Tenkara Without the Mountains...

Tenkara Without the Mountains…

By Jay Johnson

… just isn’t tenkara. This has nothing to do with purism, elitism, or Tenkara Wars 3.0, it’s simply my thought on the matter. I couldn’t imagine tenkara without the mountains. Why even bother? Sure, catching fish in any form can be fun and therapeutic for some. But as long as I am physically capable, I will go to the mountains for tenkara.

Better writers than I have put into words what the mountains do to a person. The only thing I can do is share some pictures, that even though they don’t do justice compared to what it looks like in person, is a thousand times more impressive than any bluegill pond.

My final thoughts on the matter are this. You can have your Amerikara, bonekara, or any other form of fixed line fishing haphazardly branded as "tenkara." I’ll take the mountains.

Even living in Arizona, I’ll drive 2 to 5 hours to get into beautiful scenery. It’s worth it to walk where few others will go.

The Great Smoky Mountains is home to some of the best tenkara waters I’ve ever seen.

A meadow stream at 8,000ft elevation can be as memorable as a high gradient, boulder laden cascade.

I probably don’t have to take my shoes off to count the number of people that fish this part of the stream each year.