Vicuña Dubbing
I got some eyeless tenkara hooks today from Tenkara Bum: the Owner Yamame and Gamakatsu Amago. They’re both great hooks with interesting bends and finishes that will surely make for some fun experimentation. In Japan, tiers would use a silk cord to form a loop “eye”. I didn’t have any silk cord so I’m just using Dacron backing in different colors for my experiments:
A couple of first attempts:
Now that I’ve got these very unique hooks in my hands, expect a flurry of mad-scientist patterns to come…
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Nice fly! Please do an update after you’ve had a chance to fish with it. I’ve got to think the brookies ing RMNP will be all over it!
I like it – the action in the water ought to be nice with that type of “eye”. Do you know where you can get the proper silk cord for these flies?
I love the idea of loop to loop for tying a fly on, and with that size eye, I won’t even need my glasses!
Nice fly. I got some of those hooks a month or so ago from ebay and they are a lot of fun to tie with. I have been using 210 thread though for the eye. It seems to hold up fine, I’ve caught a couple bluegill and bass on them.
Anthony, check out this thread for some sources. Looks like some craft stores carry it.
So that’s how you do flies like that! NICE!
Jason, I would like to see a video of you tying one of the eyeless hook.
Hi Tom, OK, I’ll add it to the list!
I have a question for anyone on this site. What thread should I use to add on a loop? I want to make sure a fish won’t break it off of the hook. Thanks.
I just use whatever thread I normally use. Usually 8/0 or 6/0. Probably the thinner thread is better because you can make more wraps which will make it stronger. Also, you can add a small amount of superglue just to make sure it won’t come off.
Are there any sub-surface flies in the Tenkara realm?
Hi Jason, traditionally, probably all flies were fished sub surface. And the iconic sakasa kebari style flies are basically wet flies so, yes. In fact I’d say tenkara anglers in Japan probably fish more sub surface than on top.