I grew up fishing with cheap bamboo cane poles and a piece of line tied to the end. Hook/bobber, fly, spinner, whatever on the end of the line. Poles 15' long were common and fine around creeks/ponds with little brush. Now, "crappie poles" of 18', telescoping, can be had at Walmart in the $20 range, but with exactly the same idea as cane poles. "tenkara" appears to be a fancy name applied to cane pole fishing, but with fancier telescoping rods. After moving on to fly rods and ultra-light spinning tackle, I've no interest in messing with a long pole ever again. They get hung up in everything, tips break, and are useless around trees and brush overhanging the water. I love fly fishing but have always caught more Texas fish with a spinning rod and spinner baits. Jigs for crappie, rubber baits for bigger bass. Our stocked trout don't bite flies, but hit marshmallows and spinners instead. A light spin-cast system handles all that. I'm with you on the "no license, state park" thing. I fish Texas state parks and creeks around Dallas/Ft. Worth. A compact ultralite spinning system (cheap!) has netted me more fish than any other system. If the Texas park has a lake or stream, I'll be in a kayak where long poles don't work well.