@gressak is correct. I’ve been using their hooks since they were introduced to years ago and they’re great. I also did a pre-order of their best. I have a few different colors: black, olive, dark olive, mounds (dark brown), almond Joy (light brown), pink, bright red, and Caddis green.
These are tungsten, hence the reason they’re slightly more expensive. I only got them this past autumn, in fact only a couple of days before Gressak and I went fishing. The two colors I’ve used were the pink and bright red and we’re both very productive.
I basically fish three styles of flies: soft hackle (think North Country spiders or soft hackle kebari), traditional Japanese style stiff hackle kebari, and bead-head nymphs. The first and last are what I was taught when I learned western style fly fishing. The second I learned about when I learned about tenkara and for my style. These beads go along that vein. They are high quality and very effective. They sink well for their size, are durable and colorfast. One thing I really like is they are a matte finish.
One thing I’ve not ever really liked about other beads is they’re so shiny. The insects I collect stream-side are never that shiny. I like these and hope you do too.
Thanks for the observations Peder. Maybe I will get off the fence and order a few of them, and try them.
Years ago Chris (tenkarabum) made a blog post about being at one of then tenkara summits, and caught more fish on a particular stretch of stream one day than, I think, Dr. Ishigaki, and if I remember correctly he was using bead heads, and commented about how he caught more fish with one color he used than the second color he used, but I can not recall the colors he mentioned. Seems like it was green. But maybe not. I just thought I’d include that color in any order. Pink and red for sure then.
And a pack or two of the firehole hooks too.
One thing to note about the hooks. The QC on the eyelets is not high. Some of the eyelets are not closed in the batches i have bought. Not an issue if you build a larger head…but if you dont then it may be a dealbreakerfor me its not much of an issue…either build a head to close the gap or use some pliers.
May I suggest you also consider using glass seed beads, especially the silver lined beads in the crystal clear colour, although the other colours are also very useful. The crystal clear silver lined glass beads simulate an air bubble perfectly.
In my opinion the silver lined glass seed beads give better reflection than other types, also they don’t allow the hook to ‘show through’.
Obviously they don’t allow much weight but you could always add some wire, fuse or unleaded wire.
I buy and use Japanese Toho silver lined glass seed beds in sizes 11/0 and 15/0 (the 15/0 is the smaller size) .
Incidentally Pat Dorsey well known American guide and fly tyer ties up a whole range of flies (his Mercury series).
I live in UK and buy mine from ,
Interesting you say that. Those may have been from the original production run, which I learned had a few problems. I’ve purchased about 34 boxes of their hooks (I think I have 8 left) and have only found 7 hooks with problems. Two didn’t even have eyes, two were week and broke at the hook bend while tying them, and the remainder had incomplete eyes. All of my boxes, save for four were from the original production run. The others, I purchased recently. Oddly enough, I was just looking at the problem hooks this week end. Overall, I’ve been very happy. Others, like @gressak, may have other experiences.
Thanks for the input. Interesting that the Toho seed beads appear to be mostly marketed to bead crafters in the internet search results, and the silver lined ones are available at Michaels craft store, one is 30 miles from me. Maybe they stock them.
Well, I managed to jump off the fence yesterday, unfortunately I discovered I was a couple of days late to benefit from the 25% discount on the Firehole tungsten beads. I thought the special pricing lasted till the end of the month.
FH tungsten beads ordered: Almond joy, autumn, caddis green, copper plate, dark olive, fire orange, slate blue, f red.
FH sticks, er hooks: 317 nymph emerger, 417 standard dry fly, and 718 multi-use.
I noticed in the reviews some people thought the sizing ran a little bigger than other manufacturer’s hooks, iow if you want size 12 order size 14. Though maybe that comment was only for some versions of their hooks.
Plus some goose biot, and wire.
Haven’t yet made it to Michael’s craft store to check on the Toho beads.
Also I noticed, after going back and more carefully reading prior post, that David R, and Todoroki-san had already posted some pictures of flies with Toho crystal beads.
Yes, I thinks the hooks run both ways. Example: I personally think the 317 emerger actually runs small compared to other brands. A size 12 is closer to what I’m used to as a 14 (though not quite - maybe a 13 but I’ve never seen one). Whereas, I think the 417 does run a little large. I’ve compared it with other hooks I have and while it does run big, it isn’t a full size larger. In other words, some shapes run a little big and some a little small.
I got out yesterday before I learned about the Governor’s ‘stay at home order’ to suppress the COVID spread. It’s a mid-sized river; averaging 20’ wide with dense forest along its banks. Branches extend out from the shore over the water; down onto the surface of the water in many places up to 8’ out from the bank. I have been able to catch fish in winter and early spring at this year-round river for several years with a 9’ 4-weight fly rod & reel fishing weighted nymphs suspended under an indicator. I think it generally fishes well with a 390 cm Tenkara rod.
Historically consistent lies were 3 to 4 feet deep at the early spring CFS yesterday. While manipulating my weighted fly at the end of (too long of) a drift, I had one grab at a known “big fish lie” that broke my 4X tippet 1/4" below the tippet ring knot before I could react to set the hook (or moderate it). In this instance it was because I couldn’t wade any closer to the known lie and had the rod too low and pointed downstream for a little extra distance. Perhaps a longer line or my 5.4 meter Keiryu rod might have worked better in that particular spot at that CFS.
After the winter runoff a consistent producing narrow plunge pool channel had changed making it wider and I did not find a fish there. I also found some new deeper holes that I lost flies on submerged branches that I’d like to explore further. But I might have to wait until next year after the COVID restrictions are lifted if the water has dropped because in previous years they were shallow stretches of small featureless cobble during the late spring-summer.
I haven’t tried “Euro Nymphing” with a rod and reel. I usually fish nymphs with a floating line, at the end of leaders that are 7 1/2 feet or longer so I can get deeper, often suspended under a yarn indicator or bobber that provides excellent visibility that also lets me quickly adjust for depth, and I keep my rod tip low. I do catch fish but fishing weighted nymphs has always been an “adventure” for me because I can’t see my fly, and I lose a lot of them trying to get up close to structure; especially logs, on submerged branches, weeds, etc.
When fishing a Tenkara rod with weighted flies or a dropshot rig on mid-sized streams, do you:
Use level, furled, tapered, floating lines?
Length of line?
Length of tippet?
Maintain the high rod tip, line off the water and short drifts?
How deep can you effectively get?
What’s the best way to have visibility of, and control of depth?
Use Indicators? (or how do you maintain visibility of fly location, and subtle takes?)
I still use weighed flies but I have extended and changed a few things that I like to do.
I am almost exclusively fishing stiff hackle bead or without
I try with a wire weighted fly prior to going heavy
this thread applies to #2…click to see the full thread.
There is a concept when bucktailing. Choice of weight to put the offering in the strike zone but not dragging bottom. You want a fly that the water speed will provide loft but not ride too high. Stiff hackle can aid in this as the water is a vehicle to deliver your offering and keep the fly from finding bottom. The stiff hackle can act as a sail to lift the fly away from the bottom…even a bead. I now tie my beads with stiff hackle.
I use the end of my running line as an indicator. I dont drop shot. Those methods work…adding lead, but I feel even with a short drift in fast water a strategic placement of a fly can be more effective. Sometimes my total rig is as long as the rod sometimes a quarter longer. I like at least 4 feet of tippet and longer if it is a deep pool. I gauge my presentation depth by how much tippet is above water and the tippet entry angle. My running line is opaque white and I fish it year round. I do now occasionally fish LL but only when I want delicate presentation.
Fishing deeper than a foot I never see the fly but the angle of your tippet and running line aways give cues on takes. Fishing deep you will never feel subtle takes so you can pulse a fly occasionally and often there may be a fish at the end.The stiff hackle give a lot of feedback and anchors the fly in a way soft hackle does not. So tension never moves the fly far from its current location and can overcome some drag of the tippet. I can check on the progress of my fly without ever moving it from the strike zone. Awesome and deadly.
This may relate it is from one of my posts on my Surfcasting forum but it is everything I love about blind presenting to fish…replace the word bucktail with kebari.
I thought I would share this entry I made in a thread on SRB.
The context was bucktails but it really applies to all plugs. I employ this tactic intentionally quite a bit. All of us do it without thinking about it, but thought it is a really important component to our angling success. The dead stick and what that technique actually is.
Originally Posted by toyota;n131821
I’ve always liked low and slow trying to let the current (if any) do all the work. Once you get the jist of of it unlocks a world of opportunity and fish at your feet (literally)
I have been really meditating on this thread lately. It has me wanting to fish. As I exited my house this morning, I really had the urge to be standing on a rock somewhere casting bucktails. I even considered the rock wall in my backyard as a perch to cast bucktails into the woods. The thought cracked me up a little… how we are a strange bunch…perhaps I am the weirdest on in the pack…hahahhaha.
Regarding letting current do the work. Ever since I was a teenager there has been something that I really enjoyed about allowing current deliver my offering. I would cast garden worms without any weight into the currents of a brook and let the water deliver the weightless offering to trout holding on structure under banks or in the deepest of channels. Lies that would be impossible to present to by any other method. There is something about that blind presentation that I have found enjoyment in. You could say it is very zen. Using water as a tool, and as you put it, let it do the work for you. Sometimes the best presentation is when the water presents the offering as it is the most natural.
For a better visualization for those who have not tinkered with this type of presentation, the below may be an experience you have had or you could try sometime to better visualize the concepts.
My daughter and I were on a hike along a small river peppered with rocks and boulders. 1-3 foot deep with a moderate current. We decided to throw a couple branches and sticks into the river for entertainment and we would watch the sticks float down the current. No matter where the sticks landed, whether it be in still water or the main channel of the current. Each stick would eventually make its way down stream through the labyrinth-gauntlet of rocks. The attributes of the sticks were light enough for the current to take full control of. The path of each stick if plotted was not mechanical but organic and sinuous. Sometimes a stick would get caught in an eddy and spiral a couple time before being grabbed by the main current again. The sticks would do s curves around obstacles. Like, one would think for sure they would hang up at some point, but they would always surprisingly float down current and out of site. As if the stick had a mind or it had a captain guiding it.
There is something to presenting lures in this way. Sometimes when you do nothing the current does more for you. If you consider the above as a two dimensional view of current (because it illustrates surface current only) and and object of neutral buoyancy organically traveling through that current. We can agree it is a very sophisticate presentation. A presentation where the person did nothing but drop the object in current. When we fish it can be the same thing but consider the current in three dimensions.
When I fish bucktails or plugs I employ some lost and found in my retrieve. This allows for some of this organic delivery.
