Sharing in an experience is a powerful act most of us overlook. When we share in a moment with someone or a group of people, the experience is placed in our memory as a much different occasion as if one went through the experience alone. Having a shared experience can enable so many opportunities. If it’s a positive experience it can do something as small as creating a smile to something as big as sparking a revolution.
I remember all the times my grandfather took me fishing as
kid. These shared memories of joint fun and excitement made me want to fish
more as the years have gone by and even now. There is a sense of community in
fishing in and of itself. The community can be easily divided into
sub-communities within the angling world to the various types. Tenkara in the
US has been developing this sense of community in the past years. As tenkara is
still in its infant stages, I believe community is tenkara’s single most important
factor for growth.
Last summer, Daniel Galhardo from Tenkara USA hosted the
Tenkara Takeover at Boulder Creek here in Colorado. It was an open invitation
for a short intro to tenkara and for present tenkara anglers to come together
to fish. The turnout was amazing. I can’t
give you a figure on how many fishermen and women showed up that day, but it
was enough that I can’t put a number on it. That day, there was a defining
experience about tenkara that happened for some. Not so much that tenkara is
extremely simple and the gear is cool, but more in the sense that there were
others experiencing happiness, excitement, and community with tenkara already. That
community is what can propel people to get into tenkara.
If we all stopped posting pictures on Facebook, tweeting,
instagramming, going out on trips together, having summits, and all the other
social things we do with tenkara, tenkara would seem like some old hermit’s
invention to catch fish and the growth would be capped.
Community is the most important factor for tenkara right
now.This Saturday I will have the opportunity to take someone on their first tenkara trip. I
sold him one of my rods, threw in some level line, a few flies, and line spool
for free. Gestures like these will only add to his understanding of the
community of tenkara. My hope isn’t that he will be a tenkara-only guy or
change his life, but to experience angling in its simplist form. Community adds to the experience what isolation leaves
off.
I personally have no financial gain if tenkara continues to
grow. I only want others to experience enjoyment and how easy fishing can be.
What communal experiences drew you to tenkara?
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