Sports
Luong Tam, is the owner of Tenkara Tanuki. He has an amazing story of how he came over from Vietnam to start working in Silicon Valley. After falling in love with fishing as a kid, he later fell in love with casting and developing the perfect rod. Having frequented many of the top casting clubs in California, he took his ideas to Kickstarter to fund Tenkara Tanuki. Over the years he's developed novel ways to work with Chinese manufacturers to build top of the line products. If you're interested in making your own products, then listen to this episode! It's a gem. For show notes: https://castandspear.com/tenkara-tanuki/ In this podcast, we cover: 1:00: Who is Luong Tam? His origin story of how he started as a bait fisherman in Vietnam and his time during the USA-Vietnam War. Why it's rare in the Japanese culture to ask for anything. 7:00: What makes his rods stand out from the rest? 8:00: Beginner's introduction to Tenkara fishing. How Luong learned his technique from the top Tenkara Japanese master Masami Sakakibara. 16:00: An introduction to the various casting clubs and why they are important. 21:00: Various fly fishing presentation techniques and recommendations. 24:00: If you use more flies then you have more of an opportunity to catch fish. 36:00: The beauty and the simplicity of Tenkara for the beginner. Why it's nice to not have to worry about gear selection so you can just focus on fishing. 45:00: What it's like to build a product in fly fishing. Why he loves product development and how his childhood helped him with the manufacturers. 53:00: What he had to teach his factory workers so that they knew exactly how to make the best products on the market. GENIUS. 1:00:00: How do you compete with the competition back in the USA? 1:15:00: Why the internet is a game-changer for getting your products into people's hands. "The act of giving is one of the best feelings you can have." Say hi to Luong at Tenkara Tanuki. Be sure to check out his new Pocket Ninja.