Honestly, I do not bow and arrow cast as much as I used to. Be it the discussion Rob Worthing had at the 2022 at the Smokey Mountain Tenkara Campout that has influenced my ideas on bow and arrow casting. With just the mere mention of not being able to hookset from Rob had me thinking of all the times I couldn’t fish a stream effectively from a certain angle because of the hookset, so what right do I have to even try and cast and lodge my fly right into a branch upon back cast or retrieval. What a waste. Also, how fun can bow and arrow casting be over and over again?…From these ideas, I have grown, morphed, and built my own tenkara practice into something much more than never doing this or never doing that. I use the tools, knowledge, and practices that have been given to me and learned over the few years I have been fishing tenkara to enhance my casting techniques and skills.
Recently, I have had discussions with tenkara anglers on bow and arrow casting and there is a time a place for everything and nobody has had right or wrong experiences. A reason I will not fish a spot is NOT because I cannot cast to the spot but because I wont be able to hookset and net the fish. So, I have learned to take my time while fishing on the mountain streams and encouraging my growth by challenging myself to casting more effectively and efficiently. Afterall, netting the fish isn’t the most important part of fishing, but it sure does make it worthwhile.
As an example of a time when I bow and arrow cast that I recently encountered on a stream in Western North Carolina. See pictures below for the example. If I am able to position myself alongside a stream with heavy over stream cover, I will bow and arrow cast into it and hookset by bringing my rod horizontally along the stream. The question lies then why bow and arrow cast when I can cast the same way that I am able to hookset? For me, there are a few reasons for this. One reason is that I am extremely confident in my bow and arrow cast. The line is only going to be floating one way and I don’t need to worry about my back cast getting caught in a tree. There is much less thought that goes into one or two consecutive bow and arrow casts for any angler because of this. Two, I believe there is less chance of scaring a fish with this accuracy and less things zipping around in the air over the water. Yes, I fish in bright colors and I rarely fish with a “neutral” color rod, but I do not think scaring a fish comes from colors as much as fast movements and shadows. Because of this, giving a tight fishing spot a go with an initial bow and arrow cast doesn’t hinder my experience on a stream in the least and I believe it gives me the best chances of bringing in a nice trout to hand from a mountain stream especially on the first one or two casts when they count the most.
My Tenkara Journey 