Schmidek Sakasa Kebari

Schmidek Sakasa Kebari

By Mark White

Henry H. Schmidek M.D. was a world renowned neurosurgeon that I had the great pleasure to work with. An avid fly fisherman, unfortunately we never had the chance to share time on the water together. This fly is named for him.

Start with a #12 barbless hook securely anchored in the vise. Using brown thread, start touching wraps about an eye hook lengths way from the end of the hook and wrap to about mid way down the shank. Trim or break off any excess thread.

Take a ring neck pheasant hackle, hold the stem of the feather between the thumb and forefinger for support. Then proceed to pull off just the tips of the downy feathers. Place these to one side to be used as dubbing.

Strip the remaining feathers from the quill, leaving a bare stem. Then take the pheasant hackle and stroke the barbs back to create a small diamond shaped tip which will be used as an anchor to attach the feather to the shank.

Tie the hackle to the hook shank using 3-4 wraps to securely seat the tip. I find having the natural curve of the fly facing upwards makes the feather easier to wrap. Proceed to wrap the feather around the shank gently stroking the barbs forward, keeping them from being trapped in the thread.

Once finished wrapping the hackle, tie down the remainder of the quill. Trim off any excess. You can also trim off the tab of the feather or continue to wrap thread to the bend of the hook making it more secure. Since this area will be covered with dubbing a bulky profile is not worrisome. Actually it may help add to the body of the fly.

Take several wraps and build a little thread dam to support the base of the feather. Then continue wrapping thread towards the bend stopping at the midpoint of the hook.

Coat the surface of the thread with a glue stick. I have also have used lip balm with good results. This provides a sticky surface to help attach the downy feather to the thread. Since they are a feather, albeit very fine, the down does not easily lend to being wrapped around the thread as in conventional dubbing.

Once the dubbing is attached, pull the thread rearward and wrap the thread at the bend of the hook advancing the dubbing forward towards the hackle. Once there tie off the dubbing to secure. I like to use several half-hitches since I can make the loop large enough to prevent trapping of the hackle. Snip the excess off close.

Use your scissors to trim and create the shape of the body to complete the Schmidek sakasa kebari.

Admittedly using conventional fly fishing methods I hooked into a trout on the Westfield River in Massachusetts. I didn’t get him to the net but it was a good time.