Happy New Year From TenkaraGrasshopper

Happy New Year my friends and followers. I appreciate all of the hits on my site that I have received from you all. I will make you all a promise that starting in the next few days I will be making posts to the site and maybe even some early year fishing trips as well.

I would like to know what everyone intends to do in terms of any New Years Resolutions regarding Tenkara in the year to come.  Please feel free to respond to this post and I will any responses that I feel are some of the best.

Tight lines and good friends in 2012!

Daniel Galhardo of Tenkara USA Will Be attending the Denver Fly Fishing Show Jan 5-8, 2012

Below is the schedule for Daniel Galhardo of Tenkara USA who will be attending the Denver Fly Fishing Show Jan 6-8, 2012. I will be attending Sunday Jan 8, 2012 with my fiancee in tow.


Per Daniel Galhardo on Colorado Tenkara Anglers at Facebook
Here's the schedule of tenkara presentations and demos at the Denver Fly Fishing Show: 
Friday, Jan 6th, 4PM: Tenkara presentation @Destination Theater Room D
Saturday, Jan 7th, 12:15PM: Tenkara Casting Demonstration @Pond 2
Saturday, Jan 7th, 4:00PM: Tenkara presentation @Destination Theater Room C
Sunday, Jan 8th, 3PM: Tenkara presentation @Adventure Theater

Looking forward to seeing you all there, and make sure to stop by the RIGS booth, I'll most likely be hanging there when not presenting.

I hope to see you all there. Anyone coming from outside of the Denver Metro Area is welcome to contact me here on my contact page or via Facebook and is welcome to stay at Elizabeth and my home for an evening or all weekend.

http://www.flyfishingshow.com/Denver.html.

See you all there.

Colorado's Best Fly Fishing Book Review

An awesome book that I read recently.

I recently finished reading a guidebook written by Landon Mayer.  This book caught my attention since I live in Colorado. I am always looking for cool places to try out and without a doubt I think this is one of the cooler guides by a local Colorado fishing guide. Landon is currently a guide out of Colorado Springs and guides on the  South Platte River.

The book is broken up into five regional sections of the state with each section listing Landon's favorite rivers in each section. Each chapter is focused on one river and its tributaries with clear concise descriptions of each and every public and private access along the length of the river. Landon does an amazing job of working from the headwaters of each river to the confluence with whatever body of water it ultimately feeds into. Also included with each river is a listing of what flies he suggests for each river and for specific times of the year. Reading each chapter has definitely gotten my excitement for a new season of fishing Tenkara around Colorado.

One feature I really enjoy about this book is the fact that he includes the recipes for his favorite flies to be used in Colorado. Having a list of guide preferred flies really makes planning a loaded box much easier.

Having completed the book I am now ready to explore the areas of Colorado that he suggests and even though he does frequently warn you of the size of the fish that you can catch and what has been caught on those pieces of water I would say I am looking forward to trying out multiple rods and a few different line setups as well. I.e. short line and long line (which I had not considered until recently, thank you Daniel and the TenkaraUSA blog post, http://www.tenkarausa.com/blog/?p=1943 ).

With the wonderfully readable format and language that Landon has used I can only suggest this as a great book for both residents of Colorado as well as visitors to our wonderful state. I hope as time and travel allows me to I will be using this guide book to lead me to some of the best places in the state and that I will be able to bring back many reports of awesome Tenkara fishing in this great state.

I would also suggest that if you do decide to use this guide book contacting Mr. Mayer or any other guide in Colorado for suggestions or assistance in fly selections as well as current water flows on your water of choice as well as to find out when the great hatches are coming off as well as what the fish seem to be enjoying.

So for now, all I can say is that though even some of the waters Landon has chosen might currently be iced over (Dec. 2011), at least this book will be a great resource for planning your future excursions in the great state of Colorado.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of you. I hope you had a great day. I had a great one with my fiancee Elizabeth and my family and friends. I will be working on a new post over the next few days so please check back and with the new year you will see a lot of new content. Sorry there has not been more recently but I promise to make it up to you all very soon. Until later, may you all have tight lines and trophy fish and no straightened hooks.

Tenkara Grasshopper

Is Tenkara Fly Fishing

This is in regards to a post that my friend Jason Klass posted on his blog Tenkaratalk. Following is the link to his post and then if you return to the post I have written I will give you my perspective on what Jason and others have written.
http://www.tenkaratalk.com/2011/12/is-tenkara-fly-fishing/

In the post Jason talks about Tenkaraphobia and the attacks on Tenkara and I agree whole heartedly with him in regards to labeling.

To me Tenkara is Tenkara and nothing more. When I am out fishing with my 11' Iwana from TenkaraUSA and I catch a fish I have caught a fish, nothing more nothing less.

In his blog Jason use the example of a car and labeling and I believe he is right. I guess I would break it down another way that some fisherpeople (trying to be politically correct here) would understand.

There are many styles of catching a fish whether that be with a net, a spinning rod and reel, or deep sea fishing from a high powered boat, a fly rod, or even and definitely including a Tenkara rod.  When a person has a fish take the fly/bait/lure of there choice and brings the fish to net does it make it any less of an accomplishment when they do so?

I don't believe it does because whether the person fishing was using a Panther Martin #1 or a Sex Dungeon fly tied by Charlie Craven either way the person caught a fish by fooling it with an item made by a human being not nature. That being said does it matter how we catch the fish of our dreams?

I guess what I am trying to say is that when a style of fishing is attacked by one branch of fishing over another I find it sad and very disappointing that people can not  accept the fact that because my style of fishing is different from your style does not decrease the efficacy of my mine over yours.

To me a fish is a fish no matter how I catch it. Just like if I were to cut down a tree it is still a tree whether it is standing up or laying on the ground.

Do I want to be known as a fly fisherman? I don't care one way or another.

I call myself a Tenkara fisherman and that is what I will be when the day is done.

Do I believe Tenkara is fly fishing? Yes I do since I catch my fish with a fly even if it is not a Royal Coachman but an Ishigaki Kebari.

Am I going to defend Tenkara as fly fishing no because it is literally "from heaven" and therefore it is good in all ways.

Welcome to TenkaraGrasshopper

Welcome to TenkaraGrasshopper. This is a blog targeted at new and experienced Tenkara anglers around the world. This will be a place for me to express my feelings and experiences about Tenkara in Colorado and around the world. My goal here is to blog about the things that I learn as I explore all things Tenkara. I hope that what I will learn and be able to pass on will allow others to learn from my experiences. I just want everyone to know that I may not be posting every day due to life and work. But I will do my best to keep up on posts as time and my mind allows.