In Episode 3 of the Tenkara Angler Level Line Podcast, Matt & Mike have the pleasure of spending time with tenkara enthusiast, philosopher, and magician (not an exaggeration), Dennis Vander Houwen.
While Dennis has previously written articles for Tenkara Angler, including “The Three Paths” and “Finding Happiness with Less,” those that have been around the tenkara scene are surely more familiar with Dennis from his always interesting blog, Tenkara Path, or perhaps the popular wooden line spools available in his Etsy shop. In this interview, we talk to Dennis about his fishing background, his favorite type of water, how the simplicity of tenkara sets the standard for his everyday life, his blogging background, experiences fishing with friends, woodworking, brook trout, art, bread baking, and bigfoot!
The embedded video episode can also be found on the Tenkara Angler YouTube channel (we’d love it if you’d visit, like, and subscribe). The audio should soon be found pretty much anywhere you find podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor, Pocket Casts, Radio Public, TuneIn, etc… Just search “Tenkara Angler Level Line” and it’s sure to come up!
Show Notes & Links:
- 01:14 – Intro to Dennis Vander Houwen, Tenkara Path
- 04:44 – Meditative aspects of tenkara
- 09:07 – Purpose for Tenkara Path blog
- 10:20 – Connecting simplicity to everyday life
- 11:30 – Finding Happiness with Less
- 14:21 – Unnecessary gear, line spools, & “One Fly”
- 17:09 – Favorite type of water, Trip to Wyoming
- 21:45 – Fishing with friends… and Graham too
- 24:55 – Woodworking / Tenkara Path Etsy shop
- 31:30 – “Master of the Illusionary Arts”
- 35:40 – COVID opening doors
- 37:44 – The tenkara community
- 39:19 – Dennis’ favorite fish species
- 40:39 – Hobbies – Art, bread baking, foraging, and a patient wife
- 43:29 – Most impressive natural sight while fishing
- 44:46 – Bigfoot!… and Dennis’ son as our next guest
- 47:49 – Advice for new tenkara anglers
- 50:19 – Ways to find Dennis – Blog, Instagram, Facebook, Etsy
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