If you’re interested in using horse tail as a fly body, here is another horse hair sakasa kebari I have found to be effective.Hook: Owner Super Yamame #7
Thread: Uni 8/0 Camel
Eye: Griffin Silk Bead Cord #2
Body: Horse tail (2 strands, one light, one dark)
Hackle: Partridge
Author: Jason Klass
http://tenkaratalk.com Jason is an avid fly angler and backpacker. As a former fly fishing guide originally from Western New York, he moved to Colorado and became an early adopter of tenkara which perfectly suited the small, high altitude streams and lakes there. He has not fished a Western-style fly rod for trout since.
Nice fly! How durable is the horse hair as a body material? Do you coat it with any varnish or glue? thanks
It’s pretty durable. I’ve got a horse tail fly on a spool in my gear bag now that I’ve fished for a couple of months. The body is actually holding up better than the hackle! I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to coat it with nail polish or something. But I consider flies expendable so I don’t worry about durability too much.
The fly looks fantastic Jason. How is the body tied please? I saw the material list, so is the ribbingthe horsehair or something else? Also, what sze is the hook? Is the stated #7 the same as aonventional #7, or is it a a Japanese classification?
Hi Craig, sorry, I should have explained how to wrap the horse tail. You tie the 2 strands in together just as you would ribbing and wrap them down with thread to the bend of the hook. Then, create a smooth underbody with thread and wrap the 2 horse tail strands toward the front of the hook, making sure they stay close to each other with no gaps.
As for the #7, size of the hook, yes, that is a Japanese hook size rating. I explained it in my last post:
One thing you’ll notice is that Japanese hooks use a different sizing system than we’re used to in the West. Unlike our system where the larger the number, the smaller the hook, it’s the opposite in the Japanese system. So, a #2 is smaller than a #5 (the smaller the number, the smaller the hook). The #7 Owner Yamame hook I used in the fly in the first picture is roughly the same size as the #12 TMC 2499SPBL hooks I often use for my sakasa kebari. The sizing system takes a little getting used to especially considering that different gapes and shank lengths will skew the “true” size of hooks that are labelled the same number.
I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Gorgeous!
Another elegant fly Jason! I like the smoothness of the body and the pattern of the horsehair. I picked up a slew of eyeless hooks on my last business trip to Japan. You have inspired me to get tying in preparation for my summer trips to Western NY!!
Jason, i can see by some of the posts, that others are being confused with hook sizing. Is it possible for you to throw together a rough chart on Japanese vs Western hook sizes? Maybe just Owner vs TMC would be enough info for those of us just starting out.
Really enjoy the site and the topics.
Thanks
Ron, I will try but it is difficult because of the wide range of bends, shank lengths and gaps. It would be very rough at best but I’ll see what I can do.