fly fishing, conservation and politics.
“I have found that fly-fishing can be a state of mind still found in quiescent pockets of solitude the moment one has unlocked the secret code of knowing where to look. And for me a bamboo rod will always be the perfect mantra to help find the way. For those who seek, there is a path. “
Jerry Kustich, In Dec. 2021 Sweetgrass newsletter
Could not have said it better.
I’m adding my voice to the increasing loud chorus of fly anglers who are tired of seeing “hero shots” of fish, especially trout. During this summer (or likely future) of high heat and water temps, the price of that ego stroke may very well be a dead fish. Ain’t nobody got time for that shit these days.
Todd and I wrote about this for MoJo awhile back > Fishing’s ‘Hero Pose’: How Do The Fish Feel?
Louis Cahill of Gink and Gasoline fame, wrote with a little more directness in Nobody Wants To See Your Rotting Corpse. Here is a taste that made my grumpy old man heart smile…
You want to prove you’re a better angler than everyone else? Just talk louder. That’s what every other beer swilling asshole at the local bar does! Just go down to the fly shop and blubber for an hour or two about how you only catch grass carp on 7X with dry flies and how everything else is bullshit. The end result will be the same. Everyone will know you’re an asshole and you don’t have to kill a fish and take out a Facebook ad to prove it!
Here’s a suggestion from TU’s Josh Duplechian Take photos of the scenery, not the fish while on the boat. This is why this is such a great suggestion.
Think about those fish photos you have. If you are like me you may have a hard time remembering where you caught it. Sure you may remember the river but what about the place where the fish ate the fly? For me that landscape shot, like the one below gets me thinking “yeah I remember that brookie eating right there…” Yup I’m reliving the moment all over again. The fish picture just won’t do that for me. Let’s ditch the hero shot for the scenery shot.
Respect the resource and lead by example. Keep the fish in the water and enjoy the moment for what it is. Now you’re a hero.
When I am guiding I often have my clients fish two flies at the same time. It is effective, efficient and, with a couple of simple few tricks, easy to set up.
One of the best “how-to” and “why” explanations of two fly setups can be found in Phil Monahan article in MidCurrent: Useful Tandem Fly Combinations.
Casting demonstrations are a great way to introduce tenkara. For the last couple of years, I have had the good fortune to do tenkara casting demos at The Fly Fishing Shows in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Lancaster, Pennsylvania and the Virginia Fly Fishing Festival.
Among the myriad benefits of fishing with a tenkara rod is how easy the rod is to cast. While the fundamental casting principles still apply, the simplicity of the outfit; just a rod and a line, make casting a very simple and intuitive process.
A fly rod and reel outfit uses a rod that is designed to cast a weighted line. As my friend Dusty Wissmath likes to say; it is a flexible lever designed to cast a flexible weight. Each rod is designed to cast a specific line weight. There needs to be a certain amount of that weighted line out beyond the rod tip to make the rod cast the line to the target. The weighted line is essential to the system. It is what allows the rod to load and make the cast.
The caster loads the rod using the force of physical energy to build potential energy (bend or “load” the rod) that when released (the rod straightens) becomes kinetic energy transferred to the line, delivering the fly to the target. The weighted line is essential to building the amount of potential energy or load in the rod.
A tenkara rod is a very flexible lever designed to cast a variety of very light lines. The line weight is not the essential element to loading the rod. Just moving your arm or flicking your wrist will load the rod. My rod of choice is a Patagonia 10′ 6″ tenkara rod.
Let’s look at the steps for casting a conventional fly rod.
Now let’s look at the steps for casting a tenkara rod.
The elements of timing, so important in the weighted line system, are not as critical with the tenkara cast because your physical energy controls the loading of the rod. The line plays a much smaller role in making the cast work. This is one of the reasons people enjoy using a tenkara rod. The casting execution is very very simple.
In addition to the above, there are other differences in casting a tenkara rod that contribute to making it easier.
Casting a tenkara rod is not a whole lot different from casting a conventional fly rod. Someone who has mastered casting a conventional rod will understand it in seconds. Most beginners will quickly get the hang of it and spend more time concentrating on fishing rather than casting, and isn’t that the whole point anyway?
Author’s note: A version of this article first appeared in Hatch Magazine.
Below is a trailer to the film CO2LD WATERS.
You need to watch it.
As Thomas McGuane wrote in The Longest Silence, “if the trout are lost, smash the state.”
Fortunately, Todd Tanner of Conservation Hawks has started the process. In this new project he joins fly fishing notables Craig Mathews of Blue Ribbon Flies, Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia, Steve Hemkens of Orvis and Tim Romano of Angling Trade in pointing out the consequences of ignoring global climate change.
If you don’t think climate change is problem, then you are just not paying attention.
Not sure what you can do about it? Share this video, add your voice and stay informed.
The Tenkara Jam last month was loaded with good information and hands-on opportunities. One of the better presentations was by Rob Worthing of Tenkara Guides LLC. Rob’s presentation was a detailed exploration of handling big fish and is now a guest post on Casting Around. If you are interested learning a field tested way of handling big fish you will be hard pressed to find a better resource.
While Rob’s article is educational, helpful and very well illustrated (courtesy of Anthony Naples), what caught my attention was his insights into the Japanese tenkara world. He points out that there are three “subdivisions” of tenkara in Japan. Subdivisions is a good word as the distinctions are geographic:
we’ll refer to these subdivisions as headwater tenkara, mountain stream tenkara, and mainstream tenkara. Rods intended for tight, small headwaters located deep in the mountains are relatively light and usually shorter. Rods intended for mountain stream tenkara are a bit sturdier. Rods intended for mainstream rivers, where casting tends to be more open, are frequently longer, and may be beefier still.”
This then becomes a great way to help tenkara anglers look at the spectrum of fixed line rods that are now available. For quick reference here in the Valley, I would equate these subdivisions to the following local waters; headwater = Rapidan or Skidmore Fork, mountain = Dry River or Mossy Creek and mainstream = South Fork of the Shenandoah.
Mossy Creek Fly Fishing. has rods that work in all these subdivisions and I plan to adopt Rob’s explanation as a way to help my clients and customers understand what rod to use where.