EVERY BEAUTY WHICH IS SEEN HERE BELOW BY PERSONS OF PERCEPTION RESEMBLE MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE THE CELESTIAL SOURCE FROM WHICH WE ARE ALL COME.
—Michelangelo
Your approach has been well planned and stealthy. You’ve placed the fly in the fishiest spot in reach. Your patience pays off with a take, be it sudden or sipping. What now?
Set the hook strongly and quickly. Use your predator reflexes and some vigor. You don’t need a large motion. After all, you don’t want to end up with your rod tip in the trees above you. But use enough strength to transmit your striking force through the rod to the fish: a snap of the wrist and forearm. You can’t be bashful with a tenkara rod.
A sideways motion will work too, although a side pull may require slightly more force as you have to overcome more water tension. Being able to strike quickly requires limiting the amount of slack. The cheery fly fishing greeting “tight lines” is just as important a reminder with tenkara.
A roll cast-type motion toward the fly can hook a fish too, but this will take some practice and control. This is worth trying when you have absolutely no overhead clearance. Flick your tip down and toward the fish with vigor. The tug of the line is enough to hook a fish if you’ve kept your hooks sharp.
If you are fast enough with one of these techniques, you have hooked your prey, and now the battle is on. With the exquisite touch offered by the tenkara rod, every tug and twist is transmitted to the grip. Even a very small fish will send motion down the rod. And when you tie into a larger one it’s almost startling.
Keep tension on the line, but don’t pull too tight. The tenkara rod is lithe, and will protect your tippet well. Allow the fish to work a bit without giving up total control. If it is a larger fish, be prepared to follow him downstream, staying even with him or below him. Keeping below makes him fight the current as well as you. Keep in contact with the fish but allow it to tire before trying to land it.
There’s an old joke that says a fish breaks off “because of the jerk on the end.” It is true, however, that sudden pulls are more likely to part your tippet than smoothly applied constant tension. When a fish jumps, drop the entire rod low to the water. The slack may protect the tippet. Most breakoffs are caused by too much tension rather than too little.
If you need to guide him away from snags and sharp rocks, do so with as light a touch as you can manage. Pulling his nose up sometimes makes him easier to lead. At this critical point, you’re the middle man between the breaking strength of your tippet and the fish’s urgency.
As a last resort, if he cannot be stopped or controlled, ease up all pressure. Sometimes this will fool him into making a wrong directional change in your favor. Then the fight can begin anew. This risks loosening the hook in the fish’s mouth but can sometimes be effective. Once the fish is tired, it is easier to guide him away from his hideouts and toward your net.
In spite of the absence of a reel, you will find that bringing a fish to net with a tenkara rod is often both quicker and easier on the fish. There is no line-to-reel transfer and hence no lag time. Because the tip of the rod is further over the water, controlling the fish’s nose is more likely with the additional leverage. And lastly, the give of the flexible tip keeps a more constant and tiring tension on the fish.
As the fish fatigues and approaches, keep your moves quiet and bring him to the net or hand gently. If you are going to release him, unhook him in the water if you can. Simply run your hand down to the line and twist the barbless hook loose. If you must handle him, wet your hands first and lift him onto his back or side, avoiding the lateral line (which has very sensitive nerve endings). Holding a net underwater to the side of your left leg is the best position to prepare for a net capture. Holding the tenkara rod high and perhaps a bit behind you helps to bring the fish headfirst into the net.
When attempting to land a larger fish, follow the fish by staying parallel with or below it. As he quiets, bring him toward you; if he begins to fight, give him room to run again. Drop your tip with any sudden runs.
Dr. Ishigaki talks about balancing two opposing forces in fighting a fish. These forces are inasu and kawasu, or weakness and strength. He explains that when the fish is strong, a fisherman should be weak in his handling of it. In other words, give line and use soft pressure. When the fish is weaker, use a stronger handling to bring him close for netting or release. This dualism of winning over resistance with gentleness, yet being strong in the face of weakness, is metaphorical for so many things in life.
When landing a fish with a longer level line (up to twice the length of the rod), you must hand gather the line. Extend your rod hand as high as you can behind you, pulling the line into range of your off hand. Once you have pinched the line, your off arm becomes the only “give” in the system. Keep your arm as loose as possible. Any sudden pulls by the fish will certainly break the tippet at this point unless you remain flexible. Using a net is a good idea with longer lines. Once you are “handing” the fish, set your rod down or put the butt of the rod inside your hip waders or under your arm. Use both hands now to land your prize.
If you wish to take a picture, something that never quite lives up to the memories in my view, do so quickly in the net or water; this is healthier for the fish and makes a much better picture. There is something disturbing about a fish photographed against grass or gravel, even if handled carefully. Perhaps a few words in a notebook make for the best record, recording the memory as well as the conditions and technique.
Removing the hook is usually not hard. You can simply grab the fly and give it a push and twist at the same time. If you are using barbless hooks, this method will usually work. If the hook is more firmly embedded, use your hemostat to grab the fly as close to the bend as you can. Again a push and twist is all that is needed.
Deep hooking is rare with tenkara, as it is with traditional fly fishing. The number one cause of deep hooking is live bait. Deep hooks should not be removed but left in place. Bronze hooks will typically dissolve over several weeks. If a hook must be left in the fish, its feeding ability will be aided by leaving a small length of tippet (a few inches) attached to the hook.1 The variables most associated with mortality after release, in order, are: live bait, deep hooking, high air or water temperature, extended play, and barbed hooks.2
You’ve done it. You’ve pitted yourself against the wiles of one of nature’s most exquisitely adapted animals. You’ve tapped into one of the basic instincts of all humans, the predatory instinct to hunt food. You’ve spent time stepping out of the contrived and constructed and into the natural rhythms of wildness, unexplored by most people. Perhaps a moment to give thanks would be a good thing. If a lifetime is made of its memories, savor this one.