Dry River Tenkara

[HermanY]

My girlfriend decided to give tenkara a try, so we recently did the 2 hr. drive to Harrisonburg.  Tom Sadler, who does the tenkara guidining for Mossy Creek Flyfishing, agreed to give us lessons and let us to try out different Tenkara set ups to find one my girlfriend would like.

Weather conditions were great, mid-70s with mild breezes.  The destination was the Dry River out in the GWNF, where I did a lot of fishing in the mid-late 90s.  The river still is in good shape and Tom told me is an all day fishery this time of year.  We were on the water just before noon and after getting schooled up on the use of a tenkara rod we were fishing.  I started with two small brookies, then my girlfriend jumped in and caught a small brookie herself.  

Tom then pointed out a much larger brook trout chasing nymphs on the bottom of the big splash pool we were fishing.  He mixed and matched fly combinations on the dropper rig my girlfriend was using until she finally hooked the fish.  She did a great job fighting the fish considering she is a novice angler and Tom was able to safely net the fish.  It was roughly 12-13" which is quite good for the Dry River.  Most of the fish I've caught there are 10" or shorter.

After much congratulations, we fished on.  Another five or so small brookies were at least hooked but got loose during the fight.  We were off the water just after 4PM.  Really a memorable trip, fine fishing on a beautiful stream and great guiding and instruction on a new technique.  Highly recommended if you want to try something different.

[Nedak]

marry that girl

[TurbineBlade]

Ditto -- fishing is king.  Waiting around to chase someone for 'other' reasons is a stupid man's game (formerly young man's game).  And yes, I've been on the other side of it and don't ever want to be there again.  Actually, there is no other side -- that's the catch.   

Gene