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What is The White Mountains Tenkara Campout?

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What is the White Mountains Tenkara Camp Out? Wait, you haven’t heard of the most epic fly-fishing event in New England? Well, here it is.

The White Mountains Tenkara Camp Out, or Camp Out for short, is a weekend of camping, tenkara fly fishing, socializing, and instructional presentations. Every year, we gather at a campground in the White Mountains National Forest to celebrate the tenkara method of fly fishing. I should mention that the White Mountains National Forest is one of the most scenic places in America and a fine place to fish for wild brook trout. It all started as an idea to see if anyone would show up. Since then, it has grown exponentially and sells out each year.

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Reflections from the water

A Weekend Adventure; Tenkara Fly Fishing in the White Mountains

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I organized a camping trip to get away with friends and teach them how to fly fish the tenkara method. We camped along the Pemigewasset River in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. This trip was just for the guys, so we booked some primitive sites with no running water or electricity. Of course, it was only a short walk to the campground store and showers. We’re not fooling anybody. There were six of us in total. My friend Mike and I were the first to arrive. After checking in, we drove to the campsite. This year, an unusually high number of heavy storms caused significant damage to many roads.

The road to our site transitioned from smooth gravel to washed-out dirt and mud.

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I said to Mike, “Don’t tell my wife that the new Jeep Cherokee is going off-road”. Sorry, baby, I’ll wash it when I get home. As we were driving through huge puddles, Mike waved his arm out the window and yelled, “Welcome to Hazard County car wash!”

We laughed our way to the site and decided to warn our friend Jerry that he should park his car at the office. When he arrived, he should wait for someone to come and pick him up. We didn’t want to have to dig a car out this year. Last year, we had to get a friend’s car off of a tree stump. But that is a story for another time.

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Reflections from the water

The Brook Trout that wore sandals; a tenkara fly fishing story

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A clear stream flowing over smooth, large rocks in a forested area, with patches of sunlight filtering through the trees.

I just returned from another great tenkara fly fishing trip in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I took Friday off work and headed up to meet some friends for some camping and fly fishing. There were only four of us going on this trip, and we all had different schedules, so we were all arriving at different times. It reminds me of the movie Swingers, where they all take separate cars. I headed up early Friday morning to meet my friend Frank in Lincoln, NH. The plan was to head straight to a favorite spot where a hiking trail meets a tributary to the Pemigewasset River and use the tenkara gear. Craig was heading up earlier to the North Conway area to try his luck on the Saco River. Jeff was working in the morning and planning on meeting us for dinner.

Frank and I met at the Visitor’s Center in North Woodstock, put our gear in one car, and drove north on Route 3 to a small trailhead. Gearing up, we knew it was going to be a hot day as the temperature was already in the low 90’s. We hit the hiking trail around 9:30 am and made our way to the brook. This was Frank’s first time using tenkara gear and his first time fishing for brook trout, so we were pretty excited, to say the least.

After going over some of the basics of tenkara, we hit the stream.

The sun was extremely hot, and the glare off the rocks and water was blinding. Sunglasses were a must. The water was crystal clear and still cold. It definitely made the day more enjoyable. I love wet wading on a hot day.

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At our first stop, I dead drifted an orange attractor fly between two rocks and saw a flash as the fly made its way along a fast seam. The brook trout had come out of hiding and crushed my fly with lightning speed! I set the hook and landed him quickly. I was surprised at the size of this fish because the water level was low, and these fish are native/wild and don’t often grow more than 6-8” in length. We took a quick picture and released him carefully back to the water.

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Reflections from the water

Everyone gets a trophy; A tribute to wild brook trout.

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trout trophy fish

Some of my non-angling friends keep joking with me that I catch small fish. They don’t understand why I don’t show them pictures of monster catches.

wild brook trout release in stream

Usually, I just laugh it off, and they move on to something else. Lately, I’ve been teaching a lot of anglers how to fish the tenkara method. When I tell people that you can use tenkara for all types of freshwater species, they often ask what my favorite is. My answer usually surprises them. They are expecting me to say something like “trophy” size rainbow or brown trout in the rivers of western Massachusetts. But in reality, I’d rather be fishing for wild brook trout all over New England. Whether I’m fishing the thinnest blue line or a raging river, to me, nothing beats landing a wild brook trout.

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