Essay & Trip Report by Ryan Kimball
Last Friday I needed to get outdoors. There are days when the quality of the experience outweigh the quantity of fish caught. While I am not a fish counter nor am I competitive about any of my fishing I do generally prefer to avoid a complete skunk. I spend a lot of time learning about fish and attempting to catch them and more often than not I am successful on my days out.
Friday was one of those days where I wanted to get more out of the experience than just catching some fish. There are places very near me that fish pretty good all winter long if you are willing. It’s nymphing 100% and often windy, rainy and overall unpleasant. I still go often but sometimes it just doesn’t sound appealing. After many weeks of working on my nymphing techniques I really wanted to cast a light fly on an awesome rod.
So I packed up and headed to a beautiful little mountain creek I know of. This place has trout but even in peak season it is never really hot and heavy. I headed knowing I would likely not catch a thing but I would be able to fish some fantastic water in a gorgeous location and I would be completely alone. I spent several hours exploring, casting unweighted flies to likely looking spots and enjoying the clean air and solitude.
After the years spent in this pandemic and the ugliness its brought out in society I have become a much more patient person. I am grateful for every good experience I have and seize any opportunity to build more good memories. I’ll find myself in situations like in these photos where I will go out more for peace and a clear mind than to rack up a high fish count.
Take nothing for granted. Enjoy every single second you get to spend on an enjoyable pursuit like tenkara. Tie the flies you like tying, fish the rods you love casting, and go to the places you love fishing for the sheer sake that they exist.
Ryan Kimball is Oregon based. He is always trying to learn and grow as a fisherman and as a person. Ryan keeps a small photo journal at mytenkara.com.
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