September 11, 2018

Oni School 2018

This as my fourth year of attending the Tenkara Guides LLC Oni School. It's close to my home, and that makes it really convenient to receive world class tenkara instruction from Masami Sakakibara, also known as Tenkara-no-Oni, without having to travel.



I think it's been well established that Oni is the undisputed champion of tenkara level casting and line manipulation. I'm sure there are other excellent tenkara anglers out there, in Japan they may even have risen the the level of master, but Oni is particularly known for his level line skills.

The Tenkara Guides LLC Oni School is not a conference. It is a small group, intimate hands on course specifically designed to increase one's skill in level line, unweighted kebari tenkara.






I've fished with him the past three years, and have learned a lot, but this year was special. It may be my last year to attend this conference, as my life is soon taking a different trajectory (nothing tragic). I worked on my casting skills with him, and fished with him. If you've been to the Oni School you know that this is not anything special. ERiK, John and Rob, of Tenkara Guides LLC and Team Oni USA, have designed this school so that every participant gets to work with Oni both on and off the water.





I also had a great time talking with, and sharing thoughts on casting/line manipulation, with ERiK. He is a devotee of Oni and is an excellent tenkara caster/angler in his own right. On the water, Rob did an excellent job of explaining how Oni approaches stretches of water.




If you haven't been to the Oni School, and if you can't travel to Japan for tenkara instruction, I would highly recommend you consider attending one of these Oni Schools.  It will be well worth your investment.






3 comments:

  1. So jealous Tom! I've worked with Oni and corresponded with him quite a bit but never met him in person. I'm a huge admirer of his casting. If you could share the #1 takeaway you got from him about casting technique, what would it be?

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    1. I suppose the takeaway that I came up with was choose a rod/line that fit your style and practice, practice, practice. There is no substitution for time and practice.

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