Taking Tenkara Off-Line
Pursuing Headwaters Tenkara in Real Life Adam Klagsbrun
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It occurred to me this year how many people live their “Tenkara Lives” online. Somehow, even after 8 years of being online for tenkara I missed the fact that most people seem to barely get out even once or twice a month, and they aren’t able or willing to commit the necessary time to get to the headwaters and fish them. Because of that reality, we really don’t have many tenkara anglers here in the USA. We have lots of people fishing with tenkara rods, but very few actual tenkara anglers. This has always been an important distinction that gets overlooked. The amount of effort and time required to get to the best water for tenkara is daunting to some, and as such, it appears easier to spend that spare hour or two online or in some local flatwater fishing for whatever species is available. In beginning to recognize this better, I have been able to understand more about the “Tenkara Community” online and what the motivations of different groups and individuals are all about. And, frankly, the more I think about that, the more I recognize the value of getting off-line and remaining in real 4
Tenkara Angler | tenkaraangler.com
life for my tenkara experience. Besides the strange psychologies in which everyone believes posts or memes are directed at them personally, no matter how little you know them, how rarely you talk to them, no matter if you specifically said who and what you were aiming your post at… or if you even knew they were in your friends list… people just seem to want to argue more than to learn or listen. That is a frustrating pill to swallow and takes a lot of patience. Many automatically think you were talking to them even if you weren’t… they get upset or defensive if you just expressed something opposite of their beliefs, then they move to either A) defend themselves because they feel challenged or B) attack you for no reason out of frustration. And chances are this person just started fishing with a fixed line rod last week… Oy vey! I have spent a good amount of time discussing this with different psychologists at parties and I think it’s just time to move on for so many reasons. There is no cure for ignorance, and you can’t communicate effectively online with no tone.
