Chris Hendriks: Tenkara in Norway.
As a typical city slicker Tenkara has a specific meaning, which is best
described as followed:
Tenkara:
Fly-fishing
in its most pure and simplified form.
So
simple it can become complex in a stressful society
where we
tend to make things more difficult than need be….
I
moved from a big city in the Netherlands to a small village in Scandinavia. At
the beginning I had to adjust to all the quietness that nature offered and having to live at a slower pace in this new society.
You see, the Netherlands has a very fast and stressful pace of life. But I
really started to feel more and more at ease in Norway and its culture. I absolutely
love everything that the Norwegian nature has to offer. For me, this country
with its wonderful nature, combined with the Tenkara philosophy personifies
simplicity in all its aspects. This is what I truly love and need.
This
is principally why I am so passionate about Tenkara.
It is difficult to speak for all of Norway,
but this country has many great rivers in the valleys with lots of tributaries
from the surrounding mountains. The absolutely perfect surroundings for
Tenkara! And to make things even more interesting, the first type of
fly-fishing was practised in Trysil - the
place where I actually live and provide
guidance in Tenkara.
Here in Trysil they used to fish with long
bamboo rods and three to five wet flies and with actual no reel. The reel was introduced at a later stage. As also happened with other
different fly-fishing methods. But even now, when I try to explain what Tenkara
is, people say, “ Oh but that is the way my grandpa used to fish!”. Or when I
talk to some of the older people, “ Ha! That's nothing new. I did that when I
was young!” When I show them the equipment we use, they become intrigued and anxious to give it a
try - both young and old!
But anyhow, let’s talk about Tenkara in
Trysil, Norway. Trysil is a place where timber-floating was still full in use
in the eighties. To be precise, they stopped in 1989. This had a certain impact
on the creeks and the principal river -
the Trysil Elva.
Why do I mention this? Timber- floating was
a common thing throughout the whole country . The impact it had on the rivers
and tributaries is that they had removed
many large boulders from the rivers and the tributaries for improved transport of all the
timber. This was bad for the trout in the Trysil Elva because they required the
different currents within the river
itself. Grayling did not suffer such a big problem with this. That is why
Grayling is the dominating fish in the Trysil Elva. This is also the reason why
most of the tributaries are quite deep now compared to what they used to be. A
metre is not uncommon. Not all the tributaries are like this of course, but a
lot are like that. The good thing is that they have still kept their natural character; lots of bends,
rapids and sudden slow-flowing areas that end up in a beautiful ripple! When it
comes to the amount of Grayling and trout in the tributaries themselves the numbers even up. They are both there. And definitely not only
small ones! Trysil has an average size of 35 cm when it comes to grayling, both
in the river and in the tributaries. And believe me, a grayling is just as big
a trophy as a trout..... and they also put up a good fight! Because grayling is
the dominating fish on the Trysil Elva it can grow quite large. Fish between 40 and 50 centimetres are not uncommon during
a season. And they present quite a fight indeed! The trout is absolutely
beautiful on the tributaries. They provide you with a real challenge. You get only one chance. If you pass it up…. Then
move on to another spot and try again. Even the small ones can be like that.
And yes, they also reach a good size of
35 -40 centimetres. And sometimes
even bigger….
The
Trysil River and its tributaries are not easy fishing. The right presentation
and technique under the right
circumstances are crucial and a challenge to even the most experienced angler!
But this is what makes the fishing in Trysil so attractive: beautiful
surroundings, different water types, the challenge of catching a fish and of
course the feeling that comes with knowing that you rose to the challenge and
landed that most beautiful fish!
To be continued...
Dave Southall: High Dartmoor Tenkara. >>