About Us

What We Stand FOR

Here’s what we think: It’s OK to try hard at stuff if you want – that isn’t an insult to anyone else.

In tenkara (and life) some folks seem to think it is lame to get really
INTO something. We think the opposite. We believe that there’s no higher
calling than being so passionate about a “thing” that you spend most of
your time thinking about it and wanting to know – and UNDERSTAND –
more.

John Pearson instruction with Masami Sakakibara

Masami Sakakibara and Paul Gaskell

Here’s another idea that we like:

It is not important to be better than anyone else – but that it is 100% OK for you to want to be better than yesterday…

That’s what we’re all about. It doesn’t even matter if you achieve that goal of improved skill, knowledge or understanding- just being curious is the important bit.

Thinking like this means that there is no shame in not knowing something –
instead it becomes the most exciting moment when you realise that you
have something new to learn. It also means that the raw beginner will be
envied by the expert– because a beginner is hit from left and right
with new discoveries the whole time.

It also means you aren’t afraid of new and different cultures, you’re not
afraid of words you’ve never heard before – that there is always a
(good) chance that there is something valuable to learn from others. You
aren’t afraid of looking foolish in front of the wise, know-it-all
establishment.

You can decide for yourself what you are allowed to enjoy.

This is why we’ve found ourselves travelling to Japan each year to study
with as many top-level tenkara practitioners as possible. That study is
just as much about the culture and philosophy as it is the fantastic,
high-level technique. By bringing all that home with us and finding that
it also works just well on our familiar streams, we think it would be
incredibly selfish to keep those discoveries to ourselves.

Dr Ishigaki and John Pearson

Hirata san with John and Paul

What we are AGAINST

In short, “the race to the bottom” – but not only that…We also reject the
idea that loving one thing means that you dislike/disrespect another
(this means it is perfectly possible to like throwing streamers on a
fly-rod AND also love Japanese tenkara approaches…shock, horror!)

We will also fight tooth and nail to AVOID surrounding ourselves with
clients and followers that we don’t like or respect (or share any common
values with). We look forward to meeting and fishing/drinking with
folks who share our passion for tenkara, fly fishing and life.

We strongly reject the idea that the sterner and less humorous you are about something – the better you are at it. Serious things can – and should – be treated with humour, warmth and a love of life. In our small way, we want to use the sharing of tenkara as one contribution to the fight against mediocrity in the modern world.

Biographies of John & Paul; Tenkara Addicts (We didn’t choose the Tenkara Lyfe…) 

John Pearson Tenkara Guide

John Pearson is a lifelong angler and studied for a degree in field biology motivated by his obsession for fishing. He has contributed both as a photographer and writer to angling publications in the UK, USA and Japan in addition to producing 15 DVD fly fishing titles (including 4 from Discover Tenkara). 

John now divides his time between teaching tenkara in person and directing and producing the online TV shows Tenkara in Focus and Fishing Discoveries.

Paul Gaskell Discover Tenkara

Dr Paul Gaskell was born in 1973, has fished obsessively since age 6 and worked as a professional freshwater biologist in both academic and applied research – as well as practical trout stream habitat protection and improvement. All his career choices are just sly ways to better understand and enjoy fishing. He also likes climbing, cooking and fighting with people (with their consent) in a number of martial arts.

Tweet @PaulNGaskell

Check the articles below

April 2, 2020

The Last Shokuryoshi: Traditional Japanese Tenkara Over the

March 30, 2020

A tenkara podcast recorded “on the go” as

December 4, 2019

OK, so here is the launch video explaining

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