Tenkara-holics Anonynmous

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Image Courtesy of TenkaraGrasshopper Media

Life brings challenges to each and every person in this day and age. Some challenges are far more irksome than others, causing those facing such obstacles to contend with them in definite ways. There are the good ways and the bad ways to cope with such issues. Addictions are considered by many to be negative ways of coping and in ninety percent of situations I agree with this sentiment.

In my humble opinion, drugs and alcohol are poor coping techniques, not just because they do so much damage to the individual consuming said chemicals, but also to those who surround them, be that friends or family. (In no way am I passing judgement on anyone in this post so please follow me a little further. By the way, I love a good scotch or beer, alone or with friends.)

Tenkara Epiphanies: A Guest Post

The following was an email that I recieved from Jack Bombardier of Confluence Casting. I found this very interesting and asked if he would be willing to do this as a guest post. Luckily, for all of you, he said yes! Enjoy to your hearts content.                                                       

Tenkara Epiphanies

For the last few years, I’ve been using a “new” method of fishing called tenkara.  The reason for the quotation marks around the word new is that tenkara has been around for hundreds of years, but only recently has the idea been imported to the US.  Tenkara is basically what your parents or grandparents might have called cane pole fishing, in that it involves using a very long rod with no reel, with the line, leader and fly attached to the end of the rod. A tenkara rod uses the same basic idea but uses modern technology, making the rod telescopic for easy transport and light enough to use all day without developing shoulders like Serena Williams.

Revisiting the Tenkara "One Fly" Concept

Tenkara is known for its simplicity. 

A Rod, A Line and A Fly™
Photo Courtsey of Tenkara USA

Tenkara USA's company motto is Only Rod, Line, and Fly™. In such a short statement Tenkara USA has distilled tenkara as a form of fly fishing to it's true essence.

Daniel Galhardo, the president and brains behind Tenkara USA subscribes to a concept known as the "One Fly". To subscribe to this concept, Daniel and many other tenkara anglers both in Japan and around the world choose one single kebari pattern as their go to fly for a day of tenkara fishing.