Who is using a tenkara rod on the river to catch carp? If you haven’t see this “experiment” from a couple of guides in Salt Lake City, it’s pretty cool. Have a look here.
My thought, though, is that if you can’t take some of the fight out of a carp, you’ll never land it, especially if your rod is geared for trout, at 4x or 5x. As our friends over at TenkaraBum said, ” Fishing for carp with a tenkara rod is like taking a knife to a gun fight.
Let me know if you’ve had any luck with tenkara and carp. My son gave me a one for Christmas (for trout), but I’ve yet to check it out.
See you on the river, Jim Burns
I am so excited to see this post on your blog Jim! This past season I caught my first carp on a Tenkara rod, the Tenkara USA Ito rod actually. I was using 5x tippet and kebari style fly I tied myself. This rod was certainly not made to fish for Carp and I was glad to have the 5x tippet, which theoretically should break before the rod does. The fight lasted a good 10 minutes but I successfully landed the fish without a net. The fish was pretty tired afterwards though and it took a long time for me to revive her before releasing.
A rod with more power (like the one you pictured above the Nissin Red Dragon carp rod) would allow you to bring the fish to hand much quicker, therefore reducing their stress. Chris at Tenkara Bum recommends 2x tippet for the Nissin Red Dragon carp rod so you can really put a nice bend in the rod with large fish and not worry about anything breaking. Here is a picture of my first Carp (right around 55cm long not sure on the weight though)
lariverflyfishing 
I am so excited to see this post on your blog Jim! This past season I caught my first carp on a Tenkara rod, the Tenkara USA Ito rod actually. I was using 5x tippet and kebari style fly I tied myself. This rod was certainly not made to fish for Carp and I was glad to have the 5x tippet, which theoretically should break before the rod does. The fight lasted a good ten minutes but I successfully landed the fish without a net. The fish was pretty tired afterwards though and it took a long time for me to revive her before releasing. A rod with more power (like the one you pictured above the Nissin Red Dragon carp rod) would allow you to bring the fish to hand much quicker, therefore reducing their stress. Chris at Tenkara Bum recommends 2x tippet for the Nissin Red Dragon carp rod so you can really put a nice bend in the rod with large fish and not worry about anything breaking. Here is a picture of my first Carp (right around 55cm long not sure on the weight though). http://www.fallfishtenkara.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Tencarpa-TenkaraUSA-Ito-Rod-Tenkara-Kebari.jpg
Thanks, Issac! Wow, what a beautiful fish.
A red dragon is a beast of a rod and it really held its own when I fished there last. Got 5, including my biggest ever. I’m curious how tenkararodco’s grand Teton or tenkarausa’s amago would fair. I’m testing the later currently. Tenkarpa is awesome.
That’s awesome, Jon! I’ve got a couple, but have yet to land a fish. Tight lines, Jim
I’ll be down there again in the next few months. Would be great to tenkarpa with you. Also, there is a carp tournament up this way on lake Isabella and I’m going tenkara only. Should be fun!
Hi Jon, that would be fun. Good luck at the Lake Isabella tourney.