“Plain Jane” Sakasa Kebari
These flies might not win any beauty contests above water, but I’m sure they’ll be sexy enough down below. With some classic color combinations, nice contrast, and a bit of weight and movement, I can’t see how these “plain Jane” sakasa kebari wouldn’t catch fish. Here’s the recipe…
Read MoreUnderwater Comparison of Eyed vs. Eyeless Tenkara Flies
I recently got some eyeless tenkara hooks from Tenkara Bum and have been having a lot of fun trying out different patterns. But I was curious…are the claims about eyeless hooks having more action in the water true? So, I decided to do a (very unscientific) test and see. I tied two flies with identical materials, put them underwater, and took video so I coud compare.
Claret & Gold Sakasa Kebari
I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the materials I use to tie my tenkara flies and realized that I’ve been doing a bad job of posting them. So, from now on, I am going to try to post the complete recipe for all the flies I post in the future. Here’s the first of many more to come…
Hook: TMC 2499SPBL #10 or #12
Thread: Claret (or red) 8/0
Body: Claret (or red) 8/0 thread tapered to thorax
Rib: Fine gold wire
Hackle: Jungle cock spade feathers
You can easily substitute regular grizzly hackle for the jungle cock and it will look just as good (or better).
Read MoreEurasian Jay Sakasa Kebari
In the last few years, there’s been a lof of buzz around fishing blue-colored flies. A while ago, I tried to incorporate blue into a tenkara pattern I called the Ninja’s Victim. The blue wire body and starling hackle seemed to work well but I’m always looking for new ways to use unique materials in my tenkara flies and wanted to try something a little more exotic.
Read MoreJungle Cock Sakasa Kebari & More on Spectra Lines
In my ongoing experiments with hackle and materials for sakasa kebari, I’ve found an unlikely source for hackle that looks promising: jungle cock.
Read MoreSilk Thread Sakasa Kebari
Since I can’t go fishing right now, tying flies is the next best thing. In the past few months, I’ve been playing around with some unorthodox body materials for tenkara flies but recently felt the urge to tie some with the more traditional thread bodies. I saw that Tenkara Bum was selling Pearsall’s silk thread, and it kind of jogged my memory. I ransacked a dark corner of my fly tying desk where I throw obscure materials only to confirm my suspicion that I did indeed have a few spools of the gossamer size! And, I even had some workable colors for tenkara flies. But I specifically wanted orange to tie up the classic combination of partridge and orange so I promptly ordered a spool of the truant color from Tenkara Bum.
Read MoreThe Utah Killer Bug
OK, it’s not technically a tenkara fly, but so many tenkara anglers seem to have so much faith in this pattern that I couldn’t ignore it. So, I ended up buying some killer bug yarn from Tenkara Bum (as well as some other stuff like some Pearsall’s silk thread for sakasa kebari) and give the pattern a fair shake.
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Double Sakasa Kebari
I don’t know if this has been tried before or not but I had the idea to play around with the concept of a “double” sakasa kebari. Essentially, it’s just a regular sakasa kebari with two sections of wrapped hackle separated by a “spacer” of thread.
My thinking was that if the main attraction of these flies is the hackle opening and closing, then doubling a good thing might not be a bad thing. In all fairness, I haven’t fished this design yet so I won’t know until I put it in fron of the “judges”. But, I think it’s an interesting concept to explore and one with a lot of possibilities. The fly above is just a prototype to test movement of the hackle.
Read MoreHorsehair Tenkara Flies
That’s right–I said “horsehair tenkara FLIES”, not “horsehair tenkara LINES”. Usually, whenever you combine the words “horsehair” and “tenkara” in the same sentence (or Google search), the discussion is inevitably around horsehair tenkara fly lines. But what many people don’t know is that horsehair (or, more accurately, horse tail) also makes an excellent body material for sakasa kebari.
Read MorePartridge & Black Sakasa Kebari
This is a simple, yet effective fly that would be a good pattern to try for anyone who read my recent post, “A Beginner’s Guide to Tying Tenkara Flies“. With the barring on the hackle, high-contrast ribbing, and muted colors, this is a great all around tenkara wet fly. The key is to tie the hackle very sparsely (no more than 3 turns). This lets the fly sink faster and better mimics the delicate look of natural insects.
The Recipe
Hook: Curved nymph hook #8-#16 (I prefer #12)
Thread: Black 6/0
Rib: Medium silver wire
Hackle: Natural Partridge
Because it’s so easy and inexpensive to tie, you can fish this fly in places you might otherwise avoid for fear of getting snagged. You can easily replace a lost fly in just a few minutes.
What is your go-to Sakasa Kebari?
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Peacock & Starling Sakasa Kebari
In my last post, I briefly mentioned this fly pattern which was very productive on a small lake near Mt. Whitney and I thought I’d post the recipe. It’s a simple fly to tie (as many successful patterns are) and very buggy looking because of the iridescence of the materials used.
The recipe
Hook: Any heavy wet fly hook #12
Thread: Black Uni 8/0
Hackle: Natural Starling
Body: peacock herl
Rib: Medium gold wire (counter wound)
How to fish it
Like any sakasa kebari, it can be fished various ways. You could dead drift it like a nymph, swing it like a wet fly, do a Liesenring lift, etc. However, the method I found to most effective was more like the traditional way of fishing tenkara wet flies. Simply let the fly sink, then slowly lift the rod while twitching the rod tip. This action forces the hackle to open and close, giving it an irresistible ”swimming” motion. I’ve found that fish tend to strike pretty aggressively with this presentation so it’s best to use the heaviest recommended tippet for tenkara rods (5x) to avoid break offs.
Give it a try and hang on!
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Twisted Body Sakasa Kebari
One of the nice things about tenkara wet flies is that while they’re very simple in design, they allow for a lot of experimentation in body construction. This is probably the main thing that keeps me interested in them as a fly tier.
Recently, I’ve been experimenting with wire bodies and epoxy bodies. Now, I’m playing around with a tying technique I used to use on Western-style nymphs: twisted bodies.
I used to tie a fair number of nymphs that used twisted camel hair for the abdomen. Camel hair comes in a hank and you basically pull off a length, tie it in, twist it into a “rope” and then wind it around the hook shank. The result is a nicely segmented body that is durable, yet absorbent enough to help the fly sink faster.
Here is an example of how this technique could be incorporated into a traditional tenkara wet fly pattern. I call it “the Twisted Camel”. Think of it more as a template rather than a dictated recipe. You can substitute any colors or materials you like.
How to Tie the Twisted Camel
Hook: Any wet fly hook will do
Thread: 8/0 Contrasting color behind the eye, black behind the hackle
Hackle: Hungarian Partridge
Abdomen: Twisted Camel Hair (color of your choice)
Thorax: Peacock Herl
Step 1
Tie in your contrasting thread and wrap a nice head. It can be any color you want that you think goes well with the other colors of materials you choose but it should be something brighter than the body color. Depending on your overall color scheme, the contrasting thread could be chartreuse, red, yellow, etc. In this case, I’m using orange thread.
Step 2
Whip finish the contrasting thread and start a new bobbin with black thread on the hook shank.
Step 3
Tie in a partridge hackle feather and strip off one side of the barbules so it looks something like this. Advance the thread back into the thorax a bit to where you’ll want to eventually secure the hackle.
Step 4
Wrap the hackle 4 or 5 times back toward the hook bend and secure with the thread.
Step 5
Pull a length of camel hair from the hank (the amount will depend on how big of a fly you’re tying and how thick you want the segmentation to be). Tie it in behind the hackle and wrap your thread back down the hook toward the bend forming a slightly tapered body. Make sure you return the thread back to the thorax.
Step 6
Using hackle pliers, grab the loose end of the camel hair (making sure you get all of the strands) and twist them into a “rope”. Wind the “rope” toward the hook eye forming tight segments and tie off at the thorax. Be sure to leave enough room to build a thorax of peacock herl.
Step 7
Tie in one or two strands of peacock herl and wind forward to form the thorax. Optionally, you can twist two strands of herl into a “rope” just like you did with the camel hair. This offers a little more durability and bulk (if you want it).
Step 8
Whip finish just behind the hackle and cut the thread. You’re done!
Variations on this pattern are endless. I like to use camel hair because it sinks well and is a natural material but you could substitute anything that comes in a hank such as Antron, SLF, knitting yarn, etc.
Basically, any material you can twist can give your tenkara flies a touch of more realism and fun.
What other materials work for twisted bodies?
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About Me
Jason Klass is a former fly fishing guide who now exclusively fishes Tenkara for trout in the streams and lakes of Colorado...Read More Latest Video
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