Vicuña Dubbing
I’ve been meaning to share this fly for some time but for whatever reason, haven’t gotten around to it until now. It’s one of my most productive flies and although tenkara flies typically don’t intentionally match the hatch, I call it the “Clear Creek Kebari” because it’s a top producer on my home river of Clear Creek.
Honestly, I had little confidence in this fly until I had a few stellar days on Clear Creek, which is brimming with caddis. I’m not exactly sure why the fish find it so so appealing. It could be that the caddis green body is a trigger. Or the blue hook. Or the pulsing reverse hackle. Or the combination of those qualities. But it sure does work and ranks among my top confidence flies.
I find that the best way to fish it is with a downstream twitching presentation as shown here:
Here’s the recipe. This pattern is tied on an eyeless tenkara hook so you’ll need some silk bead cord to form an eye.
Hook: Gamakatsu Amago blue hook size 7.5 (available here)
Eye: #2 white silk bead cord
Thread: Uni 8/0 Olive Dun
Hackle: Whiting brahma Hen, silver badger
Body: Caddis green Antron/hare blend dubbing
I tie it with a pretty full body and pronounced hump right behind the hackle but of course, you can tie it any way you want. But beware: if you fish it, hang on tight. Trout hit this fly pretty hard!
Like this article? You might also like these ...
Caddy Kebari. I like it. Great looking fly Jason, and tied on one of my favorite hooks too. Don’t sound so surprised though, that it works well for you. It really does resemble a rock worm caddis larva which makes it a great choice on many, if not most waters. Add in the irresistible movement of the reverse hackle and POW! Fish on! The simplicity of a sakasa can be sublime, but match the hatch still has strong validity. Looks like the best of East meets West all on one plate. Did I mention I like it?
JD
– good one. The first pattern that I was addicted to was a beadhead caddis, so easy to tie for a beginner. It was just the same body material as you use but with a beadhead and no hackle – about as simple as you can get.
Hi Anthony, I’ve got a bunch of those exact same flies. Very effective for as simple as they are.
Great bug – plus an ONI sighting!
Thanks Jim. Better than an OVNI sighting! Wait…maybe not.
I discover tenkara this winter. it is the perfect way to fish. It solve many problems. I like this green fly. look like a gammarus. I will tie it whit a sparkling green material i used for gammarus. thanks a lot!
Thanks Caroline. Please post a picture of it!
The color not only ‘matches the hatch’ but seems like it would make it easier to track in the air as well. There is a lot to be said for light hackle colors and hand/fly coordination. Truely this is the most functional form of tying a fly.
hahah how do you remove THAT?!