, as well as forums and social media groups. Out of all the information that is available to the modern day tenkara angler through the internet, it can be hard to sort through what you may read and see online. So how does one find objectively “good” information while seeking answers to any questions or curiosities we may have revolving around tenkara?

Find Resources You Like

Before we get further into this, I don’t want this post to seem like we’re saying one resource isn’t as good as another. Our objective here is to convey that one should find resources that they find helpful, but of course that will be subjective to the individual. We also realize that this extends to our own site and posts. We may not hit the mark every time, and maybe we don’t always have the right answers for everyone, but we try to offer the best content we can, based on our experiences and observations.

As you journey down the paths and rabbit-holes revolving around tenkara, you will naturally find resources that are more helpful than others to you and your fishing practices as an individual. This may be blogs, forums, or even groups on social media. Each different resource will have their own pros and cons, and it will be up to the individual to discern the information they get from each resource.

Forums and Social Media

Either of these can be a great place to talk with others and share ideas within those communities. A few different places that you can go to find tenkara-centered conversations are 10 Colors Tenkara, Reddit, and even Facebook Groups such as Tenkara Anglers, and Fixed Line Freaks

These can be great places to get information based on others' experiences in a more interactive setting. Something to keep in mind is that there can be a lack of context with the information shared. You won’t always know what someone’s own fishing style or background is. The one who answers a question may fish different water types or different species than that of the individual who asked the question. The information and ideas can be good regardless, and other times an answer may not be as useful to the person who asks the question.

One thing that may help to find answers to the question is consistency amongst the answers one gets pertaining to the question. If you start to see a pattern in information that is relayed through comments and responses, you can get a sense for what is working for many as opposed to what is working for one. Don’t discard the information from any odd answers as they may be useful references later on in your own fishing.

Websites and Blogs

When it comes to articles and blog posts published on websites, the same ideas apply. Find resources that work for you and your own style. There are plenty of sites out there that act as good resources. Discover Tenkara is one that has been around for some time, and even some company sites such as the TenkaraUSA website offer some good blog posts to read through.

Another website to check out is the Tenkara Angler site. Being community-based, you’ll find a wide range of topics written about by anglers within the tenkara community, with a variety of writing styles. Again, the same concept that I’ve mentioned applies here, and if you find someone who’s information you value, check out some of their other contributions - or even their own blog or website if they have one.

On the other side of things, there will be websites that you will find offer some perspectives that may not be as beneficial to one’s own angling. There’s a bit of a pattern that you may see forming, but much like a stranger’s raving recommendation on a restaurant that leaves you less than impressed, you have to consider that not everyone will have the same tastes. From my own personal experience, I’ve read articles on fly fishing websites that talk about tenkara in a way that seemed to be written from a highly skeptical point of view that may be limited to just the few hours the author spent fishing with a tenkara rod. Their perspectives seem to be based on years of experience fly fishing, but it’s hard to say whether they really embraced an approach that played more off the advantages that a tenkara rod offers. From what I read, it seemed more like they fished it much the same way they would a fly rod.

This isn’t to say their own opinions aren’t valid in their own practices, but this is an example of the importance of discerning the information that one uses to better their own understanding of tenkara. The idea is not to suggest that fly fishing websites don’t hold good information either. In fact, there is a lot of information relevant to both forms of fly fishing (fly fishing with a rod and reel, or a fixed line), or even fishing in general. This can be how to read water, or what kind of food sources the species you like to chase prefer. Find what works for you!

"Make Your Own Mistakes"

With all that we talked about in this post, and how one finds their own information, we figured it would be worth mentioning that it can take time to sort through resources to find your favorites. If you’ve been at it for some time, you probably already have a list of favorites. For those who are new to tenkara, my suggestion would be to enjoy the process and “make your own mistakes.” This comes from my own “see it to believe it” kind of attitude. I, myself, experimented a lot with different line types, flies, rods, packs, and whatever else. Over time you start to gain an understanding as to what works for you and what doesn’t, and (as I’ve suggested throughout this article) you will find resources and information that pertains to your own fishing.

They say “experience is the best teacher,” and even though we have access to seemingly endless information through the internet, we take others suggestions based on their experiences, and ultimately use ours to piece together what works for us as individuals.