Tenkara is arguably the simplest and most calming way into fly fishing: one rod, one line, one fly, and the river. And the good news is that you can learn its foundations entirely online, at your own pace, from anywhere. The Foundations Path is an online course built to take you from "I know nothing about this" to "I'm setting my first fly down and I understand what I'm doing."
This article walks you through the course in detail: why learning tenkara online works so well, who it is for, what you will master — from the six casts to the anatomy of the rod, all the way to tying your first kebari — and how to enrol.
A note for English-speaking readers: the Foundations Path is currently taught in Quebec French. The cast demonstrations are visual and cross any language barrier, and the Sunday Letter (below) is the best place to follow the project and hear about upcoming cohorts.
Why learning tenkara online works so well
You might expect an outdoor discipline to be hard to learn in front of a screen. With tenkara, the opposite is true — for one simple reason: there are few gestures to master, and many of them can be practised on dry land, with no water and no fish.
Tenkara rests on pared-down mechanics. No reel, no fifty knots to memorize, no arsenal of flies to decode. The essentials come down to a handful of casts, a clear understanding of the gear, and the art of presenting the fly. All of that shows beautifully on video: you can replay a cast in slow motion as many times as you like, pause, repeat the movement in your living room or backyard, then carry it to the river once it lives in your body.
Learning online also means learning at your own pace and from anywhere. Whether you are in Montreal, the Saguenay, or the Gaspe, far from a club or a mentor, the path is the same. You progress in the evening, on weekends, whenever it suits you, and you arrive at the water prepared rather than fumbling.
Who the Foundations Path is for
The course was designed for the complete beginner. If you have never held a rod in your life, this is exactly your place: we start from zero and take nothing for granted.
It is just as suited to the Western fly angler curious to taste the simplicity of tenkara, to anyone looking for a calm, minimalist approach to fishing, and to the hiker who wants a light method that fits in a backpack for fishing on the trail. No particular fitness level is required: the gestures are slow and adapt to each person.
What you will learn
The heart of the course is a logical progression, from the gear all the way to your first fish. Here are the main stages.
The essence of tenkara. Where this style of fishing comes from, what sets it apart from Western fly fishing, and the "less, but better" philosophy beneath it. Enough to fish with meaning, not just with motions.
The anatomy of the rod. We demystify the tool from end to end: the telescopic rod and its segments, the cap, the tip, and above all the lillian — the small cord at the rod tip to which the line is tied. You learn to choose a length (generally 3.3 to 4.5 metres, roughly 11 to 15 feet) and to understand the rod's action. Then we tour the lines: the fluorocarbon level line, the furled tapered line, and the tippet that joins them to the fly.
Rigging, step by step. How to attach the line to the lillian, choose its length, add the tippet, and tie on the kebari. Simple knots, shown slowly, that you will redo on pause until they become automatic.
The six casts. This is the technical core of the course. We break down, one by one:
- The basic overhead cast — the founding gesture, built on the sharp stop rather than on force.
- The sidearm cast, for fishing under branches or in strong wind while keeping the line low.
- The backhand cast, to present on the other side of your body without contorting.
- The bow-and-arrow cast, to reach a tight lie ringed by vegetation by loading the rod with the fly.
- The false cast and reposition, to dry the fly, change direction, and reset your drift.
- The presentation cast, the art of setting the kebari down gently for a natural, drag-free drift.
Each cast is shown in slow motion, from several angles, with the common mistakes to avoid — the rising shoulder, the stiff wrist, the missed stop.
Your first kebari. The kebari is the tenkara fly, often a sakasa kebari whose reverse-tied hackle "pulses" in the current. We explore its anatomy — hook, body, hackle — and the famous "one fly" approach dear to Dr. Ishigaki, where presentation matters more than imitation. Then we tie a first simple kebari together, and learn to present and animate it in the current.
Reading the water and presenting. Spotting where trout hold, understanding current seams, achieving a drag-free drift, and bringing the kebari to life with light pulses. This is what separates the angler who "casts" from the one who "fishes."
The take, playing the fish, and the release. Detecting the take — often subtle, felt as much as seen — setting the hook cleanly, then bringing the fish in without a reel, using the flex of the rod. We finish with a careful release: wet hands, minimal handling, the fish kept in the water. It is the last piece of the puzzle, the one that turns a take into a memory and protects the resource for the next outing.
Ten Chi: what makes this path unique
Most courses stop at technique. The Foundations Path adds a dimension you will not find anywhere else: Ten Chi, a short sequence of preparatory gestures inspired by tai chi that unites the warm-up and the cast into a single movement.
The idea is clear: by rehearsing the cast in slow motion, rooted in the ground and relaxed, you inscribe the right gesture in your body before you even reach the water. Tension drops, the first casts stop being spoiled by haste, and you fish with a different quality of presence. Ten Chi makes this path far more than a technique course: a genuine initiation into the gesture of the river.
What gear do you need to start?
Very little, and that is one of the beauties of tenkara. To begin, you need a tenkara rod, a line (level or furled), tippet material, a few kebari, and a small pair of nippers. A soft-mesh net is a plus for release. That is all — no reel, no vest, no endless boxes. The course devotes a section to choosing this gear, to spare you costly buying mistakes and set you up with a simple, reliable kit suited to our rivers. The upfront investment is modest, especially compared with traditional fly fishing. Many beginners are surprised that a complete, capable setup costs less than a single high-end Western reel — and since the whole outfit packs into a tube the size of an umbrella, you can take it anywhere.
How the course works
The Foundations Path is entirely online, organized into video modules you follow at your own pace. The teaching alternates between dry-land practice — in your living room, your yard, a park — and applying it on the water, through small exercises to do between modules.
You will also find downloadable sheets (rigging, knots, casts) and the reference sheet for the ten Ten Chi gestures. Everything is in Quebec French, designed for our rivers and our conditions. You never move forward in a fog: each step builds on the one before.
How long until you fish on your own?
Sooner than you might think. Because tenkara strips away the superfluous, most beginners set a fly down properly after a few dry-land sessions and catch their first fish on their earliest outings. The path is not a race: you can move through it in a few weekends or spread it across the season. What matters is repeating the gestures until they feel natural — which is exactly what Ten Chi helps you do.
When and how to enrol
The Foundations Path opens at the end of September, with a first launch cohort. Spots in this cohort are deliberately limited so that each person can be properly supported.
The best way to be ready — and notified first — is to subscribe to The Sunday Letter. Every Sunday, you receive a short tenkara read, and it is through this list that I will announce when enrolment opens. By subscribing, you also receive, right now and as a gift, the reference sheet for the ten Ten Chi gestures — a concrete first step, before the course even begins.
Tenkara is quick to learn because it strips away the superfluous. The Foundations Path takes you by the hand through that doorway — simply, at your own pace. And at the end of the path there is a river, a fly set down just right, and the silence of a morning at the water's edge.