Before there was Tenkara USA, there was tenkara fly angling... and tenkara anglers. One of these anglers is Mr. Chris Stewart.

The Tenkara Bum Many anglers who have been interested in tenkara and have done some research on it, read our community forum and others or watched our videos, have probably seen Chris' name around. He's the one always willing to answer questions, and who is not afraid to defend tenkara for what it is. He doesn't step into every conversation, but will not hesitate to share his love for tenkara and let those interested know that tenkara is not dapping and it's not cane-pole fishing. Now Chris has put together a very comprehensive tenkara e-ncyclopedia that we're proud to share with you: www.tenkarabum.com. There are many blogs, and new thoughts coming up around the web and in print with the advent of tenkara. The Tenkara Bum is a great addition to the world of tenkara fly-fishing. It's a place where you'll find Chris's well thought articles on tenkara, ranging unbiased and honest rod reviews, to fly presentation techniques and what is probably his specialty: lines. How we met, and Chris relationship with Tenkara USA Right after having the idea for Tenkara USA and setting up a placeholder page Chris found us on his continued search for tenkara in the US. He was the first person to contact us through that site, despite the fact that the email posted wasn't working he persisted and got through to us. Chris was excited to see tenkara becoming available here. He had practiced it, but the unavailability of equipment was something hard to deal with. Chris had already been tenkara fishing for a few months and knew quite a bit about it. Then he told me about this tenkara event taking place in New York a few months later, the one where Dr. Ishigaki came from Japan to talk and demonstrate tenkara. Since Chris is in New York we agreed to meet, and got to spend time fishing together and he participated in the movie we made while visiting the Catskills. We have exchanged several emails, and are very thankful for his insights and experiences with tenkara, we have learned a lot from him. Chris has no commercial relationship with Tenkara USA, we do not provide free gear for reviews and we always ask for absolute critical feedback when he uses our rods...we want to have the best rods possible.