I do most of my fly tying during the winter, when it’s cold and dark. It’s something I enjoy for it’s own sake; probably owing to the fact that I learned to tie flies before I learned to fly fish.
I recently purchased the Discover Tenkara video that focused on Takahashi Shin and his tenkara nymphing (very well done, by the way). It got me thinking. I’m not a “one fly” kind of guy. No offense to those who are, that’s just not me. But, I did decide to do a “study” of the same fly tied for efficiently fishing different depths and conditions and doing so quickly. Using tails on my flies/kebari is something I rarely do, but felt it fitting for this series. I tied them in sizes 8, 10, 12, and 16.
I feel your illustration is a critical concept, especially for tenkara, where there is a limit to sink depth…as our drifts are very short. Matching the weight to the presentation depth and water speed can make the difference between catching and not. I often cycle through different weights until I find the perfect balanced fly for the conditions. A fly that is delivered where I want it and one that I can maintain contact with but not too much. The line where there is equal lost and found. Getting this balance is more important than pattern to me.
Also consider sparser profiles and limiting or removing hackle on your deep divers. The less surface area, the quicker it will find bottom.
Yes, @Gressak that is exactly what I was thinking about with this. Specific patterns are something I rarely do and finding the right color, size, and weight that for the conditions and my manipulation are a few of the things that originally appealed to me with tenkara. The hackle on these is Brahma hen, not something I’m super worried about causing too big of an impediment to sinking.
Ahhh, so true Joakim. Especially when the weather has been below zero for the past three weeks. Yet I have three months from yesterday before trout season opens again.
I too tie when I can’t fish and have been experimenting with some ‘Glitter thread’ which I came across just before Christmas. Costing Sterling £1 for 8 spools in different colours. I had to buy it.
Here is my first effort, simulating a ‘modern’ soft hackle or spider fly
Recipe:
Hends BL550 #16 hook
Uni-thread 8/0 black
Starling hackle
Crystal silver lined glass seed bed #11/0
Fine black glitter thread ribbed with fine Hends black pearl round
Very nice looking spider @davidsr! Interestingly enough, I was just reading about glitter thread this week end and wasn’t sure what to think about it. Very nicely done.
The photo below shows you the 8 spools and hopefully an idea of the thread. I have included a shot of a spool of Uni-thread 6/0 Black as comparison. The Glitter thread appears (to me) to be a very fine thread wrapped with the relevant colour of a very fine polyester, which gives a nice ‘flash’ to it.
I have great hopes with the stuff.
