In my ongoing exploration of tying tenkara flies on eyeless hooks, I recently got a package of Gosen Torrents Ace GII hooks from Esoteric Tackle. These hooks have a very radical bend that makes them great for tying traditional looking tenkara flies, plus a couple of other features I really like. The hooks…
DetailsRight now, go to your gear closet, man cave, garage, armory, or wherever you keep your fishing gear. Grab your tenkara rod and shake it (vertically). Hear that rattle? It’s the collapsed segments of your rod slamming into the end cap. No, it isn’t broken. In fact, most tenkara rods do this–it’s just intrinsic…
DetailsThe little voice inside my head said I should know better than to hit the stream Memorial weekend (let alone on actual Memorial Day) but sometimes it pays to go against your better judgement… Sure enough, the parking lot at Bear Creek was not only packed, but overflowing. I was lucky to get a…
DetailsWith the impending extinction of the famous orange level line from Tenkara Bum, many tenkara anglers have been on the quest for a good replacement. Sanyo has recently come out with a new orange fluorocarbon line of its own called Valcan, but is it a good substitute for the Tenkara Bum line? At first…
DetailsI swung by Angler’s Covey in Colorado Springs on Sunday and they had a sale on Umpqua Comepetition hooks. They looked like they might be good for sakasa kebari so I picked up a couple of packages in size #10 and #12. I got the C500BL model, which is a short shank heavier wire…
DetailsI just got word that the newly redesigned Stream Pack from TrailLite Designs will be available next week on the Tenkara Bum website. If the name TrailLite Designs sounds familiar, it’s probably because you know them as the creator of the Ebira Rod Quiver–an ingenious tenkara accessory which happens to have been named by yours…
DetailsThey say there has to be a first time for everything. Well, today, the old cliche materialized in triplicate (two good, one not so good). And while people also say, “two out of three ain’t bad”, I’d summarize today as an all around great day despite the fact that one of these firsts just…
DetailsMany anglers tout the effectiveness of using red hooks in their fly patterns. While there appears to be some science behind it, I’m not a red hook fanatic; nor am I a foe. I don’t know if or why red hooks add some attractor qualities to flies or not. I’ve caught fish on them…
DetailsEven the most organized fly tying desks can have cluttered backgrounds that can be distracting when you’re trying to put the finishing touches on that perfect fly. It can not only adversely affect the quality of the fly you’re tying, but also cause eye strain. Here’s a simple, low-cost solution I came up with to…
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A classic color combination in an eyeless sakasa kebari style. For video instructions on how to tie eyeless tenkara flies, click here.
Hook: Owner Super Yamame #7
Head: Orange Uni 8/0 thread
Loop Eye: #2 silk bead cord, white
Hackle: Pheasant
Body: Camel Uni 8/0 thread
Rib: Small copper wire, counterwrapped
Hook: Owner Amano Tenkara Hook #2 or #3 Thread: Uni 8/0 Light Cahill Hackle: Light Dun Hen Body: Pale Yellow Dubbing I’ve been playing around with my Amano tenkara hooks and thought this simple pattern might be a good fit for their smaller size range. If you want to match the hatch, this would be…
DetailsIn Japan, tenkara has been very narrowly defined in terms of gear, technique, and application. The gear part of the definition includes using a long rod, no reel, and simple, unweighted flies. The technique part includes things like using rapids and waterfalls to sink flies rather than weight, watching the line rather than using a…
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