As bad as the weather was last week, today it was that good. It may be a brief window but the rain has stayed off us long enough to let the higher elevation rivers settle and fish. We caught this beauty along with a bunch of her brothers, sisters, cousins and friends. I’m out again tomorrow, just for the morning. The rain isn’t forecast to come in until after lunch…we’ll keep out fingers crossed!
I wouldn’t have thought it possible but we managed to get in a morning of fishing in between yesterday’s thunderstorms and today’s. Rivers come up quickly here in WNC but luckily, they tend to recede the same way. When it looked like we’d have a chance to save 1/2 a day, we jumped on it. As you can see, it was well worth the effort. These two good friends (and good tenkara anglers) made the most of the opportunity. Check out those smiles!
But we got in a great morning of fishing ahead of it! A big low pressure over Florida is looking to really soak us over the next few days but I sneaked out Tuesday morning with this wonderful father and son team and we had a great tenkara morning on the water. The river offered up quantity, variety and as you can tell by the photos, quality as well. We got some fish nymphing, on dries and on dry dropper combos so it was a really fun session. Just as we were taking off our waders, the first rain drop hit us. It basically hasn’t stopped since. This morning’s trip had to be rescheduled and Thursday and Friday aren’t looking so good either. Oh well, if this was the only fishing trip we get in this week…it was a good one!
This morning the sun was shining on us and so was good fortune. I had a great morning out with this delightful father and daughter team of trout slayers. We caught quantity, quality and variety. Most importantly we had a beautiful, pleasant and fun morning on the stream. Family fishing is my favorite fishing and it doesn’t get any better than this.
I just had an amazing day with a wonderful couple from right here in Asheville. It was a birthday gift for him but as you can see, the stream gave everyone presents today. This has to be the most impressive “his and hers” big-fish day of the year….so far. It wasn’t until I got home that I realized that the birthday boy’s 23″ Rainbow was caught on 6X tippet. Now that’s impressive tenkara angling!
I’ve been on the water a ton lately and just haven’t had much time to write new posts. With apologies to all, I’m going to sort of bunch some trip photos together in the name of efficiency. We’ve had some incredible outings in the last week. I’ve had the pleasure of fishing with a string of awesome folks who caught some beyond-amazing fish on tenkara. Above and below are a few highlight shots but there were more great fish and more great folks. I hope I can keep this streak alive!
If there’s anything that life teaches us it’s that experiences are far more precious than things. The latest, coolest whatever always ends up worn out, out-dated, superseded or just plain forgotten. But a memorable event seems to somehow become more significant and more valuable with every passing year. That’s why I’m so honored when someone chooses a day of fishing with me as a gift for a loved one. This dad did just that for his son’s birthday yesterday. I think the picture above tells it all.
