I have a confession to make. I made tenkara up.
Yes, it was a long-running (4 years now), full on hoax…a prank…a made up story.
I mean, seriously, did you really believe something could sit hidden from the public for hundreds of years without anyone finding out about “tenkara” before April 12, 2009? I never imagined that what started as an attempt at poking the fly-fishing industry with humor could go this far. And, I really never thought one of the big companies in the industry would fall for it and start making their own rods too…it is a joke people!
That “one fly” thing…yes, just a light-hearted prank too. Com’on, we all know we need to imitate a bug just perfectly and carry several dozen fly patterns with us to catch fish. All those books on entomology are there for a reason, I just wanted to see who in their right mind would try to use one fly pattern all the time.
And talking about flies, that reverse hackle thing (or “sakasa”)…simple, I tried imagining a fly that would look completely different from all those flies out there. Can’t believe some people actually went for that, I never expected the reverse hackle to become popular.
“Dr. Ishigaki“, “Mr. Amano”, “Mr. Shotaro”, “Mr. Sakakibara”, and all those who I called “teachers”…paid actors. All of them.
The cork on the handle of a telescopic rod…well, telescopic rods have been around for a long time, and so have fly rods. We just decided to combine the two and call it “tenkara”.
The 12ft length thing? Also a joke. We all know a 7ft rod is the best thing for a small stream.
Now, what about the name: “tenkara”? It actually really does mean “from heaven”, but is often used along with food stuff (as in food from heaven). Once I visited a restaurant called “tenkara” and thought it was a catchy name. Why else would no one from Japan know what you’re talking about when you mention “tenkara” to them?
Kotsuzake? Yuck! Made up, of course. Bones in Sake? Seriously?
Tenkara nets, with weird angle between handle and frame? Who would’ve thought of a design like that???
All those posts in our blog? I’m a pretty good story teller, with great imagination.
A fad? You betcha.
The Tenkara Sasquatch thing…actually, that is for real. The unicorn hair thing? That’s real too.
Thank you all for believing…it was a fun journey while it lasted. But, now I’m going back to using a reel…seriously, how could you ever think it was possible to land a fish without one?
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11 Responses to Tenkara was a hoax
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I thought it was a hoax. Thanks for your confession ;-}
I Knew It! No one can cast a line that is merely flouorcarbon, and you can’t really expect to catch a fish subsurface without split shot.
Phew! I am so glad this little cherade is over.
Thank you Daniel for hiring me that day you pulled over to help a stranded VW Hippie on the side of the road. If it were not for my pink colored VW Bus breaking down I would never have been hired for this gig.
Now that my stint as the Director of Customer Service for this Tenkara USA has come to an end, I can go back to my normal day job, owner and proprietor of Crazy Clown Cotton Candy Confectionery, or what I romatically call 5Cs.
Can’t wait to go back to sticky fingers and checking out the hot chicks at places like Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk where you will often find my cotton candy stand during the hot summer months. Just look for the Hot Pink Cotton Candy Colored VW Bus out in the parking lot with the license plate VWHippy.
Thanks again Daniel for the work. Sure am glad this long ass stick he gave me called the U’Wanna was an effective way to catch fish because Daniel sure did not pay us that much. At least I was able to catch fish after fish with this fishing pole and sell fish on the side to make ends meet. Sure felt like I became one of those Tenkara Fisherman from the olden days that had to catch fish for a living. Yeh, Right! He made up that story too! Having to catch fish in the mountains of Japan to make a living. Now that is plum funny! In fact I caught so many damn fish I was able to upgrade my VW Bus with a new engine and some shag carpet so I can treat my ladies right after a hard days work selling my sugary goodness.
Peace Out Man,
Starchild Equinox
(aka TJ Ferreira)
Explains why I still don’t have my Ayu 2. :-), And a happy April 1st to you!
Daniel, your shoestring is untied.
I can’t believe it! I am such a rube! To think I invested the past few years developing a fishing love for a joke! I blogged for goodness sake! That’s it! I am going to see if I can buy back my 8 wt and start chucking lead head wooly buggers!
Steve, first of all, nice blog! I can’t believe I didn’t see it before.
Which can only mean you were not on our blogger payroll in charge of spreading the joke.… I appreciate you buying into it though 😉
So, those baby tarpons i caught were all product
of my imagination?
…Need to go back the doctor and change my pills!
😉
Blatt, indeed! Sorry about that, we never expected people to have fun catching baby tarpons with it
I knew it was a hoax because when I tried casting with my Tenkara rod the bobber kept flying into the trees…
Well, i didnt get a tatoo but the license plate on my new jeep is 10KARABM. No competion with Chris Stewart.