Tenkara Today Book Review
In case you missed the memo, the world’s first tenkara-only magazine is here! Created by Tenkara USA, the magazine is a very high quality 112-page publication featuring well-written articles and great photography from a lot of names you’ll recognize if you’ve been fishing tenkara for any significant amount of time. The wide range of topics includes interviews with famous tenkara anglers, instructions on how to tie knots, fly tying tutorials, how tos, and even some tenkara philosophy (just to name a few).
My contribution to the mag was an article called “Ten Techniques for Tenkara” and was beautifully illustrated by prominent tenkara angler Anthony Naples (who was also instrumental in putting together the content). Many people complain that there’s a lack of information on presentation techniques in the tenkaraverse so my intent was to try to fill in that gap a bit.
There is so much information between the covers that I would almost consider this a tenkara “manual” rather than a mere “magazine”. It could easily serve as a guide that the beginning tenkara angler could refer back to again and again to hone their skills. My only nitpick is that the print is a little small and difficult to read. The cover says “Volume One” so hopefully, the typeset size is something they’ll improve in volume two and subsequent editions.
While I have very little nostalgia for print materials and probably 99% of the content I consume is digital, I have to admit, it’s nice to hold a physical tenkara publication in my hands. In a way, I feel it helps further validate tenkara’s place in the flyfishing world and will help spread the word about this great sport. This will be a nice magazine to curl up with fireside during the cold winter months or when you’ve got to turn your electronics off on takeoff and landing.
To see the table of contents or to get a copy for yourself, visit the Tenkara USA store.
UPDATE: I just noticed there is a mistake in my article. On page 36, There should be a title called “Sutebari” below chart #6. Also, the following paragraph is missing:
“Sutebari is a very interesting and unique presentation practiced by tenkara experts in Japan. It might seem a little strange at first but if anglers can catch fish with it on the overfished streams of Japan, then it would seem to have merit.”
This omission throws the numbering off and makes it look like there are only 9 techniques shown, but in fact, all 10 are there.
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Just got mine TODAY and its FANTASTIC! Thanks TUSA!!
That magazine isn’t so great. There’s clearly nothing there that I can’t already find on the internet. Paper? Who needs paper anymore? Nothing innovative there. WOOF! Hardly a purple cow. Where is the innovation!?! This probably appeals to the same people who fancy bamboo rods and silk fly lines. Oh, and $9? C’mon that’s so expensive for a magazine these days. For $9 I could get a copy of Crappie Pole Quarterly, a bottle of Arctic Frost flavored Gatorade, AND at least 3 Slim Jims. Or at least a magazine containing a centerfold with pictures of ladyparts. Psshhhtt…what a waste. My money isn’t going to fund anyone’s mushroom foraging escapades…
Postscript
🙂
Mike, your clever sarcasm restores my faith in the tenkara community and gives me something to smile about on an especially tough day. Thank you!
I can’t wait to get my copy! I am honored to be a part of this inaugural issue with all of the many taleanted tenkara anglers, writers, artists and photographers.
Brian
Hey. I didn’t even get to see this thing yet! Can’t wait to get my hands on it. It was great to be a part of this. And thanks to you Jason and all of the contributors! When I picked up that Ebisu 4 years ago I would never have imagined the path that led up to this project. Just goes to show you never can tell…
How interesting, I must go check this out. I assume you go to TUSA web site to get one? I love a good magazine. I would much rather have a mag.
Postage to UK makes this very expensive. On top of the $9 for 112 pages.
So maybe if an electronic version appears I’ll buy a copy ..
But it does look interesting..
Mick, at least for now, it looks like they’re only shipping to the USA. The digital version might be a better choice if you’re in the UK
That’s very cool and beautifully done. I hope that there will be enough new content on a regular basis to keep this publication going. Tenkara is a niche within a niche and may prove to be a lot of effort to come up with articles to fill a magazine. Either way this is a welcome site for many of us, and congrats on your article Jason. Am I the only one who thinks the retro Tenkara Talk coffee cup looks pretty damn sweet!!!
Brian, love the old logo you designed for me. It was exactly what I wanted and you nailed it. But the style was too anachronistic for the design of the new site so it needed to be updated. No hard feelings?
Doesn’t this guy TROUTRAGEOUS1 realize all he has to do is not order a copy if he doesn’t like magazines? Personnaly, I prefer a printed copy not being a computer person. Certain
people make problems for themselves, if they don’t like it, it’s not good for anyone. I’m
looking fwd to recv’g my copy, keep up the good articles Jason.
Jim Rittre
Ordered mine this week and am eagerly looking forward to it!
Brian,
Off topic, but I noticed the logo on the coffee cup is different and recalled Jason mentioning graphic work that Anthony had done in a recent post. No offense to what probably was just a small part of a bigger project for Anthony, but I LOVED the creativity and thoughtful tie-in on the coffee cup logo and would choose that over the current logo. Where do I get my cup?
Rich, you can get a Tenkara Talk mug and other stuff here: http://www.zazzle.com/tenkaratalk
Jason,
I just received the magazine and was looking forward to reading your article. However, there seems to be missing content on Technique 4 and Technique 5 when the article goes from one page to the next.
Is there anyway to get the complete article from you?
Hi Percy, yes, there was a mistake by the editor. Please scroll down to the end of this post where I posted the correction and missing text from the article. It’s the part that says “UPDATE” right before my bio:
https://www.tenkaratalk.com/2013/12/tenkara-magazine/
Jason,
Thanks, I saw that part. However, there is also text missing between technique #4 and #5. I posted a note to Daniel at Tenkara USA also. He was kind enough to repost the complete article on his blog. I really enjoyed your article as a beginner just learning the ropes.