Welcome to Week CXXXII of 'Fishing Parkland Shorelines'. Like most of us I am a novice fisherman, loving to fish, but far from an expert. In the following weeks I'll attempt to give those anglers who love to fish but just don't have access to a boat, a look at some of the options in the Yorkton area where you can fish from shore, and hopefully catch some fish.
Last week I wrote about the discovery on a tenkara rod here in Yorkton. It was a fishing rod which seemed a long way from home, and it got me thinking about how little I knew about tenkara.
So I went looking for some knowledge, and in this day and age for fisherman that means one of two avenues, the first is to pick the brains of fellow fisher-folk when on the water, not really applicable in this case, and the second is to head to the Internet.
A quick search took me to www.tenkaraguides.com and from there an email did the rest.
As the site name indicates the company guides tenkara fishing trips, which I figured would give them some insights into the style of fishing.
Robert Worthing with Tenkara Guides was most accommodating answering some questions via email.
The first question was simple enough, how he sees tenkara differing from fly fishing as most would know it?
The answer was equally simple from Worthing; "Tenkara is fly fishing with just a rod, line, and fly. There is no reel."
But then he went into more detail.
"The fundamental difference between tenkara and fly fishing as most would know it is the reliance on the rod," continued Worthing. "In tenkara, you do not rely on a tight-looped PVC fly line to cast your weightless fly, and you do not rely on a reel to fight a fish. Instead, you rely on the rod to do all of the work. To accomplish this, tenkara rods are built with more dynamic action than most fly rods.
"They are also longer than most fly rods. With a dynamic tenkara rod, you can whip a weightless fly out to the fish, and you can absorb the fight without a reel."
 But why use tenkara over other more familiar styles?
"I like the efficiency and 'effectivity' of tenkara. It simply catches a lot of fish," offered fellow guide Erik Ostrander.
Worthing added the uniqueness is a draw.
"The appeal of tenkara is different for everyone," he said. "Some anglers like the elegance of fishing with such a simple system.
"Others like the fact that tenkara is so affordable, or lightweight and portable, or easy to learn.
"What I like is that tenkara allows me to fish all types of waters effectively. With tenkara, I can fish small streams, big rivers, or calm alpine lakes. I can hike into remote waters. I can fish stretches of rivers and streams that most fly fishermen pass up. With tenkara, I have more pristine water all to myself, and I catch a lot of fish as a result!"
Now in my case I am struggling, yes struggling is a good word here, with the basic principles of fly fishing. The old adage about not being able to teach an old dogfish new techniques might be at work, but nevertheless casting a fly line well is still but a dream.
So might tenkara be easier?
"Both tenkara and western fly fishing have their challenges that can take years to master. However, tenkara is very suited to beginners because it is so simple," said Ostrander.
"The basics of tenkara are easier to pick up than the more common fly fishing," offered Worthing. "There is plenty of information on the internet to get you started. A knowledgeable friend is always helpful. Even better, take a trip with us at Tenkara Guides. You'll catch fish your first day out, and walk away completely self-sufficient.
"But that's just the basics. Tenkara is like an onion - there are a lot of layers to the technique, and you can peel away as many as you want. There are things that can be done with tenkara that most fly fishermen wouldn't think possible. With tenkara, it is easy to get started, but it takes a lifetime to master."
A bit more Internet research and I learned tenkara is often focused on catching smaller trout in smaller streams, which are not exactly the norm locally, which left me wondering at the style's versatility.
"You can catch small trout all day long with tenkara. But why only catch small fish? At Tenkara Guides LLC we specialize in hunting larger fish, and often catch trout over 20 inches (over 50 cm). We also go carp fishing quite often and have caught carp up to 29 inches (74 cm) and around 20 pounds (9 kg)," said Ostrander.
Carp on a tenkara rod, now that does sound amazingly exciting.
Worthing added to the story of versatility too.
"Tenkara came from Japan, where it is used to catch small trout. When tenkara came to America, we started using it for bigger and bigger trout. But tenkara is only a small slice of a much bigger pie of fixed line fishing," he explained.
"There is a fixed line fishing method out there for just about any size fish. Some are fly fishing methods, but most are bait fishing methods. Right now, we are taking fixed line fishing methods and adapting them for fly fishing. We are using fixed line fly fishing to chase bass, musky, carp, steelhead, and more.
"To our knowledge, no one has done this before. It's cutting edge stuff, and it's a heck of a lot of fun."
Now I am starting to day dream small pike at Canora Dam in the spring.
But I also wonder at the challenges of something new. I asked what are three things someone should know/consider before buying a rod?
Ostrander kept his list shorter still;
1. Buy the longest rod your stream or river can accommodate. I often fish with a 4.0 to 4.5 m rod
2. The Japanese manufacturers are vastly higher in quality than any manufacturer in the United States. The Japanese have been making tenkara rods much longer and are very good at it.
Worthing suggested;
1. There are a lot of rod makers out there getting into the tenkara game, and the variety of available rods is growing fast. Find a tenkara-specific company. Send them an email describing what kind of water and size of fish you want to target. If they reply with recommendations for a rod or two you should consider, then go for it.
2. Regardless of what rod you pick, start out with a high visibility line. You'll want to see where your casts go, and how your line behaves in the water. This will speed up the learning process significantly.
3. Better yet, send us an email at [email protected]. We don't sell gear, but we'll be happy to point you in the right direction.
 Which led me to wonder if tenkara is becoming more common here in North America?
"Tenkara first hit North America around 2009 or so," offered Worthing. "Back then, you never saw another tenkara angler on the water. Then it got a little bigger. People started to recognize tenkara, but most thought it was just another fly fishing fad. Instead of dying off, it kept growing bigger and bigger.
"Nowadays, it is rare to run in to a fly fishermen in the U.S. who hasn't heard of tenkara. There are dozens of websites, forums, and blogs dedicated to tenkara. Tenkara has appeared in every major fly fishing magazine, on television, in books, and at all the big trade shows. Fixed line fly fishing is still the new kid on the block, but there's no doubt that it's here to stay."
I'm still not sure I'll ever tenkara fish, but the thought of pike and carp on a fixed line certainly does sound like something I could fill a future column with.
