Backcountry Tenkara near RMNP • Fall 2022

Ryan, very nice. Not much is being written about Tenkara on this forum anymore. Thanks.

Thanks for sharing the post. I just discovered this type of fishing this year. I still enjoy the pleasure of a spinning rig and have been trying to find the lightest option, but could not resist the tempation to try something new. I added a Tenkara extension to a Ruta Locura trakking pole and some Tenkara line with their keeper and a dozen flies. Everything wieghed in around a 1/2 pound and it was so fun and fast/small to pack. I’m hooked. I did not have any luck catching fish with this rig at Bright Angel Campground and the Colorodo river, but I can’t wait for the next adventure.

(who incidentally once said that just because fish are cold-blooded does not mean they do not feel pain, and that recreational fishermen only say so to reassure their conscience).

Caveat: I do think about this. My conscience is not reassured. But I also remain grateful when they slither out of my hand back into their deep.

These are the most interesting statements of the article, especially when combined with the exploration of underwater imaging. I often wonder if catch and release is potentially the most cruel/strange way to interact with animals, more so than taking life for food. Intelligent public discussion on the topic would be interesting, but at the end of the day, maybe there’s not much to discuss… as it all hinges on whether an individual (myself included) is willing to seriously entertain/live by certain concepts- or not.

But I also wonder if underwater video/photography offers the potential to “catch” trout without actually harming them. Perhaps a culture could be created in which a premium is placed on an image of a brook trout swimming in its natural environment as opposed to the traditional fish-in-hand, “look what I caught!” trophy shot (which I am also guilty of).

I enjoyed your video.

Wisner, I appreciate your comment above. I am not a hunter (nor a meat eater) yet I love listening to Seek Outside’s podcasts because of the frequently beautiful descriptions of being immersed in nature on a hunt, watching the behaviors of animals for hours “while the sun glints off the dew on the aspens,” as went one episode. When I first learned to bushwhack here in New England in the White Mountains, after having been an on-trail hiker, it was like discovering backpacking for the first time again, in a brand new way of interacting with the landscape. The forest here is so dense, bushwhacking is a full body experience where your line of sight is hyper localized, you get branches stuck in your pack pockets and you rip your pants as you pull yourself up the slope through the trees. Sometimes you can find game trails for a little relief. But the movement of hunters through the landscape sounds to me to be even more deeply connected, as your path is guided by wildlife instead of a summit. I’ve often thought that I’d enjoy going on an unsuccessful hunt because everything about it is attractive to me except the taking of an animal, but it’s kind of a funny ask to make of hunters. To be clear, while I don’t hunt, I respect those who get their food this way instead of outsourcing it, and some of my earliest memories are of my grandfather teaching me to fish and tasting his venison stew at the cabin he built himself in Canada.

Thanks for the video, Ryan. Very well done.