“Tenkara Kid is a film about the joys of fishing from an 8 years old perspective”
Inspired by my eight–year–old daughter, I created Tenkara Kid, my first fly fishing film. I wanted to capture her journey as she learned the steps of fly fishing: holding the rod, casting, setting the hook, reeling a fish in, holding a fish, releasing, selecting flies, tying on a fly, fish handling, and understanding the environmental impact of the sport.
At age four, we gifted her with a seven–foot tenkara rod. Every summer, our family would spend weeks at a lake full of sunfish. She learned more and more each year, until she was able to complete the steps independently. Watching her gain this level of independence inspired me to share that experience and motivate other parents to teach their children how to fly fish.
For this film I decided to write all of the music. Having a bluegrass background and access to several instruments, I think really lent itself to the summer/rustic feel.
In 2016 RIO started their first annual Amateur Fly Fishing Awards, which was aimed at encouraging emerging filmmakers to create content. Tenkara Kid won the monthly people’s award (video with the most likes) as well as winning the grand price, editors choice award. I was lucky enough to get fly out to RIO’s headquarters in Idaho and fish them for 3 days.
The film was also accepted into following festivals:
- International Fly Fishing Film Festival
- Wild & Scenic Film Festival
- Shoreline Short Film Festival
- Kids First! Film Festival
Special thanks goes out to my daughter for letting me put her up on the internet for all to see. My wife for watching every edit and providing feedback, and Jason Harrington for all of his filmmaking expertise.
