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The Colorado Tenkara Club

September 5, 20168 CommentsEventsBy Jason Klass

Colorado Tenkara Club

When I first started tenkara back in 2009, almost all interaction with fellow tenkara anglers was online–a handful of blogs, a few Facebook groups, and half a handful of Twitter posts. But there weren’t really any venues to physically connect early adopters from the web in person. That all changed with the first Tenkara Summit in 2011 presented by Tenkara USA. While still in its infancy in the West, the event was a big success, proving that even such a niche-within-a-niche sport was gaining traction quickly and there was a strong desire to transport virtual tenkara relationships into face-to-face interactions.

Since then, the Summit has steadily grown each year, and there have been a number of other in-person meetups cropping up over the last few years, including the Tenkara Jam, the Tenkara Winter Series, and various other boots-on-the-ground events around the country.

I have to admit, back in those early days, it was hard for me to imagine that one day, tenkara would become such a tour-de-force in the physical realm. I assumed it would mostly remain an online social media affair but I have been proven wrong. And I’m about to prove myself even more wrong (by my own doing no less).

Many of you know that I founded the Facebook group Colorado Tenkara Anglers which (at the time of this writing) has 655 members. Again, not too shabby for a niche-within-a-niche sport within one of 50 states. But since its inception, it’s mostly remained an online endeavor.

During the last few fishing fishing trips I’ve had with my good friend Dennis Vander Houwen of Tenkara Path (while not catching fish due to low water, overcrowding, and private property) we’ve had ample time to discuss the possibility of putting together a club just for tenkara anglers in Colorado to meet face-to-face, educate each other, shake hands, swap ideas and gear, and just generally have something to look forward to each month to bump brains with like-minded people. And so today, we officially launched a new, exclusive group: The Colorado Tenkara Club.

The premise is simple. It will be a monthly meeting where Colorado tenkara fishers can get together in the flesh and share ideas, drinks, flies, knot tying techniques, advice, anecdotes–you name it. The idea is to connect virtual online names with real people and make a more human connection to the mutual benefit of all of us in the Colorado tenkara community. Here is the official description that can be found on the Facebook group description page:

The CTC is a club for tenkara anglers in Colorado that will meet monthly at various locations (mostly around the Front Range and Denver Metro area) to discuss all things tenkara.

Each meeting will be a diverse mix of guest talkers, fly tying sessions, fly swaps, chances to test our gear, door prizes, and more. We’ll also plan activities like stream cleanups, fishing outings, picnics, etc. and the details for each meeting will be posted on in this Facebook group under the “Events” tab so make sure you subscribe for notifications so you don’t miss an event.

Membership is free but we will ask for small donations at each meetup to help pay for things like food, drinks, and the venue (if needed).

I’ll be inviting people I already know who fish tenkara in CO, but as a member, you have the ability to invite people to join so I encourage you to do so. I think this is going to be a fun club where we can all exchange new ideas, tall tales, and anecdotes. Our goal is not to get 500 people to come to one event in order to make it “successful”. We’d rather judge the event as “successful” if 5 interesting people show up.

So, it will probably start out as a small group, but sometimes those are the best. Please consider joining and feel free to invite your fellow CO tenkara anglers here. It will be such a privilege to meet so many of you I’ve only communicated with electronically in person. And I know Dennis feels the same. Community is probably about the second best thing I love about tenkara.

colorado tenkaratenkaratenkara clubstenkara clubs in coloradotenkara meetups in colorado
About the author

Jason Klass

Jason is an avid fly angler and backpacker. As a former fly fishing guide originally from Western New York, he moved to Colorado and became an early adopter of tenkara which perfectly suited the small, high altitude streams and lakes there. He has not fished a Western-style fly rod for trout since.

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8 Comments
  1. September 6, 2016 at 12:07 pm
    Robert Foresti

    Jason:
    That’s a great idea! Count me in…
    Bob

  2. September 6, 2016 at 7:04 pm
    Rickles

    Maybe I’ll fly in for one next year…

  3. September 6, 2016 at 7:04 pm
    Rickles

    Oh wait, you said “interesting people”… 😉

  4. September 6, 2016 at 8:14 pm
    Rob Gonzalez

    Great idea! Hope to make it to a meeting during our visits to CO in future.

  5. September 20, 2016 at 8:32 pm
    Chris Goering

    Curious. When and where is the next expected meeting? I’d like to attend.

  6. September 20, 2016 at 10:32 pm
    Jason Klass

    Hi Chris, details can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/coloradotenkaraclub/permalink/479798748966576/

    Let me know if you have ay questions.

  7. January 15, 2017 at 7:52 pm
    Pete Mascarenas

    Hey Jason just pick up on Tenkara Fishing last year and got hooked great to know theres a Tenkara Club i would like to join in the group

  8. January 16, 2017 at 1:54 am
    Jason Klass

    Hi Pete, great! We don’t have a formal process for membership or anything yet but you’re in. Just keep an eye on the Facebook group for the next meeting and I hope to see you there!

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About Me

Jason Klass is a former fly fishing guide & casting instructor based in Colorado. He was an early adopter of tenkara in the West and has been fishing the method for a variety of species since 2009. Read more >>

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