I used to be a keen fly fisherman, but haven't fished for years. However, I have been recently taken with the idea of Tenkara.
For those not familiar with Tenkara, the best starting point is the commercial site http://www.tenkarausa.com/. There are other sites and it has developed some interest among backpackers.
The obvious difference to modern fly fishing is that it doesn't use a reel, but a long telescopic rod, which tapers to a tip almost as thin as the line. Designed for fishing small mountain streams the long rod allows very precise and gentle casting with the ability to lift the line over the top of riffles and runs preventing drag on the line. But people are also using them for salt water fly fishing and for fly fishing bigger rivers.
The principle is one of simplicity so an entire Tenkara outfit, can be a rod (collapsed to 50cm x 25cm and weighing 80gms), 4m of line, a tippet and a couple of dry or wet flies .
Reel apart, the tenkara rods, give a normal fly rod action for casting, and from my mountain stream days, I never caught anything that needed played on the reel anyway,
This seems a great way of carrying a fly fishing kit that weighs next to nothing and takes up almost no space. Certainly a Tenkara rod is in my near future, assuming I can sort out somewhere to fish !!
I did buy a a very thin/lightweight (but cheap, £9.00 from China) "pole" to give it a try, but the action was awful , maybe not unexpectedly. None the less, I "could" fish with it if forced and as a "rod" it makes it legal.
However, I think the whole approach is worth looking at if you are interested in fly fishing and bushcrafting/backpacking.
I know no more about this than I have read, but if anyone wants to follow it up and not wade through the web site link and google, I will have a go at answering any question you might have.
You will gather I am rather taken with the idea
Graham