I was watching a very interesting video on the Tenkara cast ( https://youtu.be/vWfr5VFtu8k ), although it leaves you on a sad taste since he discusses loop cast as the ultimate in technique, but the video is of such poor quality that you can’t see anything.
What really interested me about this video was this drawing.
I started Tenkara fishing over 10 years ago and it is a fabulous way of fishing. It’s the quintessential cast: a rod and a fixed length line. When I teach my class, I explain how to measure the ideal length of line off the rod for learning. In Tenkara, this subject is simple, the line is the length of the rod or a short multiple: 1.5, 2 and sometimes 3. My technique for getting the ideal training length, the vertical rod at arm’s length, gives a length of two rods.
In Tenkara, there are several possible types of line: level, PVC or furled. Each line has its own properties, with furled lines being heavier and level lines being thinner, but ultimately, and this is the interesting part, is that the cast must be controlled to carry the fly.
Robert Worthing does a great job of explaining the importance of the path of the tip. I also explain this during my classes, but only to the more advanced. I’m happy when I can limit the angular displacement of the beginners’ rod, but when I try to explain to ,even a most advanced casters, that the rod stays vertical and the entire throw is made as a horizontal punch, I lose almost all of them.
In the drawing below, which I had used in another article(10:00), you can clearly see that the hand moves forward and the rod remains vertical until it accompanies the line going down to the water.
Mr. Worthing explains that you have to limit the angular movement of the rod based on the length of the line, I think that’s certainly the first way to limit the vertical movement of the tip.
That said, in essence, the Tenkara is based on the fact that only the fly, and a small length of the leader, touches the water and spey casts do not seem to fit this technique, but contrary to his presentation, number of videos show that the Tenkara is above all a school of adaptation: fishing in small streams necessarily require casting between shrubs, bushes and tall grasses that also take advantage of the water flowing there.
