Tenkara Guides, Badgers and Bums - Oh My!

I am a fan of the internet and social media and aside from learning new things when I go to events like the workshop that  Tenkara Guides LLC put on recently I get to meet people that I know through these various forums and websites.  This particular particular workshop was really like a "Who's Who in Tenkara Fishing in The USA" because there were a lot of influential and well known tenkara anglers that I know had only known through various websites until this workshop.

First up, the Tenkara Badger himself, all the way Wisconsin, he has some great rods that I hope to cast here before the summer is out.   He caught a great brown trout a few moments later, I might add!

Then there was Tom from Teton Tenkara, who is a very knowledgeable tenkara angler whose blog I checkout often.

I also met again DragonTail Tenkara as he was fishing this great spot.  Make sure and check him out, he has a great selection of tenkara rods, one of which the ShadowFire, I demoed earlier this year and it's a great rod.

I met some new tenkara bums at the workshop, as they fished both days, on this lovely stream in eastern Utah..

 

And on the Middle Provo.. 

Over the past few years there have been tenkara gatherings started across the globe and the United States, such as the Appalachian  Tenkara Jam, held in Maryland.  There is also the Midwest Tenkara Fest held in Wisconsin.  Of course there's the one that started it all, Tenkara USA's Tenkara Summit, that has been held in a few different locations including Utah in 2012.  

As things in my life change, I intend to get to these events and photograph them too and do a book about Tenkara in the USA.

Brian

Tenkara No Oni

I recently  had the pleasure of being able to be a part of a unique fishing workshop put on by Tenkara Guides LLC, where they brought Master angler, Masami “Tenkara No Oni” Sakakibara from Japan for three days; it was a wonderful workshop that offered many great photographic opportunities.  

Watching "No Oni" as he works a stretch of river, casting and scrambling in and out of the water was amazing to say the least, his cast is beautiful too.  I hope that when I am his age, I am agile as he is.

Tenkara No Oni in action in the water

And out of the water..

While I wasn't participating in the workshop, I learned a few things by watching Tenkara Oni, that I will take with me the next time I go fishing. 

I am grateful for the opportunity to have been at this workshop with my cameras, from what I could tell from my own observations and talking with the participants the workshop was a success.  
A big thanks to Tenkara Guides LLC, for letting me tag along and be their "unofficial photographer" and thank you as well Tenkara No Oni, for letting me photograph you..    

Brian