"I'm a Tenkara Bum", Chris Stewart

Before there was Tenkara USA, there was tenkara fly angling… and tenkara anglers. One of these anglers is Mr. Chris Stewart.

The Tenkara Bum
Many anglers who have been interested in tenkara and have done some research on it, read our community forum and others or watched our videos, have probably seen Chris’ name around. He’s the one always willing to answer questions, and who is not afraid to defend tenkara for what it is. He doesn’t step into every conversation, but will not hesitate to share his love for tenkara and let those interested know that tenkara is not dapping and it’s not cane-pole fishing. Now Chris has put together a very comprehensive tenkara e-ncyclopedia that we’re proud to share with you: www.tenkarabum.com.

There are many blogs, and new thoughts coming up around the web and in print with the advent of tenkara. The Tenkara Bum is a great addition to the world of tenkara fly-fishing. It’s a place where you’ll find Chris’s well thought articles on tenkara, ranging unbiased and honest rod reviews, to fly presentation techniques and what is probably his specialty: lines.

How we met, and Chris relationship with Tenkara USA
Right after having the idea for Tenkara USA and setting up a placeholder page Chris found us on his continued search for tenkara in the US. He was the first person to contact us through that site, despite the fact that the email posted wasn’t working he persisted and got through to us. Chris was excited to see tenkara becoming available here. He had practiced it, but the unavailability of equipment was something hard to deal with. Chris had already been tenkara fishing for a few months and knew quite a bit about it. Then he told me about this tenkara event taking place in New York a few months later, the one where Dr. Ishigaki came from Japan to talk and demonstrate tenkara. Since Chris is in New York we agreed to meet, and got to spend time fishing together and he participated in the movie we made while visiting the Catskills.

We have exchanged several emails, and are very thankful for his insights and experiences with tenkara, we have learned a lot from him. Chris has no commercial relationship with Tenkara USA, we do not provide free gear for reviews and we always ask for absolute critical feedback when he uses our rods…we want to have the best rods possible.

New, One-Page checkout

In an effort to make your experience shopping with us easier and more pleasant we have now simplified the checkout process. We cut the number of steps in our checkout process from 5 to 2.

If you were having problems ordering before, we hope you’ll now find it much easier.

Tenkara is NOT…

In the back of Dr. Hisao Ishigaki’s business card, there is a part that reads something like this:

“Tenkara is not tempura, it’s not karaage (fried chicken), it’s the Japanese style of fly-fishing”.

Dr. Ishigaki's business card

As Dr. Ishigaki’s humourous business card suggests, in Japan many non-anglers are not familiar with tenkara. It’s not their fault though, Japan has at least a dozen methods of fresh water fishing, and all these different styles – some of them very similar –  cause confusion even among anglers.  Take a look at this site for a funny illustration of all styles of fresh water fishing in Japan (in Japanese but illlustrated): http://www.yahagi-aqua.com/tsuri/tsuri.htm. In the US on the other hand, there are fewer styles of fishing, and tenkara has just been introduced, so there is no confusion; on the other hand, there are some misconceptions about tenkara.

The two main misconceptions some American anglers [who have not yet tried it] have of tenkara are: “it’s ‘high-tech’ cane-pole fishing” or “it’s just like dapping”. My next business cards will likely say this on the back:

“Tenkara is not cane-pole fishing. Tenkara is not dapping!”

Stop Coal Mining

From Coal River Mountain Watch – www.crmw.net

This week, over 200 citizens from Appalachia and across the US are gathering in our nation’s capital as part of the 5th Annual End Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington – and hundreds more will show support by making this phone call.

Mountaintop removal coal mining is one of the most egregious environmental, economic, and social justice disasters in America today —more than 500 mountains and 1.5 million acres of land have already been destroyed by this practice. If not ended soon, our own Coal River Mountain may join this grim tally. Residents and supporters from across the US are asking for an end to mountaintop removal and an investment in sustainable economic alternatives for Appalachia, like the Coal River Wind Project.

This issue is urgent and the coal industry is working overtime to block the passage of the Clean Water Protection Act. That’s why we need people like you to take a stand with Appalachian communities.

Please take a moment to visit www.ilovemountains.org/call-your-rep — we have a special call-in tool there that will allow you to make a phone call to your Representative – if you’ve never called your Congressperson before – this is the easiest way to do it!