Tenkara Flies: Traditional and Adaptations

“Presentation and precision, once you have that skill down it really doesn’t matter what flies you choose to use.”

John Vetterli

If there’s one area of fly-fishing – in general – that stirs the pot of emotions, it’s the flies that we use. Traditional tenkara flies are very simple to tie and are minimalist in the amount of material they consume. So you will not see an overdressed fly pattern used in traditional tenkara fly patterns. There isn’t a traditional Japanese pattern that hasn’t caught trout almost anywhere in the United States. If you focus just on the traditional Japanese patterns available, you’ll find that once again simplicity and minimalism have been applied. Compared to the seemingly endless number of Western fly patterns available (with “new” patterns introduced almost every day), the number of different Japanese patterns is a mere fraction of Western patterns. With minimal fly selection comes the notion from traditional Japanese tenkara anglers that you can and should fish with just one pattern at all times. Traditional tenkara anglers put more emphasis on the delivery and manipulation of the fly than agonizing over which pattern to use at any given time. It goes right against the Western fly-fishing grain of “matching-the-hatch,” for sure.

So, with tenkara anglers there are basically two schools of thought. The first school of anglers uses traditional Japanese fly patterns. Of that, there is a group that will use only one Japanese pattern consistently and another that will change Japanese patterns as they see fit. The second school uses both Japanese patterns and Western patterns that have been re-designed in the minimalist kebari (trout fly) way. These Western-originated-but-tenkara-adapted fly patterns are fast becoming popular.

With the tenkara rod you can use almost any Western fly pattern except the largest, bulkiest or heaviest patterns. Tenkara fly-fishing doesn’t really lend itself to heavy and bulky fly patterns. You could try them but chances are you’ll be disappointed because of the lack of stealth and accuracy you’ll have. In Western fly fishing, I harbor no ill will against dry-fly only anglers who will stand in water and wait for however long it takes to find a fish that is taking rising insects. Or, anglers who shun catching trout under 14 inches.

So, you’ll find anglers who use the tenkara method of fishing but differ greatly in their selection of flies. Again, some tenkara anglers are very comfortable and seek out the challenge of fishing one type of pattern. Then there are those who will use both traditional kebari flies as well as Western adaptations and traditional Western flies. Who’s right? Everyone is. My feeling is if you want to stay with a very traditional interpretation of tenkara, fine. And, if you are somewhere in-between, that’s fine too. The one thing I think we can all agree on – at least to some degree – is that size still plays a role in fly selection regardless of what fly you decide to use. The important thing is that we all respect the different approaches we will inevitably take as we explore tenkara. Either way, I think you’ll enjoy the varied insights our tenkara anglers have shared with us in this section. Galhardo: Trout have to eat, and they have to take advantage of most feeding opportunities presented to them. If one were to watch trout feeding underwater they would notice trout taking leaves, rocks and twigs in their mouths in an attempt to extract food (for example, nymphs that are clung to leaves). The goal of a fly angler is to present the fish with something that will be mistaken for potential food and that at the same time will look natural or enticing enough that the trout will not reject it. I do not view matching-the-hatch (trying to match the artificial fly with the natural insects present in a stream) as essential. When I first heard of the concept that tenkara anglers tend to stick with their one fly pattern, rather than switching flies if something wasn’t working as I was taught to do, I was very skeptical. It was such a different way of thinking about fly-fishing. I had been taught to look at bugs in the water and try to imitate them. But now, I was suddenly being told that anglers in Japan –

tenkara anglers that is – have been catching trout for centuries without much concern for their fly. Furthermore, they were very successful. They had to be. These are just different philosophies. I think it is easy to believe that the fly has to match the food most commonly present in the stream; it’s an easy variable to see and change. However, like most tenkara anglers in Japan, I have taken the view that my technique is more important. For about two years now, I have been on this mission of learning how to manipulate my fly in different ways and perfecting technique. It took a while, but I can attest I have not felt that I am catching less fish. If anything, I feel that I have become a much more effective angler. Rather than switching flies, I keep my fly in the water and work on my presentation. I have fished alongside several anglers who said I had to match the hatch on a particular day or a particular stream. But, in the end, I caught at least as many fish as they did, if not more. So, at this point I really don’t believe in the need to match-the-hatch. I’ll never know whether one philosophy has more merit than the other; there are just too many variables to consider. What I can say is that taking a one-fly approach (which really means, “any fly is OK” within reasonable sizes) has been the most liberating aspect of tenkara for me. I can go to any stream, anywhere in the world for trout and carry one fly box with me. I do not have to consult books on hatches, or stop to ask what is hatching before hitting the stream. And, when I’m fishing, I just fish and do not concern myself with what the fish may be feeding on. Vertrees: I don’t believe that to be a “true” tenkara angler that you have to fish only one fly and rarely switch flies. I enjoy using a variety of patterns, including traditional tenkara, Western dries and streamers, and terrestrials. I do use traditional tenkara patterns a lot, and the one I use the most is a sakasa kebari pattern. Earlier this year I came up with my own sakasa kebari pattern, the Lite Brite Kebari, and it proved to be very effective. The Killer Bug and Killer Kebari patterns have both done very well for me too, although they’re not traditional Japanese patterns. I’ve learned a lot about how fish see, and the qualities of their vision from Dr. Hisao Ishigaki, the foremost expert of tenkara in Japan. He showed me how trout really don’t see all that well under water, or at least can’t see in minute detail. I really think the movement of a fly – and its

position in the water column – has more to do with its effectiveness than the detail of the pattern. I have experienced time after time that in some cases it does matter quite a bit which pattern you use. Again, it really relates to movement and position in or on the water. A perfect example of this is late summer fishing with grass-lined water or big meadows. Quite often, trout will hit floating terrestrial patterns (hoppers, beetles and ants) more than any other pattern or technique. I’ve done a lot of experimentation, comparing a sakasa kebari to a terrestrial in those situations, and the terrestrial wins a lot of the time. There are many variables involved with choosing a good pattern, but I have discovered some overall strategies that work. One very valuable thing I learned from Daniel Galhardo is how to use hydraulics to manipulate a fly without adding weight. The ability to use currents and plunge pools to manipulate the fly is a very effective technique. A traditional sakasa kebari pattern is designed to be manipulated by the angler, and it does very well when fished that way. That’s a huge advantage! Other patterns, especially Western dry-fly patterns, are not designed that way and offer less advantage in terms of manipulation by the angler. Western dry-fly patterns that are dead drifted don’t offer the same advantage as sub-surface soft hackle patterns that can be manipulated under the surface of the water. I feel I’ve been more successful fishing Western dry-fly patterns with tenkara than I did previously. The tenkara long rod/short line system allows the angler to keep a lot of the line off the water and achieve a drag-free drift more easily than with a Western rod. There’s no line mending. Medium- to short-range casting means you can be more accurate delivering the fly as well. Lyle: The signature characteristic of tenkara flies is the “reverse hackle,” but except for the direction of the hackle fibers, they’re exactly like the wingless, soft-hackle wet flies used for centuries in the U.S. and Europe. I suspect the reversed hackle adds more action to the fly, by looking like helplessly waving limbs or antennae. In fact, an old mentor of mine used to tie some of his soft hackles this way so that the hackle fibers wouldn’t fold flat against the body of the fly and “disappear” when pulled through the water. There’s no question that sakasa kebari, as reverse hackle flies are known in Japan, are effective. Then again, some Japanese anglers fish tenkara with flies that have the hackle tips pointing rearward like

Western flies. My go-to tenkara fly is actually an adaptation of a Western fly – the Killer Kebari, invented by the Tenkara Bum, Chris Stewart. It’s the Killer Bug, originated by Frank Sawyer (inventor of the Pheasant Tail nymph) on the Avon River in England in the 20th Century, with a hackle added. Chris ties his Killer Kebari with Western-style hackles; I like it reversed. It’s an awesome fly. I’ve caught a lot of trout on it. For dry-fly-fishing with tenkara, I only use American dry flies, everything from Comparaduns to Catskill-style dries to parachute patterns. They all work. In slow-flowing, calm water, I’ll use flush-floating flies like Comparaduns and parachutes, or Catskill flies with the bottom half of the hackle snipped off – the slim profile is great on some streams. ElkHair Caddis and variations such as the CDC Elk are great for tenkara rods, because they cast well and because they suit the ethos of one versatile fly that works well in many situations. Naples: Many folks picture the “reverse-hackle” sakasa kebari when you talk about tenkara flies. But if you check out Yoshikazu Fujioka’s website My Best Streams (www.hi-ho.ne.jp/amago/bstreams/index2.html) you’ll find pictures of tenkara kebari from all over Japan. Some of these are sakasa style but many (maybe most) aren’t. The style and materials of these flies is all over the spectrum. And these are just some that have been recorded by Fujioka San. Imagine all the variations that we’ll never know about, that are lost to history. Also, after seeing flies from some Japanese tenkara anglers in person recently, the notion of the traditional tenkara fly as a unified style seems pretty elusive. I do tie and fish some sakasa kebari-style flies and I like them mostly for high-gradient, less-fertile, tumbling mountain streams. My all-around, go-to fly is based on an old wet fly called a brown-hackle peacock. Basically it’s a peacock herl body and brown hen hackle collar. I tie it with a brown hackle tail, but I’m not sure the tail really matters. The traditional version has a red wool tag for a tail. I started tying and fishing this pattern prior to my introduction to tenkara, but it bears a close resemblance to traditional tenkara flies especially some that Yoshikazu Fujioka lists from the Banshu and Hida Shokawa regions. It’s fairly impressionistic, but also a pretty good imitation of a mayfly nymph. I do use dry flies. In my opinion, dry-fly-fishing with tenkara is a mixed

bag. Technical dry-fly-fishing with small flies on big slow pools, smooth water, etc...and at a distance is not great. I think the long soft-nylon George Harvey-style leaders and Western gear are better for that kind of dry-fly-fishing. But fishing dries closer in, on small pools on small streams, and in faster water such as in small plunge pools, fast runs, pocket water, riffles, etc…are very effective and fun. You just can’t fish dries very far off with traditional tenkara techniques, you need to lay the line out on the water for that effectively. When you start doing that you are now essentially Western-style dry-fly-fishing with a tenkara rod. There’s nothing wrong with that. But often when I’m tenkara dry-flyfishing, I’m passing by those big slow pools in favor of other water. That is not a problem for me though – I love pocket water. My ideal trout stream would be pocket water for miles. And don’t overlook beadhead and other weighted nymphs. Small weighted nymphs and small bead-head flies will cast very easily with a tenkara rod. I think that there are a lot of tenkara anglers in the U.S. fishing weighted flies and beadhead flies. On bigger rivers with deep holes and deep runs, or even on deep sections of smaller streams, weighted flies can get your fly down where the fish are. This is not within the realm of traditional tenkara, and it is maybe a bit of a crutch. A traditional tenkara angler will cast upstream of his target to give his flies time to sink and use the stream structure to get his flies deeper such as by casting into the white water at the head of pool, etc… But these kinds of tactics have their limits, and weighted flies can be an answer to a problem. Many tenkara anglers choose to keep it traditional, and do not use weighted flies. Or, like Lee Wulff, you may want to give the fish the sanctuary of deep water. But these are philosophical, rather than practical considerations. Aspiring tenkara anglers just need to know that weighted flies can be fished, and fished with great success, with a tenkara rod.

As the flies get heavier though, casting them with a tenkara rod gets less and less pleasant – until finally you’re pretty much just chucking the weight of the flies and no longer fly-casting at all. When I’m casting heavy nymphs, I use a shorter line. One way to cast heavy nymphs or even heavy streamers with a light line is to let the fly drift downstream of your location until the current is tugging on it. Then, using the tension of the water to load the rod, you can cast upstream. By doing this you avoid having to try and back cast, which can be tough with a light line

and heavy flies. The soft, supple tip of the tenkara rod does make hooksetting with very heavy nymphs more difficult. If you’re interested in experimenting with different lines and rigging, there are a lot of possibilities that would make fishing heavier flies easier. Or, you can also just keep it simple and stick to the same level line. Lansky: I have been using traditional tenkara flies this year more than in the past. I typically only use the ones I tied because I tie them trying different colors, hackle and sizes. I don’t have a preference but I seem to get back to patterns that are dark colored and have some sort of a contrast built in, such as lighter hackle, hot spot, ribbing, etc…. I believe that the contrast ads another visual element to grab the fish’s attention – and you can’t catch a fish if the fish doesn’t notice or see your fly. I also like lighter colored hackle since I can track the fly in the water column better. I have come to fish traditional tenkara flies in many different ways and they have proved to be effective. That being said, I was a skeptic for a long time. But if you give them a chance and invest time to learn how to fish them they can be very effective. Their simplicity invites you to play with them, add movement and entice the fish for a strike.

Worthing: Flies modeled after traditional tenkara patterns (aka kebari) are very, very effective. In fact, the list of places I don’t feel confident in catching fish using kebari seems to be getting smaller each season. That includes many Western rivers that are traditionally considered highpressure, bio-diverse, match-the-hatch-or-die kind of waters. The reason isn’t because the fly doesn’t matter. It is because kebari patterns are perfectly matched tools for use with tenkara rods and tenkara techniques. At Tenkara Guides, we’ve been experimenting with wool-bodied flies for some time now. The first was the Utah Killer Bug, a variation on Sawyer’s Killer Bug. Chris Stewart was the one who originally adopted Sawyer’s pattern to tenkara. We tweaked it a bit further. The long rod and tight line of a tenkara setup allows you to dance a dry like nothing else. There’s nothing like the casting accuracy and hook-set capabilities when fishing terrestrials with a tenkara rod. The control while dancing a caddis comes in a close second. At least once a month, I dream about a 30-plus-inch rainbow rising from the depths on a mouse

pattern skirting on the end of a tenkara rod. I love dries. I’ve bounced back and forth between Western techniques, traditional tenkara and everything in between. This experimentation yielded two surprising developments. Both are based off the fact that tenkara shares many of the same elemental fish-catching principles as other effective techniques. First, tenkara is a remarkably effective tool for hybridizing Western techniques. Second, the practice of certain non-tenkara techniques can actually improve your traditional tenkara technique. Czech nymphing illustrates these two points well. Czech nymphing and tenkara are both tight-line techniques, where a goal is to establish and preserve a direct connection with the fly. Because tenkara rods evolved as tools for tight-line technique fishing traditional tenkara, they make excellent Czech nymphing tools. Czech nymphing takes tight-line technique to an extreme. The practice of Czech nymphing can actually improve your tight-line tenkara technique. For example, learning to feel the difference between the fly bouncing off a pebbled river bottom and a subtle strike. Vetterli: There are simply some anglers who are intrigued with the one fly pattern approach and have chosen that method and many tenkara anglers who use Western-style dry flies or weighted nymphs and the match-the-hatch method. One is not better or more correct than the other, they are just different approaches to the same goal. The simple fact is fish really don’t care about what type of fly you are using as long as it somewhat resembles the size or color of what critters are in the water that they are eating. What really matters is presentation and precision. I personally like the one-fly methodology because it forces me to work on presentation and precision. One fly pattern is a restriction I place on myself in order to improve on other aspects of my fishing skill set. Fly manipulation with Japanese-style kebari is a fun and challenging method to entice fish to strike and the sakasa-style kebari are designed with that in mind and do it better than any other fly design. With that said, I like the Takayama Sakasa Kebari pattern. It is fun to tie and fun to use fishing. My kebari box is loaded with size 12 sakasa kebari in a range of body colors. It’s the same fly pattern with a variety of colors. I rarely spend time digging through my fly box looking for the perfect color fly. I just grab one, tie it on and fish. If I lose a fly to the tree gods

or rock snags, I just grab another one from the box, it may be a different color but I don’t care and neither do the fish, as long as I have good presentation and precision. I like fishing dry flies when the fish are surface feeding. Again, presentation and precision are what dry-fly-fishing is all about and tenkara rods make this much easier. Because I have no line in the water to manage, my presentation is remarkably better. I miss fewer strikes because I don’t have to drag a bunch of line off the water to set the hook.

Ostrander: The people that started what we now call “tenkara” were poor, mountain people trying to catch-and-sell fish for a living. They had very limited resources – maybe only a sewing needle, a bit of thread and a feather from last night’s bird dinner. All they wanted to do was catch a ton of fish in the nutrient poor streams that flowed through Japan’s mountains.

Kebari are very effective in fast flowing, nutrient poor water. It doesn’t matter which kind of kebari you use. They all work, they all trick fish. In faster water I prefer stiffer hackle and a bigger hook, while in slower water I prefer to use softer hackle and a smaller hook. When you stop to think about it, a kebari is just a traditional Western soft hackle for faster water. Kebari are effective because they imitate nothing and everything at the same time. The moving hackle of a kebari is what gives the fly life. The fish don’t know what it is, but it’s moving, so they’re going to put it in their mouth. A well-tied kebari gives you the ultimate advantage because it takes all the energy from a feather and transforms it into something alive.

If you look at all the patterns developed throughout Japan you’ll realize that there is a lot of variety. Fly patterns change from area to area depending on local fishing styles and resources. Some are dry flies while some are wet flies. Some have hackle pointing forward, and some have hackle pointing out perpendicular. Is there some logic as to what kebari to use? How do you become a tenkara master when there are so many different kebari patterns to choose from? What is the one true path? Tenkara as we know it today is a sport, and not a way of subsistence

living in Japan. The truth is that there is no one true kebari. The one fly philosophy of “kebari only” is simply another way to make fishing more restrictive for you. It doesn’t matter what one fly you choose as long as it is a general attractor, you know how to fish it, and you have confidence in it. The benefit of “one fly” is that you’ll be spending more time with your fly in the water. My favorite fly for fast mountain streams is a Purple Haze kebari made with a turn of partridge, a turn of grizzly wrapped Ishigaki style and purple thread from the fabric store all on a size 12 scud hook. Although, my favorite fly of all is the Utah Killer Bug. Tie on a Purple Haze kebari with a Utah Killer Bug, and those mountain trout won’t know what hit ’em. When I fish rivers swollen with runoff I use an E.R. Wool Body kebari tied on a size 4 circle hook with Jamison’s Shetland Spindrift wool in purple haze and moorit, paired with green fluorescent fly and a huge, brown partridge feather. On the other hand, when I fish big rivers in fast water with fish down deep I use a wire worm. It’s just a huge hook wrapped with wire and a thread egg sac. It’s deadly and it’s not a kebari. I use a split back mayfly during summer when I know PMDs (pale morning dun) or PEDs (pale evening dun) are out, and during winter, on frigid water, I use a CDC midge trailed by a size 20 kebari in black. My point is that the fly matters, but it doesn’t matter all at the same time. Recently, I was out fishing a familiar watershed. We came to a hole that I had fished many times before and where I caught many fish. I tied on a kebari that I knew would work in the right color and size. We caught fish, but we didn’t catch fish like I knew we could catch fish. I furiously tried patterns I knew would work with all sorts of combinations. After about a half-hour of experimentation I figured out the magical combination of a Purple Haze Parachute Adams with a bead head shop vac as a dropper, and you couldn’t use one without the other. It turned a 12-fish day into a 50-fish day. There was no match-the-hatch, nor was there a one-fly approach. However, there was one fly, and there was match the hatch.

The takeaway from tenkara is that you should use flies that simply catch

fish. The poor Japanese fishermen that started tenkara for subsistence living didn’t care what flies they used. They wanted food for the table and fish for the market.

Experiment like crazy with flies and your tenkara rod. Sure, you can use the flies you’ve always used. Sure, you could use a kebari, but what if you used something else? I have had the unique privilege of fishing with my good friend Rob Worthing. Rob and I try all sorts of stupid stuff. We may have been the first people in the world dumb enough to use our tenkara rods with size 2 hooks wrapped in red wire or some of Kelly Gallup’s big sex-fetish named streamers. From all the European nymphing techniques to the West’s techniques to traditional Japanese techniques, tenkara works for them all. Some people get scared if you call it tenkara, so I call it “Ten Colors.”

THE TENKARA ADVANTAGE: THE ART AND SCIENCE OF MANIPULATING THE FLY

“I really think the movement of a fly – and its position in the water column –has more to do with its effectiveness than the detail of the pattern.”

Paul Vertrees

Besides offering a stealthy and natural presentation of a fly to trout, tenkara anglers can also learn to manipulate their fly in ways that impart action and draw strikes. The tenkara advantages of dead drifting are excellent and the skill of imparting enough action through fly manipulation is an artform. Many anglers find it hard to grasp that it’s the manipulation of the fly that gives the tenkara angler an advantage. No one captured that thought better than Morgan Lyle when he said, “Real insects wiggle and flail around in the water. More and more video is being shot showing them darting, hopping and scooting around, not just drifting along. Trout want to eat living things, and living things move.” So if you’re really interested in incorporating tenkara fly-fishing into your angling world, pay close attention to this section. Then go out and practice, practice and practice … on the stream of course!

Naples: For me, I would say that fly manipulation is more related to the direct connection to the fly, without added weight on the leader (split shot), or fly line dragging on the water’s surface. That’s what I see as the fly manipulation advantage, the ability to fish at a distance and still maintain direct contact to the drifting fly. It’s very similar to what the Czech-nymphing guys are doing but at a greater distance, with a longer rod and with unweighted flies. I’ll do some active fly manipulation, especially at the end of the drift, but I’m mostly focused on a getting the fly down, keeping the rod tip downstream of the fly, keeping in contact with the fly and getting a good drift. Typically, my first approach is a dead-drift through the fish lie. Then, if I don’t get any takers, I’ll try some pulses during the drift and maybe a swing and lift at the end, with some twitches. Sometimes the fish are really triggered by that, but not always. Klass: I almost always move the fly and have found it to be extremely effective. I think there are two reasons for this. 1.) When pulsing a tenkara fly such as a sakasa kebari, the hackle opens and closes. This action is very attractive to fish because it looks like a swimming insect. 2.) Especially on pressured waters, the fish probably see the same Western flies over and over, everyday, with the same presentation. Since tenkara anglers are still a relatively small segment of people on the stream (and even fewer of those who use more traditional flies and techniques), I believe a completely different presentation can be more effective. I’ve fished rivers where if the fish could speak, they’d probably be able to list off the recipes of every fly they’ve seen that day. But if you show them something different (something they haven’t been caught on 10 times before), they’re more likely to take. Fish become selective because they learn. They get conditioned that every time they take that thing that looks like a #14 Adams, they get yanked out of the water. But if you present something completely different, I think you actually stand a better chance of convincing wary trout that your fly is food. Lansky: I think the concept of fly manipulation is harder to grasp for those who have a Western fly-fishing history where most of the time the mantra is that a fly has to be dead drifted to be most successful. A beginner though will understand that an insect is alive, wiggles, swims, tries to escape, etc…and that a trout, the predator, will react to movement. When I fish traditional tenkara flies, I first let the fly dead drift a few times through a run and if nothing is happening, I do a few more casts manipulating the fly. If I still haven’t caught a fish after a

dozen casts I move on to the next spot. There is no sense to spend a lot of time fishing one spot if you are not catching any fish. Stewart: I think the biggest advantage is not manipulation but just getting better drifts. You’ll catch more fish with a long rod and light line even if all you do is fish dead drift. That said, I do believe that manipulation does occasionally draw strikes. If something moves on its own, not only is it alive (and therefore food), it is getting away. It can draw a predatory response. Worthing: I think manipulation is just one of many aspects that can give the tenkara angler an advantage. Tenkara allows for incredibly precise, delicate casting. By holding the line off the water, you can accomplish zero drag drifts. Combine those two points, and you can fish entire stretches of highly featured water that most anglers dismiss. Tenkara also allows for very subtle strike detection, by both feel and sight, through its tight-line technique. You can improve your hook-set rate with that tight line as well. False casting is unnecessary in tenkara, so the fly spends more time in front of a fish. These are just some of the advantages. My own fishing pattern illustrates this. Through all conditions, I catch 75 percent of fish utilizing precise casting, tight line off the water and the pure absence of manipulation – a zero drag drift. Add in “The Wiggle” and you account for 90 percent of fish. Eight manipulation techniques I employ account for only 10 percent of the fish I catch. Yes, fly manipulation can be deadly. But a vast majority of the success I enjoy has little to do with active fly manipulation. When I do actively manipulate the fly, I rarely need but one technique. In reality, success depends on the combination of many other advantages tenkara brings to the table. Vetterli: I like to believe that fly manipulation gives me a slight advantage as long as I am not jerking the fly away from the fish when they are about to take the fly. I have spent several hours being taught fly manipulation skills by Dr. Hisao Ishigaki, the recognized fly manipulation master. It is a set of skills of the highest order and takes considerable practice to become truly proficient at it. I have a methodology that I employ while fishing. I begin by systematically casting to a “fishy spot” in the water

using a dead drift. If after a few casts and nothing produces, I will try manipulation techniques. I would honestly say that fly manipulation produces fish about 50 percent of the time. I know that I have many more years of practice before I can declare that for me, fly manipulation is a totally effective technique. Ostrander: For as long as lure fishing has been around, anglers have fished with a tight line, directly manipulating the fly. Only with recent technology has the connection between angler and fly been purposely broken. Indicator fishing gives control of the fly to a pink bubble and dry fly-fishing gives control of the fly to the river. Think of your fly in a river as your car on a highway with on-ramps, exit lanes and traffic. If you are awake behind the wheel then you can direct which overpass to drive on and which exit lane to take while navigating through traffic. Tenkara is like staying awake behind the wheel, behind the wheel of a sports car. Get back control of your fly and start deciding what the fly does for you. Gibson: Due to several things including the length of the rods, the lightness of the lines and the design of the flies you are able to add an incredible amount of action to the fly. This action can be a trigger to fish on a level that is, at best, very difficult to impart to a fly with a Westernstyle fishing set up. Using the reverse (sakasa) hackle-style flies, the tenkara angler is able to bring a fly, that is otherwise dead, to life by making the hackle of the fly pulse and twitch like the legs of a real living insect swimming through the currents. This lifelike motion of the fly can only add to the potential appeal to a fish. The movement of an insect is often what triggers a response from a fish that might otherwise write-off a potential meal as debris floating past. The same response can be triggered with the action of a fly being pulsated through the water.

MATCHING-THE-HATCH VS. TRADITIONAL TENKARA: WE CAN LIVE IN BOTH WORLDS

“Good skills with the ‘wrong’ fly will beat the ‘right’ fly and bad technique any day of the week.”

Anthony Naples

Not long ago I was giving a seminar on tenkara basics and one gentleman raised his hand. He wanted to know how could a “one-fly” tenkara angler be successful in very bio-diverse waters that are rich with insects and other food items and where trout are notoriously picky about the insect they want? Good question. I went into an explanation that using one fly pattern or even just limiting yourself to just a handful of patterns for all of your angling hones your skill on presentation and fly manipulation. I knew by the look on his face and his body language that he was buying none of it. So I concluded with the idea that for those who want to limit themselves to the discipline of using one fly pattern for all situations have just as much right to do so as those who cram every pattern they can think of into their vests. Then there are those anglers who are between the two groups and bring just what they need based on seasonal selections.

We live in a free country. So, you’re free to survey the wide range of opinions on the issue of match-the-hatch or settling on one kebari pattern for all occasions. Do what brings you the most enjoyment. Lyle: I don’t think “hatch-matching” is as important to fly-fishing as it was 20 years ago. “Attractor” flies that don’t imitate any specific insect or crustacean or baitfish are more popular than ever, and lots of people are catching fish on them. The exception may be dry flies, but even there, you see more people using things like snowshoe hare’s ear emergers instead of flies carefully designed to be replicas of particular insects. I think most American anglers find one fly too restrictive, but the idea of having a small selection of general-purpose flies is popular with many fly-fishers these days, and these folks are catching a lot of fish. Having said that, there have been times when despite my absolute best efforts, I

could not get fish to take anything but flies that were very close in size, color and style to the naturals on the water. Most of the time, however, presentation and technique are more important than pattern, within reason. Naples: I wouldn’t say I’m a one-fly guy. I enjoy tying flies too much for that. Much of the fun in fly-fishing for me is tying flies. I’d get bored tying and fishing the same fly all of the time. But generally, I’m not taking very many patterns to the stream, and I’ll often stick with one all day –but it may vary from day to day. Sometimes when a fly is fishing effectively for me and catching fish, I’ll change it up just to try something else; just to see what else will work that day. I think a part of that one-fly idea is confidence. When you’re confident in your fly and techniques, you’ll fish hard. You’ll pay attention and be focused because you know that you may hook into a fish at any time. When you’re not confident, when you’re doubting your fly selection, it can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. You won’t fish with the same kind of focus if you doubt yourself. In a fly-tying video that I just watched (“Tying Tenkara Flies Volume 1,”, produced by learntenkara.com), Dr. Hisao Ishigaki says something like – When you realize that the fly doesn’t matter, you’ll start catching more fish. I think that the idea of confidence is part of what he means there. I may not be a one-fly purist, but I have discovered that one simple pattern, fished with good technique can be much more effective than I would have believed prior to my tenkara habit. One particular stream that I fish is hit very hard. It’s a limestone stream with plenty of wild brown trout. I’ve consciously stuck to the peacock and brown for my tenkara fishing there and I’m doing better than ever. So there’s something going for focusing less on switching flies and more on better presentation for sure. So I’d say that for me it is the idea of keeping fly selection simple and focusing on approach, stealth and good fly presentation. It’s liberating to spend more time fishing and less time thinking about switching flies. Tie on a fly, walk along the stream, look for takers – no takers – then move along to the next spot. I see the one-fly approach as a philosophy as much as a practical approach. For instance, when I come to that really deep hole, or deep run or a slow pool with midge-sippers, I may be “better” served by switching up the fly I’m using. Or, I can just move to the riffle above the hole, or to that nice stretch of pocket water around the bend. So is

that particular “one-fly” best on every section of that stream? Probably not, but I can always move along to a stream section that is better for my kind of tenkara. And maybe this is pushing it a bit, but there’s a sort of built-in conservation inherent to this approach too. I’m leaving certain areas alone. I don’t need to try and catch every fish (not that there’s any danger of that), I’m letting some fish be. It’s something akin to Lee Wulff’s notion of not fishing deep with added weight on the line and allowing trout the “sanctuary of deep water.” Good skills with the “wrong” fly will beat the “right” fly and bad technique any day of the week. Fly selection is only one part of the equation. If fly-fishing were all about the “right” fly, then we should all be able to go to the fly shop and buy the “right” flies and then go catch all the fish. And this doesn’t happen. So, obviously there is much more to it than fly selection. Breaking it down to simple parts, catching a fish involves bringing the following things together: Locating the fish, not spooking the fish, getting the fish to notice and eat the fly, detecting the strike, setting the hook and landing the fish. In general, the successful fly angler needs to get proficient in all of these things. To be most successful, he/she needs to be able to read trout streams and understand daily and seasonal trout movement to find fish. You need to know how to be stealthy in wading and casting, you need to know how to cast accurately and how to use stream hydrodynamics to get the fly down to the fish. You need to be able to detect the strike (much overlooked), set the hook and land the fish. When I give my tenkara rod to my kids or to a new angler, and send them to a fishy spot, with a fly that I know will work, they very often come up empty handed. Then I, or another experienced angler, fishes the same spot and catches a fish. What’s going on? It’s all in presentation, strike-detection and hook-setting. I think that in some ways pitting “match-the-hatch” vs. “tenkara onefly” is a losing proposition. Folks have seen “match-the-hatch” work. I’ve seen it work. I’ve seen fish get pretty picky. I can’t in good conscience throw out all of Western fly-fishing’s tradition of matching natural bugs during a hatch. And let’s include matching predominant subsurface foods in rich streams, during non-hatch times. This is, of

course, compounded in catch and release streams. For some guys tying exacting imitations of all stages of the mayfly cycle from nymph to spinner and fishing them to actively feeding fish is the whole appeal of fly-fishing. I don’t have a problem with that, if that’s what they like. I don’t have any desire to argue about it. Tenkara, especially traditional tenkara, is a different approach to fishing, not only practically but philosophically. I don’t feel the need to compare the two and come out with a “winner.” I guess my attitude is this: Matching-the-hatch doesn’t matter except when it does matter, and I’m willing to accept that. If that pool full of risers doesn’t like your sakasa kebari (and some usually will) you’ve got several choices. Change flies, or move along to another spot and look for some willing fish. Which is simpler? Which appeals to you more? The answer won’t be the same for everyone, and it won’t be the same for me all the time. If I’m going to Spring Creek in central Pennsylvania during the sulphur hatch, I’m taking some sulphur nymphs, emergers and dries with me. It’s just too much fun to pass up. Most of my time on the stream, however, is at those times when a hatch is not happening. At these times, the fish are going to be more opportunistic even on the richer streams. With tenkara I’ve caught fish on pretty generic fly patterns on some supposedly tough, bio-diverse and rich streams. Tenkara can really help with presentation and stealth – two important parts of the fish-catching equation. And let’s be honest, most tenkara flies are still based on an insect (or other aquatic invertebrate) form, they still represent something that looks like a food item. It’s not like tenkara anglers are all tying just any old thing, the flies for the most part are still using those buggy triggers; movement from soft hackle, larva or nymph-like silhouette, shimmer from peacock herl, etc…. Tenkara flies are still pretty good bug imitations. One last thought. Think about the origins of tenkara. Remember that tenkara developed as a commercial form of fishing on small mountain streams in Japan. These were catch and keep anglers fishing for eager, unschooled, fish in small, fast-flowing, infertile streams. This is where tenkara developed and it was optimized for these conditions. Under these conditions, the idea of “the fly doesn’t matter” is at its most valid. Many anglers in the United States are using tenkara under different conditions – conditions not within the original scope of the method. So it is only natural for different flies, methods and tactics to be used. If

tenkara were developed to fish the big rivers of the West, or tail-waters or spring creeks – it may have developed a very different philosophy, and a different set of tactics and flies.

Sadler: When someone tells me “you have to have the matching fly or you won’t catch anything,” I get pretty skeptical. There are too many other factors involved to keep you from catching fish to blame it all on the fly. In 50-plus years of fishing I have seen those statements proved wrong enough times to convince me that the minute you think that is the key then you are going to get surprised. Klass: I’d agree that there probably are some places where match-thehatch will be more effective than the impressionistic nature of tenkara flies but they’re in the minority. Each stream has its own culture and the fish behave differently. But I think the vast majority of trout are opportunistic and if presented with something that convincingly looks like food, most trout will take it. If they don’t, move on to a different fish that might be more cooperative. That’s probably a better use of your time than staying on one fish and tying on 10 different flies to see which one they’ll finally take (if any). Kuhlow: I do not use a large number of fly patterns, but over the last couple of years my list has dwindled to only a handful of regulars. Among them is always a sakasa kebari of my own creation, the Royal Sakasa Kebari. It’s a combination of a traditional sakasa kebari with a reverse hackle and the color scheme of a Royal Coachman. The great thing about these types of flies is their versatility. Depending on your technique you can fish it at various depths, dead-drift with it, twitch it to give life and make it more enticing and even fish it as a dry fly sometimes. Sakasa kebari are also great because they look like many things but nothing in particular; many of them are great to use in many situations. I have been coming to the conclusion over the last couple of years that the “one fly/any fly” concept is dead on in most situations. My fly box routinely has no more than three or four patterns and on many days one fly is all that I need. I think the best flies are the generalized ones like a Killer Bug or a sakasa kebari … ones that can resemble many bugs but none in particular. Lansky: I have been using traditional tenkara flies this year more than in the past. I typically only use the ones I tied because I tied them with

a purpose such as trying different colors, hackle, size, etc…. I don’t have a preference but I seem to get back to patterns that are dark colored and have some sort of a contrast built in, such as lighter hackle, hot spot, ribbing, etc…. I believe that the contrast adds another visual element to grab the fish’s attention – and you can’t catch a fish if the fish doesn’t notice or see your fly. I also like lighter colored hackle since I can track the fly in the water column better. I have come to fish traditional flies in many different ways and they have proved to be effective. That being said, I was a skeptic for a long time. But if you give them a chance and invest time to learn how to fish them they can be very effective. Their simplicity invites you to play with them, add movement and entice the fish for a strike.

Stewart: I occasionally use traditional tenkara flies, generally a Takayama Sakasa Kebari. I’ll also fish my Killer Kebari, which is an adaptation of one of the Hida Takayama patterns, changing only the color of the yarn and color of the hackle. What I have learned is that like any other fly, sometimes they’ll work and sometimes they won’t. Sometimes manipulation of the fly will draw strikes and sometimes it won’t. They’re good flies but they aren’t magic bullets. Worthing: I spent my summers in college doing formal entomologic research. I should probably be embarrassed by the amount of co-ed time I spent cataloguing, weighing, micro-dissecting and tending to insect colonies. My lab partner and I would fit in evening fishing any time we could. We even tried gluing various life stages of common moths from our colonies directly to the shaft of hooks. It didn’t work too well. If anybody should be into matching-the-hatch, it would be me. And, in fact, I do think it works. It is a tool that is very well suited to Western fly-fishing techniques. The match-the-hatch philosophy can be very effective in the hands of a skilled Western angler. But I grow cynical over anything that includes such an absolute statement as “have to.” The hair on the back of my scientific method bristles at such absolutes, to say nothing of the hair on the back of my American pride. The list of places I don’t feel confident in catching fish using kebari seems to be getting smaller each season. That includes many of those famous bio-diverse streams and rivers. The reason isn’t because the fly doesn’t matter. Nor is it because the one-fly philosophy is somehow

superior to the match-the-hatch philosophy. It is because kebari patterns are perfectly matched tools for use with tenkara rods and tenkara techniques. I’ve been out-fished by skilled match-the-hatch anglers on a few days. I’ve also out-fished those same anglers using one-fly on a few days. To those who feel you “have to” match-the-hatch, please understand that tenkara lets you do things with a fly you just can’t do with Western gear. And kebari patterns allow you to take full advantage of the tenkara bag of tricks.

So, you see, the fly does matter. Just not in the sense that most of us have been told. Vetterli: Presentation and precision is what matters. There are times when matching the hatch may increase the probability of catching fish but if your presentation and precision suck, you won’t catch anything. Gibson: It is true that some traditional tenkara anglers do use only a single fly pattern. Some go so far as to only use one color combination and or one size as well. But not all Japanese tenkara anglers adopt this practice. Some use many patterns, some even use common Western fly patterns. I find myself drawn someplace in the middle. I have three to four patterns that I fish with 98 percent of the time and primarily two to three variations of traditional tenkara patterns.