Tenkara Summit 2012 - Day Two

Day Two of the Tenkara Summit was one of fishing!  Yes, after a day cooped up in a conference facility all day Saturday, Sunday was an opportunity to experience some clinics on the water and actually put all of your newfangled tenkara knowledge to use.

The site of day two activities was Mt. Timpanogos Park in Orem, Utah, a quick hour drive south from Salt Lake City.  The event was slated to start around 9:00 AM, but the early rise anglers began to file into the pavilion a bit earlier.  I arrived closer to 9:30, which still left plenty of time to mingle with the many folks that showed up for the event.  People tried out each other's rods, they traded flies...excuse me, kebari...and of course told fish tales, all true I'm sure.

At around 10:30, Dr. Ishigaki put on a short lawn casting demonstration, showing all what he felt was "good" technique - from arm motion to various casting stances.

From there we were split into two groups for some on-stream demonstrations.

After the on-stream demos, there was a bag lunch served.  Sandwiches, chips, apples, & a cookie hit the spot.  I'm always up for food.

The rest of the afternoon meant fishing!  We were split into 6 or 7 groups each with a randomly selected guide.  As luck would have it, I was in Dr. Ishigaki's group, which ended up to be a really cool experience.

The convoy rolls out

Walking up to the section of the Provo we were going to fish, the water was a bit high and fast, so the wading was a bit difficult.  We spread out on the stream and each gave it a go.  I thought I was going to fall over quite a few times (note to self, bring wading staff next time) but was able to sturdy myself enough to do some fishing.

After about 10 or 15 minutes I looked up and noticed that everyone in our group had kind of went off on their own.  It was just Dr. Ishigaki & I on the stream, fishing about 10 feet apart from each other.  Resuming fishing, I hear "FEESH" and swing my body around to see the Dr. with a fish on.   With the fast current, I don't think he wanted to chase the fish downstream toward me so he said "NET" and I netted his fish for him, a very solid brown trout.

Recognize that net?

Following the release, he spent a little bit of time with me, showing me how he fished the fly, what section he was targeting, and why.  Yes, there was a language barrier, but it was very kind of him to spend that time with me.  From there, I popped out of the run we were standing in, he said "BYE NET MAN," and I went my own way.

Eventually, a few hundred yards upstream, I got into my own fish...about a 12" brown on a green and gold kebari I swapped with someone earlier in the summit.  Did I get a picture of the fish?  HELL NO...I practically fell over trying to retrieve it from the current.  The fact that I didn't go completely over was a win in my book, so I'm okay with no fishy photo memento from the trip.

4:00 PM came and it was time to end the day's festivities.  All of the anglers made their way back to the pavilion to raid the leftover bag lunches while chatting about their day on the water.  Most anglers seemed to either get skunked or land one fish...so I didn't feel bad about my lone catch.

Pictures were taken, goodbyes were exchanged, and a very enjoyable 2012 Tenkara Summit came to an end.

Photo Credit:  LearnTenkara.com

To close, I just wanted to thank the folks at Tenkara Guides & Tenkara USA for putting on such a great event.  Everything (from the outside seemed to) run extremely smoothly and I feel like I not only learned quite a bit about tenkara techniques & methods, but probably more importantly solidified friendships that will long outlast that last weekend of July.  Here's one angler looking forward to 2013.