Random fun days this past week

I have been really relaxing this past week, soaking it all in before school begins in just over one week. Ian has been busy working but thoroughly enjoying the new job and all the great learning opportunities it presents.

The other day, while enjoying my breakfast at the computer desk, I noticed that the river outside the window seemed a little louder and more violent than usual. Although we always fall asleep and pass our days with this beautiful, natural soundtrack of the Winooski river falling gently over the Winooski One hydroelectric dam, it was noticeably loud. I took a peek out the window and found that they must have opened the second (higher) overflow for the dam, because water was crashing over the rocks where it normally does not, and the water level in the further section was quite high:

The flow was definitely faster, and there was white water along the whole length of the river around the bend. It wasn't just my imagination - they were actually letting more of the Winooski River out into Lake Champlain. It had been raining quite a bit the previous couple of days. At the Lake Mitchell trout club, we heard that due to the rain causing the lake to rise, the boat dock had floated away, the boats were filled with water, logs and crashed into the dam, and it was quite busy for the caretaker. It was no surprise, then, that all of the streams and tributaries feeding water into the Winooski would cause it, too, to rise. As this river winds through the heart of the whole state, quite a bit of water could have backed up. This release of extra water lasted at least half the day, after which the flow calmed to normal levels. At the height of the water release, some white-water kayakers were enjoying the rapids created by the extra water over the dam. They were fun to watch.

We decided to get a TV with WiFi so that we can stream our movies and connect the computer, and I downloaded some cool applications:

My weather app makes me feel like I'm in Japan ...  checking the weather radar on TV via satellite was quite common even for my grandparents in the countryside of northern Japan.

Coolest app ever ... downloaded a fireplace! It is an hour-long looping, non-stop vide of a real fire (complete with somebody adding a new long and poking the fire every now and then). There is also audio recording that goes with it, so I can put it on and have a crackling fire (minus the heat and smoke) in the background while I read a book. This will surely be on all throughout the long Vermont winters! On a side note, I'm totally over the heat and humidity. Bring on the winter already!

In the kitchen, I've been hard at work trying to identify some staple recipes that I can rely on throughout the busy school year. My criteria for "keeper" recipes are 1) cheap staple that is relatively filling (rice, pasta, couscous, quinoa-based dishes), 2) healthy and/or can be made by throwing whatever I have left in the kitchen in with the "base" filler, 3) a batch keeps well and makes good leftovers for following days so I don't have to spend too much time cooking thereafter. This quinoa that I made seems to fit the bill really well, and will be on my keeper list for sure

Cooked quinoa with roasted bell peppers, chopped green onions, roasted beets and carrots, maple syrup, dijon mustard, and basil. The quinoa is from a large 3 pound bag I bought at Costco, as is a large jar of roasted bell peppers. Green onions, beets, and carrots were from the Winooski farmer's market and I roasted them myself. With the maple syrup and dijon I made a maple-dijon "sauce" (think honey mustard).

Added some fresh cherry tomatoes and a medjool date for Ian's lunch

Yesterday, Ian and I decided to get out of town in the morning and head into the mountains. I had identified what appeared to be decent small streams for tenkara fly fishing that were relatively close by (30 mins out of town). With gear in hand, we were off. First stop was a creek on the western side of Camels Hump State Park called "Honey Hollow Creek". The small set of waterfalls here was absolutely breathtaking.

Crystal clear mountain water plunging down a handful of small, deeply carved pools. It was so beautiful. I loved that the falls were not massively tall or roaring - they were peaceful and beautiful in a quiet, understated sort of way.

Looking down the falls as they tumble along. I guess in fly fishing terms this is a "high gradient mountain stream"

Where the falls started to flatten out, we searched for a good Tenkara spot. This looks like the kind of places that are fished in Tenkara videos and pictures, and looks exactly like the type of terrain in Japan. Nice large boulders for small fish to rest behind and plunge pools to oxygenate the water. Trees around for bugs to fall into the water. Looks promising.

An abandoned stone lean-to shelter. Must have been used by loggers back in the day.

Despite what I'd consider to be absolutely PERFECT tenkara territory, we did not catch any fish. At first I was a little disappointed, since I was sure as soon as we saw the stream that this was exactly what we were looking for. Totally like the Japanese mountain streams I've grown up seeing - bouldery, high-gradient, small, headwater type of streams. I expressed my slight disappointment to Ian, but he reminded me that the videos I watch were edited. It's very likely that for the 4 or 5 fish caught in the videos I see, it could have easily been 10 hours of fishing. On the other hand, there could be days like the other day at Lake Mansfield Trout Club where I caught 14 in an hour. The scenery easily lifted my spirits, though, and I really wasn't all that disappointed. I will be back there for sure - even if there are no fish to catch, the swimming would be great!

We continued onwards along the south side of the Winooski River on River Rd, and pulled over in a little shoulder area to try some bigger waters:

me on the Winooski River

No luck there, either, but I was a little skeptical anyways. It was really starting to warm up that afternoon, and with no waders, there was only a limited area I could access without getting neck-high in the water.

Finally, we tried for a last small stream I saw on the map ... this was Ridley Brook along Camels Hump Road which runs on the eastern side of the state park. We stayed in the lower section, but could have easily spent much more time working ourselves upstream or even driving much further to the end of the road. This was a beautiful, bouldery mountain stream as well. Perfect tenkara territory.

Trying to work all the little pockets behind boulders, alongside banks of the current, and under the plunge pools in Ridley Brook.

I learned a few things this past time out fishing. First, I can't expect to catch fish every time. I know it was unrealistic to expect that to begin with, but I only really understood the reality of catch rates in he wild after this morning. My 14 fish in one evening at Mansfield was not applicable to this type of "real" Tenkara fishing in the mountain streams. These streams aren't stocked with hundreds of fish trapped in a pond ready to be tricked with a fly. Instead, these streams contain some native, small, beautiful brook trout that still have their natural survival instincts. They are easily scared away by careless walking/wading, loud noises, large movements casting shadows, and other clumsiness. Instead, they will train me to be patient, careful, deliberate with my movements, and delicate. And when I finally do catch one, it will have been hard earned and respected. Secondly, Ian and I only worked over a very, very small section of both of these streams. I know there are native brookies in here because I saw online that people fish here and have caught them. The problem isn't that we're at a bad stream - the problem was that we were only fishing a 50-foot stretch. And I realized, looking back, that this is what people mean by "working the river" upstream. You have to try a little bit here and there in the places you think will have fish. But if they're not showing at all, you have to move on and keep working upstream. The more water you cover, the more chances you have to get a fish interested. That was our main limitation today - we didn't actually work our way significantly anywhere. We simply picked a spot by the car and walked around a little bit. It would be unrealistic and naive for me to be a little disappointed in not catching anything when I didn't even venture anywhere along the water.

Honey Hollow and Ridley Brook were top spots in my book and I will be there again soon. So close to town, yet a world apart - and the terrain is exactly the kind of bouldery, rocky, high gradient mountain stream I'm looking for. I want to fish for the small beautiful native trout - not a massive 10 pound bass or brown trout in the larger rivers. I don't know what attracts me to the smaller fish. Maybe it's just a different attitude than the whole "bigger is better" American culture.

Nevertheless, when I'm out on those boulders with crystal clear water flowing by, it makes me so happy as I am brought back to my summers in Japan, watching from the train as older men fish in the rocky rivers of the mountains in Iwate Prefecture. I have really come to learn about myself how much I love the mountains. And the rocky mountain streams - that is really one of my favorite things in the world.

Today, after a leisurely morning, Ian and I headed out to the Burlington Farmer's Market. It was huge for a small town! Of course there was so much amazing food from all the great farms throughout this boutiful state, but I didn't expect THAT many people and vendors. The market occupied the entire City Hall Park.

Extra bike parking 

Fun musical group walking around

Taking over the streets of downtown Burlington

We got this steal from Farmer Sue's stand ... 50 cents per squash. Yes, that HUGE squash (and the huge pattypan squash on the counter) were just 50 cents each!

I have been growing alfalfa sprouts to throw in our tuna or chicken salad sandwiches. Sprouts provide such a great nutritional source, as the plant has the most nutrients while it is bursting to life from the energy stored in the seeds. I forget how much I love sprouts on my sandwiches.

Finally, Ian and I took a nice walk alongside the Winooski River by all the other mills over to the nature preserve at the other end of the riverwalk

Chace Mills

The winooski falls area at night

It was beautiful out, and so cool that we could reach a great nature preserve so close to our home. I love how interesting this neighborhood is ... old mills powered by the river that have now been converted to living spaces, cool rapids nearby (could fish here...), a great riverwalk separated from any cars, and access to a wonderful nature preserve within 5 minutes. There were new picnic tables under shady trees, too ... we should take advantage of those more before winter comes. Maybe tomorrow will be a picnic lunch?

Great fly fishing this past week

Made our way back towards Stowe to stay at the Lake Mansfield Trout Club during 4th of July weekend. It got pretty busy here, and I had the chance to sit out on the porch watching a huge rainstorm pass over us. It was pretty impressive! It has been way too humid and hot for my taste, so the rainstorm was a much appreciated gift from the earth.

One of my favorite parts of this lodge - finally got cool enough to justify generating some heat and listening to the crackle of a hardwood fire

As we had time to kill, we decided to drive around to different things in the area. On the way out of the trout club, we always pass a farm with lots of little goats. Ian loves how they hide in the forest to stay shaded during hot days, and come out into the grass on cooler/cloudier days.

And the apple cider mill ... freshly made cider donuts. SO GOOD.

 We also hit up the Cabot Creamery annex store where I sampled nearly 20 different locally made cheeses. Their Alpine Cheddar had a nice tanginess.

Back at Lake Mansfield, heading out one afternoon on the Peter's trail for a hike

Came across this hidden salamander guy

Found some HUGE shelf mushrooms. We set them out on the bench with a note for kids who wanted to carve their designs in the white flesh and let them dry :)

I am going to keep this one to display in our apartment

So normally it's pretty well agreed that the fishing at Lake Mansfield can be more difficult than at Lake Mitchell. A combination of factors contribute to this: kids splashing around in the lake scare fish, it's July and pretty hot so they aren't feeding too much, and the fish are fed pellets by the caretakers so they may not be interested in artificial flies. I didn't have too much of an expectation to catch anything when Ian and I decided to venture out to the spit of land at the top of the lake during dinnertime. We brought only our Tenkara rods, even though normally we are western fly fishing in these still waters. As I tried different locations on both sides of the spit, I was getting a little frustrated since I felt like the fish were rising just out of my reach. I wasn't in a boat, so the furthest I could cast was limited by my 10 foot traditional braided line, three feet of tippet, and my 11 foot Iwana rod. I was presenting the fly delicately and my casts were good, but I saw those concentric circles signaling rising fish just out of reach. No bites despite moving up and down the spit and trying both sides - near the logs, by the shore, out into the middle of the stream feeding the lake. Nothing. Although it was a nice quiet place to be, and although I was happy with my casting and didn't have expectations to catch anything, it still would have been fun to catch something.

I then moved out to the very tip of the spit since I saw a small fish make a jump for a bug on the water. Lifting my tenkara rod back, I delivered a delicate fly to the middle of the ripple where the fish had come up to feed just seconds ago. Then I felt the tug! I flicked my wrist to set the hook, and felt the pull of the fish that was definitely on the line ... a few seconds later with Ian's help, I landed my first rainbow trout of the night! It was a smaller one, about 8 inches, but it was so exciting. With the rainbow swimming away and my simple fly free again, I cast to that same area. Bite! Landed another one! Over and over this happened all evening, and at one point Ian stopped fishing altogether to dedicate himself full-time to removing my flies from the beautiful small rainbow trout we were catching. 14 in total, plus 3 earlier in the day at the mill pond meant 17 in one day! At one point, a western fly fisherman came over to our area in a boat and cast in the general vicinity as well. He was able to catch a few, and once even remarked to us regarding his latest catch "looks like this guy has been caught before!". Although he would have definitely considered his evening fishing as "successful", it was still nowhere near the amount of fish we were landing left and right. I still can't believe it to this day. Later in the evening, we overheard him talking with other fly fisherman in the lodge by the fire - "it was every other cast that they were landing something!", to which somebody replied "they must have been fishing with [fish food] pellets, then!"

It was that evening that I really realized what makes Tenkara so cool. It's not a gimmick, nor is it a passing fad as a lot of western fly fisherman suggest. It's not just holding a weighted fly just below the water as if bait fishing, and it's not dapping. Tenkara is its own fishing with its own technique. I love the simplicity - just a rod, fixed line, and artificial fly on the end. I love how delicate I can drop a fly on the surface of the water, as if it were a bug that fell off of an overhanging tree branch - exactly as nature intended. I love the feel of the flexing of the longer, thinner rod, and being able to keep the line out of the water (western fly fishing line lays on top of the water). But most of all, I love the philosophy that it's not what gear you have, but how you use it. Tenkara, with its limitations, really encourages understanding of exactly that. No, I don't have 90 feet of line on a reel to float downstream - but I can just move myself to that same spot. And last time I checked, even with 90+ feet of line on the reel, 90% of fly fisherman never cast anywhere near that amount of line anyways. No, I don't have enough backing on the line to help me land a 10-pound fish - but I find equal joy in catching my 14 feisty rainbow trout. I don't have a reel to pull the fish in to where I am - but I can learn ways to use my fixed line length relative to the current to guide the fish to where I can land it. I don't need dozens of wet flies, nymphs, dry flies, and streamers. I just need one style of fly - the reverse hackle, simple Tenkara fly (sakasa kebari) no matter where I fish, what I'm fishing for:

Starting off with a hook and hackle. I later learned (from fishing with it) after making this first fly that Partridge feather is too soft and fluffy that it absorbs water and doesn't retain its shape. For my next flies, I switched to a more firm Grizzly hackle instead and it seems like it will do better.

My very first fly. I later learned that maybe my hackle could be a little further back towards the middle of the body, and adjusted my other flies accordingly.

There's something really beautiful in the idea that there are very real limitations of Tenkara. But understanding those limits and working with what you have is a very gratifying feeling. Just like my simple violin setup had me sitting in front of kids with $20,000 violins in All-State orchestra. Expensive equipment (or a lot of it) does not necessarily translate into knowing what to do with it. As a great violinist once said "A good violinist can make a cigar box sound good".

When I walk into fly shops or talk with other fisherman at the trout clubs about how I'm learning Tenkara, I often get remarks to some extent hinting at how they've seen other customers come in asking about it and it seems like the customers are really limited by it ("they had to climb over logs with our guide - really made it tough for them"). Or that "it's essentially nymphing"... not really. But I think these people see it as a "bypass" of all of the supposed "learning" that "has" to be done to be a "good" fly fisherman. What do you mean you don't have to know the life cycle of various bugs, when they hatch, what season different bugs are hatching, and what flies match with those hatches for use in specific rivers? After all, in Tenkara, there's only one style of fly used (sakasa kebari) and it's not changed from river to stream to pond. This, I could see, is a major blow to some peoples' egos. But what I think some of these people don't understand is that Tenkara is not a gimmick or fad. It was developed by commercial fisherman (not recreational) in the mountain streams of Japan to catch fish to sell. It was for their livelihood that they relied on Tenkara for hundreds of years. And its the effectiveness, irrespective of flies, types of line, and reel setups that continues its essential place in the life of those same fisherman. If it were not effective, there's no way it would have continued to be relied upon by commercial fisherman in Japan for so long.

Still, maybe I'll just go along and say "yeah it's terribly limiting. Yeah, it's annoying - I hope the fad passes" just so that I can keep this all a secret ;-). It's not really a secret - it seems like many more people are aware of it in the fishing world. All I know is that it is a beautiful way to tie myself back to my family's roots in the remote, rural, northern mountain streams of Iwate prefecture in Japan. And beautiful Vermont, every time I drive through those mountains, along those same style of mountain streams and small towns, brings me back to Japan - the homeland of this very style of fishing.

Don't get me wrong, it's really fun to learn Western style fly fishing as well. But I think I really want to focus 100% on Tenkara. There's so much to learn in terms of technique. My 14 rainbows that night was not a fluke - it was quite deliberate that I saw a rising fish and cast to that spot to land one. But that was only one setting in one set of conditions. What about sinking the kebari with the current in a fast-flowing, rocky mountain stream? Where exactly are the trout hiding in the river? How do I pulse the fly to make it seem alive? Slingshot casting technique? Side-cast technique?

Tenkara, with its very real, very apparent physical limits - maybe it's great that I can focus on learning these techniques instead of being overwhelmed by talk of gear.

A little bit later, after a week in Burlington as Ian started his new job, we made our way to the other trout club - Lake Mitchell Trout Club - for a relaxing weekend.

Typical Vermont rolling mountains

In South Royalton, we found this delicious wood-fired locavore burger place, sitting on rail tracks. It was delicious, and they had lots of fun local beers and ciders. In the park in the middle of South Royalton, we also came across a small food co-op where I found CUSTARD PIE!!! Nobody makes this anymore, but it's my favorite!

Late evening fishing at Lake Mitchell Trout Club - trying some Tenkara on the lake

Ian's beautiful catch using western style fly fishing and a nymph. 15 inches and 20oz

I previously learned from R. how to clean the fish - good surgery practice?

R's garden is growing so nicely

So much fresh food - lots of peas ready to eat

We enjoyed our trout cooked in foil on the grill with veggies from the garden (beets, herbs, zucchini, summer squash). Sometimes I forget how much I enjoy eating simple, fresh meals like this. I can't believe we caught a beautiful rainbow trout and get to eat it all in the same place.

And with all that, we are now back in Burlington. Our apartment will be ready for move-in tomorrow so it will be a busy day for me, but I can't wait to finally be settled at last. For the next four years I get to be in one place and dig into my studies, fly fish some more, and enjoy quiet Vermont life.

Upper Church St. at night