Today is the first day of Spring 2015!  Happy Spring everyone!  When I think of Spring I think of fishing and when I think of fishing I think of catching fish.  Utah enacted a two pole limit to your fishing and you don’t have to have a special license to use two poles.  I wonder if the above picture would be legal and have two of them?  I won’t look up the rules for fishing with two poles as I can’t imagine how you would reel in three fish at one time on a pole like the one in the picture.  We will just let it go at that.

In America there is a craze that is just beginning to sweep the country.  It’s a fishing technique called “Tenkara”.  The fishing method is the favored way to fish in Asian countries.  I suppose because of its simplicity and inexpensive way to catch fish.  In my year in Viet Nam, I watched as all ages caught fish out of a sewage canal using this method of fishing.  A pole, line, hook and some sort of attractant on the hook.  The fish I saw caught were all really tiny, but they caught them by the bucket load and took them home.  Later, as I got to noticing my Mama Sone eating her lunch one day I saw just what those fish were used for….stuffed in a bottle and buried in the ground until they were “just right”.  Oh my heck!  I could not stand to be in the same area with her.  Those fish stunk sooooo bad!

I’m getting off subject.  Tenkara by definition means something like “from the heavens” or “from high above”.  From that you should be able to figure out that the bait is presented to the fish from above them and with a very long pole the fish shouldn’t see you, the fisherman, as you dangle the bait down to them.  I see on the internet there are Tenkara clubs being formed all around and lessons being offered to teach you just how it is done.  I suppose it would be best for the beginner to take lessons and learn just how and what the techniques are.  But as for me, I would just fall back on my younger days of fishing down on the farm in the crick!

Then again, it sure would be a nice upgrade from a stick to hold onto a 12 foot long fiberglas rod that cost $500 or more.  I’ll just bet you could catch a whole lot more fish with one of those than a plain old stick.

Bears Butt

March 20, 2015