I admit it, I was a skeptic. I love all things fly fishing, but fly casting is my jam. So when I first tried Tenkara fishing (more on that later), I was personally underwhelmed by what amounted to flicking woven thread through the air, and further annoyed by its apparent lack of versatility. I mean, come on, it’s not really fly fishing without the cast, right?
I owe a lot of thanks to my friend, Steve, for setting my along this path of discovery that called me to challenge my initial impressions. When we met, he was a formerly avid fly fisher who had been sidelined 16 prior by a stroke. My journey with him of trial and error resulted in a technique that empowered his successful return to the sport. This approach worked so well with Steve that I asked for approval to pilot it at a fly fishing retreat for women battling breast cancer. This was an important case study because while Steve was an experienced fly angler, these ladies were not.