Casting Around » essay

What is the state of American Tenkara?

Anthony Naples — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 17:19:51 +0000

I am sometimes attracted to something – to an image, a song, a phrase, even a word – and my mind rotates this thing around and around. I’ll find myself thinking about it all day long – maybe not always on the surface, but maybe buried under the day’s dust and detritus. At [...]

Tenkara Rocky Mountain National Park 2011 and some Tenkara Musings

Anthony Naples — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 19:19:00 +0000

Tenkara is not just a style of fly fishing, it is a way of life. Just like our musical or cultural interests inform our clothing and hairstyle choices (I’m still trying to forget about my 1980′s new wave hair style), so tenkara affects anglers. The tenkara angler has an extra spring in [...]

Sometimes the Monkey Wins

Anthony Naples — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 19:30:44 +0000

I just started reading the 1999 John Gierach book Standing in a River Waving a Stick – I’m not all that far into it yet , but so far so good.

The first chapter is called, The Happy Idiot. In this chapter Gierach mentions a TV News program that he watched on which a [...]

My Ideal Fly Fishing Magazine

Anthony Naples — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 13:56:32 +0000

After yet another less than fulfilling experience with a major Fly Fishing periodical I find myself pondering the question of “What is the problem with Fly Fishing magazines?”

For the answer to this question maybe I should first take a look in the mirror. Is there something in me that’s the problem? Have I changed? [...]

Are you a Stone Turner?

Anthony Naples — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:28:25 +0000

Sometimes something gets stuck in my cranium, bouncing around like a super ball. And I can’t get a hold on it till it settles down a little, till it stops bouncing and starts rolling gently and finally settles somewhere where I can reach it. Well an overheard comment has been ricocheting around my [...]

Autumn and Looking Back

Anthony Naples — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:13:50 +0000

I am 38 years old. Which by my reckoning puts me in life’s Autumn years. How do I figure that? Let’s assume I live to be 80, that means I’m about half-way through the seasons of my life. I figure that life doesn’t begin in the dismal mid-winter of January, but with [...]