A Little Fishing With Doc

Hey Everyone,

I had my first guide trip of the fall the other day. It turned outto be a perfect day to be on the water. I got to the river at about eight to scout out some potential spots, which didn't take me long, and waited for Dr. Chuck Balch to arrive. Doc has been practicing tenkara for about a year now and asked if I could show him some more techniques and tricks with tenkara. We started the morning with a small Kebari and worked on a couple methods with it. I noticed that the trout really didn't want anything under the surface which seemed to be a consistent trend thought the day. Instead they were actively popping the

surface. I asked Doc if he had tried much dry fly fishing with tenkara and he stated that he hadn't. Having another rod with me I decided to tie on a small yellow caddis and showed him a dead drift into a skitter technique. Well when a brookie came up and almost crushed the caddis on the skitter it didn't take much more convincing for either of us. Doc took the rod and almost immediately hooked a trout on the skitter. He was more than impressed with the method. He hooked several fish and I think had just as much fun teasing the fish and watching them miss as he did when he would hook one. I think you could probably do a skitter if you had a long nymphing rod but I truly believe that nothing will allow you to control the fly quite like tenkara. I really like what tenkara has brought to the sport of fly fishing. Tenkara may not be the right tool for every type of fishing but sometimes there is nothing better. I'm happy to have had the chance to spend the day with Doc and tech him a few more techniques which I'm sure he will use on his future tenkara adventures.

See you on the trail,
Lance