No Fooling, Hints of a Tenkara Spring APRIL 2023

“Our real discoveries come from chaos, from going to the place that looks wrong and stupid and foolish.”
-Chuck Palahniuk
author of Invisible Monsters

I am up in the mountains today at my wife's family cabin with my son.  I have a few days here before my wife comes up and we switch out and I go back down the mountain. The snow is still covering the high country. But the sun is out and the river is sparkling. While I have no inclination to fish today I know the feeling of knowing that I am almost there at its edge. Its just on the other side of my patience.

There is much to do each month to put this blog out in this new format. That said I noticed that this will be going live on April 1st. This realization came too late to put out a full April Fools edition. Maybe I will do one next year? A spoof. I will have to plan ahead to do it the right way though. I am not joking around this month with the features we have and there is a very special sale I am going to be putting on in the shop too. We have Amanda Hoffner as the FEATURED ANGLER. Nathan Camp shares a favorite fly in TIE THIS! We dive into my musings on "Wilderness" in TENKARA AS PRACTICE. Don't miss the fun of PATH NOTES  where I am starting a new project where I will be challenging myself Henry Higgins style to transform a cheap-o Elisa Doolittle rod into a  an acceptable tenkara tool for catching classy fish.

Found this interesting... In the Tarot deck, the Fool represents new beginnings, having faith in the future, being inexperienced, not knowing what to expect, having beginner's luck, improvisation and believing in the universe. While I am not a huge believer in tarot this really does say a lot about this month's blog.

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THIS MONTH'S FEATURES

My fellow fishing fools... as always, to visit a feature just click on the photo.

WATCH THIS!
Rather than posting my typical fishing related video this month... 
I thought you might need found this video that I really thought had some great April Fools jokes in it. Remember that pranks should never hurt anyone. They should catch people off guard but never ruin their day. Just know that when you prank someone they WILL want to get one up on you. So remember that "turn about is fair play."  And in case you are reading this after April 1st, it okay to make it a month long celebration. 

Cows are always funny right?

PATH NOTES
Its the "My Fair Lady Tenkara Rod Project" -Part One. Can a rough around the edges, cheap-o rod be made into a society accepted better rod? In this multi-part series I play "Henry Higgins" to an "Eliza Doolittle" tenkara rod. Will this story end happily ever after? Well we have to start at the beginning right?

READ THIS!
I stumbled on this knot tying page that had a page dedicated to  knots specifically useful for Tenkara. You may know some of them
already. What is more interesting though is when you browse the website and see all the other fascinating knots on the page. Have fun exploring the world of knots. Who knows maybe you will find something you can use either rigging up or to make your own net for a tamo.

FEATURED ANGLER
Meet Amanda Hoffner. You might know her from her prolific presence across the "tenkarasphere" from social media to articles she has written about tenkara. Amanda is a great example of women making a statment and a difference in tenkara. Get to know her a little better.

TIE THIS!
This month we find ourselves learning a wicked fly by Nathan Camp A.K.A. "CampKebari" I have been following Nathan's flies and he consistently puts out some really amazing designs. This month he teaches us "the His and Hers kebari". A pattern he gets great success with.

TENKARA AS PRACTICE
Connecting with the wilderness means many things. In this article I explore what it means to me in our practice to connect to, carry, and  appreciate the wilderness in our lives. 

TENKARA PATH
SPRING SALE
IS HAPPENING NOW!

Every spring I throw a special sale this year I decided to give "extra value" in every order. So with every spool order, I will include some special bonus items. I have many bonus items to give away. It could be a set of thread snips, a hook remover, a fly box, or even an extra spool.  I have lots of goodies to give away, and you don't need to do anything to get this special offer. I will be adding these in the whole month of April!

Go buy a spool and get extras!