Give a man a fish… : Finding a stream

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” – Chinese proverb
OR,
“Tell a man where to fish and you give him a place for leisure. Teach a man how to find fishing and you give him a world of fishing, and adventures for a lifetime.” – Tenkara USA 🙂

It is common for fishermen to feel protective of their favorite streams, and it can be frustrating for people new to an area, or new to the sport, to know where they can find good fishing. Given that there are so many thousands of streams in the US and in the world, we figured we couldn’t even try to give you stream locations. We will not attempt to. But, with our experience in finding our own streams, and often fishing them completely alone, we can give you some advice on how to find waters to fish. And, the best thing about tenkara fly fishing is that tenkara will mostly make you seek scenic small streams that are often much less crowded than any of the big known rivers.

There may be many ways to do so, but here are our three favorite methods on finding areas for fishing:

1) Study maps and go for a hike: This is our personal favorite. It allows us to explore, and allows us to feel like we are pioneers. It is relatively easy, and if you can let go of worries it’s very rewarding. Maps provide anglers with tons of information. To let go of worries we suggest that you follow some basic guidelines: have enough gas in your tank, have enough food and water with you, make sure you and/or your vehicle are in good condition. Now, to find places on a map, we suggest you look for the clusters of blue veins indicating water in your map. Then, focus on the clusters found in higher elevation – topo maps are particularly useful for this. Then, just go there.
2) Read your state’s regulations: The state’s regulations books are something an angler may not pay attention to until he is going fishing in a specific stream. But, a regulation book pretty much tells you almost all the streams you may want to fish. It will often tell you what species you can find in the stream, and the regulations of course. They will list major rivers and streams, and often break the streams into pieces based on landmarks. What we often do is search through a book for counties near where we are willing to drive to (most regulations books are available as pdf files in your state’s fish and game site, you may scroll down through the pages, or do ctrl+f and type the names of counties you suspect there are mountain streams and are close enough to you that you can drive there). Use these guides alongside with maps to determine streams that may have the elevation you feel is appropriate, will provide adequate gradients of the terrain surrounding the stream (Google maps, especially in terrain mode, Google Earth and the USGS map database are our favorites) and seem to have access points (e.g. no private property markings, trailheads, roads nearby, etc).
3) Connect with anglers via online forums or fishing clubs: You may establish great relationships via online forums, and more so if you have a fishing club near you. Once you start knowing people, sharing your streams and experiences and talking more to them, you’ll be a recipient of great secret locations. It’s a give and take situation, be expected to share your streams too.

One thing to remember is that your stream will not likely become crowded suddenly because you told a few people about it. In fact, the most streams people know about, the more anglers are likely to spread over several places instead of concentrating on the usual and obvious ones. Our take on it is that if we share a location that is several hours away and requires some hiking, most anglers won’t be going there everyday. They will go once in a while. Plus, if this angler is willing to explore the stream we suggested, then he is also likely to be exploring other streams. And, finally, if he/she is willing to go there, then it is well deserved that they experience that water.

A last tip:
– Know the type of water you like. Do you like small and fast streams with pools, rocks covered in moss, and rocky terrain? If so look for locations on topo maps where the lines may be closer together, which indicates a steeper terrain, but not super close that access is impossible.
Or, do you prefer meadow streams, where the view is open and the streams zig-zag through grass and flowers? If meadow streams are your preference make sure the topo map shows lines that are further apart that can indicate less steep gradients and meadows.
Knowing the type of water you are looking for will go a long way. Tenkara anglers may really enjoy the faster mountain streams, and knowing that will allow you to look at a map and know where you can go. Plus, your rod and gear will be so light you won’t have a problem getting there.

UTAH – Public water access

Tenkara USA is largely founded on philosophical principles, primarily: simplify your gear to enjoy the experience (no need to be weighed down by extra stuff), and protect our waters. It can be argued that forming the basis of these principles is the explicit need for public access to fishing waters, that is the only way that people can connect with nature and in turn enjoy the experience so many of us love, and finally feel compelled to protect these waters.

Thus, here is an important issue brought up by tenkara angler, Erik Ostrander, a Utah resident, on our forum:

Many of you are aware of the Utah Supreme Court decision on July, 2008 that gave back the public’s right to access public water ways – whether they flow on private or public lands. This was a huge win by fisherman across the state. Since then, the legislature has been trying to resolve the issues that have come up from that decision every legislative session. This year there are two bills HB-80 and HB-141. Please, please contact your Utah representative and ask them to vote FOR HB-80 and AGAINST HB-141. I have attached my e-mail to my representative at the bottom

For those of you outside of the state I’m not sure who you would send your comments to, but please let them know that this legislation might affect your decision to spend tourism dollars in Utah – we’ve got to make people know there is more money to be made through greater access.

READ MORE
Link to HB-80’s text: http://le.utah.gov/~2010/htmdoc/hbillhtm/HB0080.htm
Link to HB-141’s text: http://le.utah.gov/~2010/bills/hbillhtm/hb0141.htm
Link to “How to find your representative”: http://le.utah.gov/house/DistrictInfo/NewMaps/State.htm

Below is a summary of the two bills:

HB-80 (Rep Fowlkes) – GOOD:
*Went through and open, public process involving multiple parties
* Provides education which will drive accountability
* Clarifies the unanimous Supreme Court Conaster decision
* It strengthens protections for landowners by defining the easement clearly, limits liability for landowners, increases trespassing penalties, and requires the public to be educated on the easement if they are going to use it.
* It benefits the public by defining the easement clearly recognized by the Supreme Court, allows for portage around man-made obstructions in streams
* It also clearly recognizes two competing rights and fairly balances those rights

HB-141 (Rep Mciffs Bill) – BAD:
* Repeals the Unanimous Supreme Court Decision – Conaster
“Line 78: (3) The public has no right to the recreational use of public waters on private property
Line 79: to which access is restricted, as defined in Section 73-29-102 , without permission of the
Line 80: property owner or as provided in Chapter 29, Public Waters Access Act.”
* No public process
* It makes no attempt to balance the rights of private property owners and the public
* It is no attempt at a compromise in these competing rights.

This is my e-mail to my representative:

Quote:
Representative Biskupski,

I’m emailing you to ask for your continued support on HB-80. I believe this bill to be a good clarification and support of the Utah Supreme Court decision that was made in the Conaster decision. HB-80 supports the public in a constitutionally granted right to access public waters – whether or not they fall on private or public land. I believe that the education provided as a result of section 73-6a-202 exemplifies the public’s desire to respect public waters on private lands, and the bill offers land owners protection from lawsuits by section 73-6a-201. I believe HB-80 to be a good definition of the law that supports both land-owner rights and the public’s rights.

Conversely, I would like to ask for your vote against HB 141 which is un-constitutional in it’s blatant disregard for the Supreme Court of Utah. HB 141 takes away all access to public waters that flow on private lands – that’s over 14,000 miles of water ways that will be stolen from the public. HB 141 would support the last several decades of unfairly compensating land owners at the public’s expense – compensation that is granted by restricting access to the public. Not allowing the public on these river beds is immoral and wrong. Simply put, it is stealing away a constitutional right.

I urge you, please fight for the tens of thousands of recreators in Utah that would like their rights protected by HB-80.

Thank you very much for your help,

NAME

Resident, District 30

Give a man a fish …

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” – Chinese proverb
OR,
“Tell a man where to fish and you give him place for leisure. Teach a man how to find fishing and you give him a world of fishing, and adventures for a lifetime.” – Tenkara USA 🙂

It is common for fishermen to feel protective of their favorite streams, and it can be frustrating for people new to an area, or new to the sport, to know where they can find good fishing. Given that there are so many thousands of streams in the US and in the world, we figured we couldn’t try to give you stream locations, and we will not attempt to, but with our experience in finding our own streams, and often fishing them completely along, we can give you some advice on how to find waters to fish.

There may be many ways to do so, but here are our three favorite methods on finding areas for fishing:

1) Study maps and go for a hike: This is our personal favorite. It allows us to explore, and allows us to feel like we are pioneers. It is relatively easy, and if you can let go of worries it’s very rewarding. Maps provide anglers with tons of information
2) Read your state’s regulations: Very often the state’s regulations are something an angler doesn’t pay attention to until he is going fishing in a specific stream. But, here’s the trick a regulation book pretty much tells you almost all the streams you may want to fish anyways. They will list major rivers, and streams, and often break the streams into pieces based on landmarks. They may also tell you limits and types of fish found in a stream. What we often do is search through a book for counties near where we are willing to drive to (most regulations books are available as pdf files in your state’s fish and game site, you may scroll down through the pages, or do ctrl+f and type the names of counties you suspect there are mountain streams and are close enough to you that you can drive there). Use these guides alongside with maps to determine streams that may have the elevation you feel is appropriate, will provide adequate gradients of the terrain surrounding the stream (Google maps, especially in terrain mode, Google Earth and the USGS map database are our favorites) and seem to have access points (e.g. no private property markings, trailheads, roads nearby, etc).
3) Connect with anglers via online forums or fishing clubs:

More tips:
– Don’t be afraid, relax, and make sure you have enough gas in the tank, some spare time and a willingness to sometimes not find productive fishing water but in exchange have an adventure.
– Know the type of water you like. Do you like small and fast streams with pools, rocks covered in moss, and rocky terrain? If so look for locations on topo maps where the lines may be closer together, which indicates a steeper terrain, but not super close that access is impossible.
Or, do you prefer meadow streams, where the view is open and the streams zig-zag through grass and flowers? If meadow streams are your preference make sure the topo map shows lines that are further apart that can indicate less steep gradients and meadows.

Tenkara fly fishing

Tenkara pictures – some of our favorites

We thought you may enjoy our favorite pictures depicting tenkara, or tenkara-perfect landscapes.
(*these are pictures taken or owned by Tenkara USA, if you have a picture you’d like to share, please email us to include it here.)

http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf