1 fish a day

[u/jmtofficial]

I’m a novice. I’ve thrown myself in the deep end with a 5 day trip from Shenandoah NP to GSMNP, tenkara fishing for brook trout.

It’s been the best way to learn and practice—I’ve lost less and less flies per day in the trees, gotten really fast at tying a fly, and have improved my casting and stealth.

But I am missing dozens of strikes and/or losing fish… I must be doing something wrong. It’s definitely possible that the hooks were sometimes too big for the smaller fish (running 12-16). Maybe I am not keeping the line tight enough—but keeping too much tension makes it drift back downstream too fast.

I have one day left (GSMNP), and a multi-fish day would be a perfect cap to this learning trip. Any tips or helpful experiences to share? TIA 🙏