DAVID E. DIRKS
INSIGHTS ON KEBARI If I were to narrow the chief differences between traditional kebari patterns and those tied by conventional western fly anglers, I'd say it was the choice of materials and the common reverse hackle technique. A note about the reverse hackle tying technique: first, many kebari patterns do not utilize the reverse hackle – and I'd say from the research I did for this book – the majority do not have it. Often because it's such a distinguishing feature found on Japanese pattern’s; the reverse hackle technique often gets attention out of proportion to the actual number of kebari designs that use it. That said, nothing can take away the pulsating effectiveness of the patterns that deploy the reverse hackle technique. Outside of a few traditional kebari fly patterns (I would call some of them a bit flashy), most kebari are designed to look and act like a range of insects instead of an exact imitation. Traditional western fly tyers, for the most part, look to tie to "match the hatch," and so our fly boxes are packed with all kinds of different imitation patterns for almost any situation and time of year we find ourselves fishing. Many western anglers are confounded that some tenkara anglers carry only a few patterns within a narrow band of hook sizes. It’s hard for some westernstyle anglers to wrap their heads around the fact that simplicity has its own type of effectiveness. Even more puzzling for some western-style anglers is the discipline of few tenkara anglers who prefer to fish with only one specific kebari pattern – at all times during the season. Oh, the audacity! However, if you look at the choices those anglers make when they decide to commit to fishing just one design – you'll often note how remarkably effective those patterns are based on the material and colors selected when tying them. I am most justified in saying that if any angler decided to fish with just one pattern, it’s fairly certain they would pick the one pattern that doesn't imitate any specific insect but has the look and feel of many types of insects to give them the maximum advantage on the water. Like everything else in the angling world, it often boils down to our personal preferences, in which there are infinite combinations to consider – which makes fly fishing such a worthy pursuit for many of us. For this 96
