Tenkara Sulfur

[CM_Stewart]

Posted on the Tenkara USA forum in response to a request for a tenkara sulfur pattern:



Hook: Daiichi 1120 size 14
Thread: Pearsall's Primrose
Hackle: Woodcock undercovert
Thorax: Tups blend (ram's wool, seals fur, golden retriever hair, red mohair)

[hankaye]

CM, Howdy;

Nice tye... basic, effective looking.

I still think of Cramer (from Sinefeld), everytime I see one of theose Tenkara flys...

hank

[CreationBear]

Very nice; woodcock is a nice choice for the hackle, I think. I'd be most curious, though, about how you might fish it if/when you were actually fishing to an on-going sulphur hatch; i.e. with the traditional Tenkara "pulse," or strictly dead-drift? For some reason I always associate the former method with energetic caddis emergers or perhaps spent stoneflies flopping about; Ephemerellidae though I suspect of being limp dishrags in the current. Any thoughts?

BTW, I'm starting a marketing campaign to get Daniel to release an "Eastern" Ito: 10.5'-12.5' would suit me just fine. (Otherwise somebody's got to take the boy fishing where there's some riparian vegetation to deal with. )

[letumgo]

Beautiful fly, Chris!

[kanutripr]

I like these simple patterns. They can't help but be effective. Nice tie Chris.



Vicki

[William Anderson]

Chris, that looks like a compelling composition. I especially like your tupps blend.

I would think that the twitching movement of a mayfly making its way to the surface would be similar to the fishing method for these flies. Especially the crawlers and clingers who aren't exactly Phelps like in their accent. Am I mistaken? I just saw a great video of a Hendrickson nymph accending and hatching. I'll try to find it. Where on earth did I see that? At some point I do need to give this ago. You guys and gals just keep putting this out there.

w

[CM_Stewart]

Tenkara "pulse," or strictly dead-drift?

My results have been better with a dead drift than with a pulse, but I don't think I have the pulse mastered yet. The first time I fished with my fluorescent orange fluorocarbon I noticed that a lot of the takes were so subtle that I just hadn't been seeing them before. When I pulse the line, it bounces far more than the movement from a subtle take. A subtle take between pulses, when the line isn't tight is likely to be missed.

Any thoughts?

You're still thinking match the hatch, which I'll grant you is what the illustrated fly tries to do. On the streams where tenkara was developed if something is moving it must be alive, and if it is alive and fits in a trout's mouth it must be food. Where I usually fish the hatches tend to be spotty, so the fish seem to be pretty opportunistic.

BTW, I'm starting a marketing campaign to get Daniel to release an "Eastern" Ito: 10.5'-12.5' would suit me just fine. (Otherwise somebody's got to take the boy fishing where there's some riparian vegetation to deal with. )

Good luck with that I know exactly what he'll say. 10.5' and 12.5'? Easy. Just choke up on an 11' Iwana and a 13' Ayu. When Dr. Ishigaki was here the first time, he and Daniel fished one of the little tribs off the Beaverkill (which I haven't fished so I don't really know how tight it is). Daniel said Dr. Ishigaki passed up a lot of very fishy looking spots because there wasn't room to cast. He's aware of the problem, he just isn't moved by it.

[CM_Stewart]

Chris, that looks like a compelling composition. I especially like your tupps blend.

Thanks. The search for the proper Tupps blend is a bit like the quest for the Golden Fleece. I now have a small sample of the real Tupps part of the blend (thanks to an extremely generous forum member). I still haven't found anyone who has a yellow Cocker Spaniel (will trade flies for brushings!) and I strongly suspect the "unborn seal" is going to prove unobtainable. I'm sure the fish don't care, but the quest is interesting in and of itself.

It is an interesting blend, though, and when used in such small quantities, having one red mohair fiber or two really changes the look of the finished fly. Upon rereading that, it is clear that I have become compulsive and it is past time to just go fishing.

[CreationBear]

the fish seem to be pretty opportunistic

To be honest, that pretty much describes my streams here in the Smokies--a "picky" fish is one where you have to go down to a #12 Humpy. After watching Daniel's last video from Japan, though, I am getting more intrigued by that "20 cm" pulse that's mentioned...after decades of obsessing over "drag free" techniques, it's neat to contemplate the possibilities of a tight line.

Otherwise, I'll admit that there aren't a whole lot of streams here in the GSMNP I can't fish my Ayu on, but I'm starting to get excercised about the principle of the thing.