Unreel Fly Fishing

What could be more fun than a day of fishing with two wonderful people? Two days of fishing with two wonderful people!  That’s what I had this week when this awesome couple came to Asheville and went tenkara fishing with me. To make it special for me, both were fellow Coast Guard retirees, one a fellow aviator, so we got to add a little reminiscing to our fishing. We fished in temperatures from 28 degrees to 86 degrees in the span of  two days. As you can see,  we did well…extremely well! This trip was a birthday celebration and I hope I added to making it a happy one.

I spent yesterday with these two fine gentlemen from right here in western North Carolina.  We pressed through the sub-freezing, early morning to be rewarded with sunshine and a (relatively) pleasant afternoon. We had some outstanding fishing, friendly competition and a really fun day. It’s such a pleasure to share company with folks who are mostly interested in making sure their fishing companion has fun. That good karma makes for such an enjoyable day and always seems to be rewarded. As you can tell by the photos below, yesterday was no exception! Check out the short movie under the  “Videos” tab.

My favorite kind of trip is taking families out fishing together. What a wonderful day I had today with the mother and son team pictured above and below. Both were new to tenkara but already skilled fly anglers. It was a quick adjustment as we got off to a fast start and never slowed down.    The weather was unseasonably chilly but we caught fish all day long, which has a way of helping you not feel the cold. Tenkara fishing is fun and great for families. What better way to spend a day?

Well, our schizophrenic spring weather continues. Just when we think spring has arrived we get sucked back to winter with a big cold front.  But yesterday it was spring again, the sun was shining and this young lady made the best of it with this beautiful Brown Trout.  He was accompanied by numerous other Rainbows, Brookies and smaller Browns.  The flowers are blooming,  the trees are budding but this weekend we’re heading back to winter weather.  There’s even talk of snow on the higher elevations and temps in the low 20’s Sunday morning.  I’m on the water all weekend so hopefully by Monday I’ll have some pictures of bundled-up anglers with fish and smiles.

I tend to spend a lot of time on the water with folks who are new to tenkara and/or new to fly fishing altogether.  I love it and I love the thrill of introducing people to the wonderful world of tenkara fly fishing.  Every now and then though, I get to fish with somebody who is both practiced and skilled at tenkara. That’s fun of a different kind.  Such was the case the other day when I basically served as “Fish Scooper”  for the skilled tenkara veteran pictured above.  All I had to do was not mess up when it came time for the net.  Thankfully I didn’t when this beauty came to hand!

We’ve had a couple of days of beautiful, spring-like weather.  That means cool mornings, warm afternoons and hot fishing.  Yesterday the stream was chilled by some recent snow melt but as you can see, the fish didn’t mind.   I was with an experienced fly angler but tenkara first timer who was warmed-up enough to prevail in a test of wits and wills this beauty.  That’s a 20″+ Rainbow and it did not want to get its picture taken…..too bad.  He was safely released though and is back in his hide.  He’ll be a little wiser when the next angler comes along.  Give me a call, it could be you !