Short Cast: Happy New Year, a look at 2016 and ahead to 2017 for Tenkara USA

0:00This is Daniel Galhardo and you're listening to the Tenkara Cast, a podcast about the simple Japanese method of fly-fishing, Tenkara. In the Tenkara Cast we'll be sharing information on techniques, history, philosophy, and Tenkara stories from anglers all over the world. This podcast is brought to you by Tenkara USA, introducing Tenkara outside of Japan since 2009. It's only possible we create content such as this podcast and videos because of your support. So we thank you so very much for purchasing Tancariosei Rods, Lines, and Flies. I hope you enjoy learning more about the simple method of fly fishing. Hey everyone, happy new year! Happy 2017 to all of you. I apologize, I have not been creating new podcast episodes recently, and today's episode is a short cast where I'm going to be talking a little bit about why I might have not been doing the episodes. But also, mostly, it's a way for me to get back into the routine of creating podcast episodes, get in touch with all of you who are really gracious at listening and letting me know that you do listen and that you do miss the episodes when I do not put them out.

1:14So I appreciate that. So a good way to wish you a Happy New Year. I also wanted to do a little retrospective for 2016, just kind of looking back, you know, what happened and that kind of thing. And part of the reason I'm doing the episode today is because this last weekend, we had the fly fishing show, the first show of the season, the first fly fishing show of the season that just took place here in Denver. It was a wonderful show. And I've had several people actually come to me and letting me know that they're asking me why I'm not putting the episodes up, you know, like what it is, and asking me to create new podcast episodes. Apparently, some of you do listen, and I really appreciate that. It's actually really nice to get the feedback, and it's very humbling, very honoring to know that some of you actually miss listening to the Tenkara Cast episodes when I do not put them out. So I appreciate the support and the patience as I'm being a little bit away from creating new podcast episodes.

2:22So the fly fishing show, first one of the season, was a really good energy booster. We got some really good energy out of that, and you'll see why I needed that in a minute. But since I'm talking about the fly fishing shows, we're going to be doing four shows in total this year. At the end of January, we have the fly fishing show in Somerset, New Jersey, so we're going to be attending to that with a good presence there. and then after that we're staying actually on the east coast and we're moving down south to atlanta it's going to be the first fly fishing show to take place in atlanta so we're going to be attending that one and i hope to see all of you who live in that region uh come and say hi to us i know there's a lot of you who are in that area actually i do look at our analytics for the podcast and I see a good number of you listening to it so come by say hi uh the show in Somerset is going to be January 27th through 29th and then the show in Atlanta I believe it's going to be February 3rd and 4th that's what I got on my calendar here so I hope that's correct uh but so come and say hi I love doing the fly fishing shows as much as they take a lot of energy as much as you know it's uh it's kind of hard to do all the traveling and setting up of the booths uh it's fun to kind of connect with uh all of you there oh and and my calendar is open to january but we do have another show as well later in the month of february that's going to be in pleasanton uh so in pleasanton we're going to be there uh february let me take a look quick look here. I should have these notes kind of written down, but it looks like February 24th through 26th is going to be the show in Pleasanton, California. If you're in that area and you want to come say hi, I'm not personally going to be at the Pleasanton show this year for other commitments that I had, but TJ and a good group of guys is going to be there, so you can come by and say hi.

4:26but part of the reason I haven't really been doing the podcast episodes recently is probably the same reason I haven't really done all the things that I wanted to do in the recent past and I think it might be some kind of a little bit of a depression that I was stuck in I was talking to a friend yesterday and it's like you know when I was kind of talking through it I don't think I am depressed, but I kind of feel like I was stuck in a little bit of a, you know, a slump, a stump, if you will, just kind of really not feeling very good about all the things that I should be doing, that I was not doing. As a small business owner, you know, there's a thousand things that are pulling. And, you know, I think this last year, 2016, I felt the effects of that, and I kind of felt a little bit paralyzed. You know, things are still moving along, and we've done some really, really great things in 2016, but probably not as much as I, you know, would like to have accomplished.

5:32And I think that's always going to be the case with me because I always want to create more and do more. But, you know, you might have noticed this last year, 2016, for us, like I was a little quieter. You know, we didn't create all the stuff that, you know, we're known to create. the book you know is one of the projects I put an update on our Kickstarter page it's going to be delayed slightly it is still going to come out and I'll talk a little bit more about that in a minute but my goal was to have published this book and delivered last week but now it's more looking like it's going to be at the end of February so a little delay in that you know so just a A lot of things, I think, kind of drug me down a little bit, but I feel like I'm kind of coming out of that slump. I'm feeling really good energy for a lot of things. I'm kind of working through some of the paralysis that I felt this last year. Our team is really being very supportive. TJ, John, and Jeremy have been very supportive at keeping things moving along, and all of our customers very happy and things getting delivered on time.

6:44Today, I'm going to announce a new hire that we just made, Mark Bolson. Some of you might know him. He ties a lot of flies for us at the Denver Fly Fishing Show. I brought in a new team member to help with some of the operations here at Tenkara USA to get things moving. So I'm excited about that just to kind of, you know, create more stuff this year. So for 2017, my goal is to go back to kind of our old, you know, inspired selves, the inspired selves of Tenkara USA, where, you know, we're always creating some really fun stuff, putting out good product, putting out new projects. And that's what I want to go back to this year, 2017. I'm feeling good about it. We already have at least one really fun thing in the pipeline that is developing for the early part of the year and a really good plan for the rest of the year. I'm not going to talk too much about it, and maybe I should stop talking here before I let too much out of the bag.

7:48But 2017 is already looking good. And part of that is, you know, some work that I've been doing the last couple of months to see like, okay, here are the things that I was not too happy about in 2016. I feel like this was a down year in terms of, you know, just so this is our seventh year in business, 2016 was. and you know throughout the year I was kind of making this analogy it's like this kind of weird seven-year itch you know or the seven-year slump cycle that a lot of people go through in their personal lives and also professional lives and I feel like we just went over the hump and now we're coming into our eighth year of introducing Tenkara in the United States and I'm very happy about that. But as soon as I came out of the fly fishing show where I got to meet a lot of you in person, some of you for the first time, a lot of you came by to say hi again to our booth, and we had a really cool crew, got a lot of good energy.

8:53And I think I came out of that kind of with good energy, good amount of speed, and good motivation to do some of the stuff that I wanted to do. so I appreciate all of you having all of you who came by to say hi to ask about the book to ask about the podcast to ask what's coming up and even though I couldn't give you much on that you know it was very energizing I'm going to be putting 2016 behind me but yesterday I kind of spent a little bit of time doing a little retrospective and realizing that yeah, 2016 was not bad. You know, it was, I didn't do all the stuff that I felt like I wanted to do or that I wish I had done. But we ended up doing a lot, actually, which was pretty fun. So I sat down yesterday, you know, with a cup of tea, and I just kind of thought about 2016 and how it was really, it went by fast. Didn't get all the stuff that I wanted to get done done, but got a lot of fun things behind us too. So I'll share some of the highlights that I was kind of thinking about. You know, so for one, I put this podcast together. That was a very fun thing to do. You know, we started doing this podcast, or I started, you know, talking to you through the podcast last year 2016 is when the podcast was created also the other thing that I did earlier in 2016 it doesn't feel like it was this last year but I went to Japan as usual my annual pilgrimage to the country of origin of Tenkara and that was a very fun trip where again I got to spend time with Dr.

10:36Ishigaki and a few other Tenkara anglers learned a few things caught my biggest fish in Japan that I've caught out of any trip. I caught a couple of 17, 18 inch fish out of that trip. That was pretty fun. And after Japan, I ended up fishing a good amount. You know, it was a fun year because I did not take a lot of photographs. I didn't create that many videos this year. So I kind of feel like, you know, I was feeling down because I was telling a friend, I was like, oh man, I really didn't fish much but when I think about it actually got out a good amount just to fish which was really cool you know for 76 seven years I you know like I always was always getting out to capture stuff to capture stories to make videos to take photographs and I feel like this year it was a little bit on the low down you know it was a little bit under the radar I wasn't sharing as much. But I was really enjoying myself when I did get out and fish just because I wanted to fish, just to be on my own time and doing that as an activity. We also put out a couple of new products.

11:52The new rod ties have been very popular. You know, those kind of go around the rod. This is the main year that we released, you know, a new kit that has everything you need for Tenkara. It's on our website. We have a new line that we started promoting more this last year. So the year was not wasted, you know. And besides that, you know, besides the stuff that was more visible, at Tenkara USA, I spent a little bit more time trying to put some structure, some better foundations in the business. And I'm still doing that right now. It's always work in progress. so I feel like I was feeling down on myself because I wasn't putting the stuff out that people could see I wasn't getting all this energy and feedback that I usually get when you know new things are out but you know it's not bad we worked behind the scenes on a few things and got a few things in place that I've wanted to do for a long time and put some stuff that you are able to see as well.

12:56So I'm grateful for 2016. I think that's another thing that I did that I feel like helped me, helped lift me out of this little depressed phase that I was going, which was to really not take the year for granted, you know, just kind of reminding myself that there's some really good stuff to happen too, even though I didn't feel like it before I thought about it. um some good stuff happened throughout the year you know we are still growing our team is being very supportive good out and fished enjoys you know the good simple lifestyle that i usually share with people um and i'm very grateful for that i'm not taking that for granted and it's always good i think i i don't do it enough i don't think to stop and think about uh all the beautiful things that are happening in my life on a regular basis. And, you know, I just kind of realized how important it is. In 2017, you know, I'm more excited about looking forward than looking back.

14:00It's interesting. You know, like you see all this TV show bits, you know, talking about how 2016 was not very good or so many bad things happened. And I was kind of agreeing with it, and then I stopped thinking about it. I was like, let's think about the good stuff. And more important now, I'm looking ahead, you know, looking at all the fun things that might be happening in the coming year. So, yes, we are going to be putting out at least one new rod this year. That's all I'm going to say right now. So there's some fun stuff to look forward to. And in terms of new projects, we have the book. That's a big one. I'm hoping for end of February delivery. So recently made a little progress on the book. I apologize it's going to be delayed, but we have most of the videos wrapped up. I am now working right now on getting the QR codes that are going to be part of the book that are going to link you to different videos. The videos are mostly behind us now.

15:04Jeremy has been working on the illustrations. So he's got those pretty much finished, actually, at this point. He's going to finalize them when we do the layout, but it's mostly done. I found somebody who I think is going to be a terrific editor who is working with me. She picked up the project and is now working on cleaning the book up, making it look like a beautiful piece of writing. And I'm excited. So it feels like a little bit of weight off my shoulder, you know, where she is working on the editing part of the book. As at the same time, I finished a little bit of extra writing that I wanted to do. But the book is moving along. And I think we can make our timeline here end of February. So the book is going to be happening this year. And that's good. The other things that are going to be happening at Tenkara USA 2017. and this is a big one. A lot of you missed our annual event.

16:05I'm excited. This last weekend I made up my mind. We are going to have the Tenkara Summit happening again. So it was kind of funny at the fly fishing show this weekend. I think Graham asked me, he's like, oh, are you going to do the Tenkara Summit again? I was like, yeah, maybe. That was on Thursday. And then on Friday we saw a couple other people and they're like, are you going to do the Tenkara Summit again? And I'm like, yeah, probably. And then when a Saturday came and somebody asked me if we're going to do a Tenkara Summit again, I was like, yeah, we're going to do a Tenkara Summit again. So that annual event is going to be back. We are right now looking at venues. Mark, who started working with me today, is doing a little research, reaching out to a couple of venues that we have identified. but we're shooting for most likely early August or very early September I have some stuff that has to happen in late August and late September through October so we're going to try to pin down some dates in the coming couple of weeks it is going to be along the front range of Colorado so we're going to keep it here keep close to home where we are located there's it's Easy place to get to for people that are on the East Coast, on the West Coast, Texas, and parts of the South.

17:29There's direct flights that come in. A lot of people that are fishing in Tenkara live here as well. Central location with good amenities, really good fishing waters. And this is our home base. So we're going to keep the summit here. And we're going to try to figure out the details in a couple of weeks. I will announce it as soon as we have more details worked out, as soon as I get the date. and so forth. So that's going to be a fun thing. And yes, we're going to look at bringing somebody from Japan as well as per tradition. We'll see if we can get anybody here for that event. So very excited to say that, yes, we are going to do the Tenkara Summit again. The other things, too, that are going to happen in 2017, one thing that I'm kind of dreaming up right now. I shouldn't say it's going to happen, but I think it will. Most likely it will, because I started dreaming about this in the last couple of days. And with the book, I'm most likely going to be trying to do some kind of tour of the country, a book tour. Yay. I'm excited about it.

18:41So yes, I think it's going to happen. So along, you know, we're going to have the summit here. that's going to be a local event, but I'm starting to look at doing a tour of the country, promoting the book, teaching people how to tank out a fish, connecting with as many of you as I can. And, you know, who knows what kind of farm that's going to take place. I did catch myself looking at vans and sprinters and, you know, seeing if that might be a fun way to get to places this year so we'll uh start working together as a team here to make that happen and that'll be fun they'll get to fish all the different waters get to meet you in your local areas as i promote the book for tenkara and go around the country so i'll keep you posted if we make progress on that which i think i will uh so yeah so that's kind of it in a nutshell i just kind of wanted to come back, you know, and I'm feeling good. I'm feeling good energy. I appreciate, again, all of the energy that you have provided me when you come to say hi, when you send me a message. And, you know, just, and I appreciate your patience as well. A lot of you want more stuff from us or want us to put out more product, more things, more podcasts. It doesn't always happen as fast as I want to.

20:05And I know it doesn't happen as fast as some of you want to as well. But I appreciate the patience on that as we keep growing the company, keep growing the team. And, you know, this year I think our team is going to grow a little bit more and we'll be putting a few extra things in place to keep things moving, keep things churning along. So happy 2017 to all of you. I wish you all a wonderful, wonderful year filled with beautiful memories, with fishing or otherwise, good health. And I hope to meet as many of you as I can this year, either at the summit or at a possible book tour. And thanks again for tuning in and not completely disconnecting from the Tenkara Cast. Happy 2017, everyone. ¶¶ And as always, I'd like to thank our friend Nick Ogawa Takenobu.

21:41You can find his music at takenobumusic.com. I'll put a link on our website. This is a song called Fishing, I think very appropriate. It's a song that made me learn about his work and totally fell in love with his music ever since. thank him for letting us share his music here on the podcast take a look he's got four beautiful albums on his website so enjoy the rest of the song and listen to it on your next drive when you go fishing Thank you.