When I first started fishing tenkara, I didn’t give much thought to traditional tenkara flies. The initial allure was really the tenkara rod itself and by default, I assumed that I would just use my standard patterns like the Elk Hair Caddis, Stimulator, Bead Head Hare’s Ear Nymph, and so on. And I did. And I caught fish.
That was enough to convince me that the rod worked, but eventually, either romance or guilt got to me. I wanted to catch a fish on a “real” tenkara fly.
But coming from a “match-the-hatch” background, these reversed-hackle flies seemed alien to me and I had no idea what to do with them. Back then, there wasn’t as much information on tenkara presentation techniques as there is today. The few articles I could read were pretty vague and pretty much left me to figure it out for myself.
So, I tried. And tried. And tried. And I caught nothing. After every fishless disappointment using a sakasa kebari, I basically surrendered and switched back to my familiar Elk Hair Caddis to redeem the day.
Eventually, I had what you might call an epiphany. Instead of using each precious fishing day to torture myself experimenting with these peculiar flies, what if I just fished with my regular confidence patterns first, caught a few fish, and then switched to a tenkara fly? If I did that, at least I’d have a few fish under my belt before being humbled by my ineptitude with a sakasa kebari.
The next few times I went out, I did just that. I told myself, “OK, let’s catch some fish first, then try the tenkara fly.” At first, I still caught nothing on the sakasa kebari. But it didn’t matter because I was already relieved of the label of being “skunked”. Then, after some experimentation with presentation, I caught a fish! And then the next time, 2 more! And so on. The balance soon shifted from fishing my standard patterns first to tying on a sakasa kebari first. I eventually realized that the tenkara flies didn’t “work” before because I didn’t believe they’d work. But once I gained confidence in them, everything changed.
These days, my first thought is to tie on a sakasa kebari–not an Elk Hair Caddis or Stimulator. Part of this is probably due to the massive amount of presentation information that’s come out in the last few years.
Early adopters of tenkara didn’t have the luxury of all the content that’s out there now–we had to sort it out ourselves. And we’ve gone through all the paces every newbie will face moving forward.
So, if you’re struggling to catch fish on tenkara flies, my advice is to try gradually transitioning to them as I outline above. Fishing should be fun first and foremost. But part of that fun is also to challenge yourself. Just don’t let it consume your precious on-the-water time. Catch a few fish first, then give yourself a self-imposed challenge after. You might not achieve it on the first few tries, but when you finally do (and you will), it will be really rewarding. It has been for me.
Wow this post just completely turned me off your blog. The poor Tenkara pioneer who had to figure it out by himself. How terrible. There is a certain elitism and better than you tone that comes off that is just plain unappealing. Best of luck in your writing. Next time why don’t you share some of those great sources of technique with us or contribute to them by describing how you fished the tenkara flies differently. Rather than whine about how hard it was.
Hey Mark, I’m having a really tough time trying to see how my post came off as elitist. All I’m trying to do is give advice to new tenkara anglers on how to build confidence in traditional patterns and sharing what worked for me. Also, not sure how I could be “whining” and be “elitist” at the same time. Could you please elaborate?
That is some solid advice Jason!
I now have found myself on the other side of that pendulum. Trusting hoppers, streamers, etc.
The wheel just keeps turning I guess.
Jason, as someone who is new to Tenkara, this advice is very much appreciated and is one I will keep in mind the next time I go trout fishing with my Tenkara rod.
One of the challenges I face is that I am a 3-4 hour one way drive to the nearest trout stream. So when I do get a chance to fish,even for more than a day, time is precious to me. Also, the streams are all spring fed creeks located in the Driftless. Anthony Naples is familiar with this type of fishing. And while I am new to Tenkara, I still have not wrapped my head around what size/color combination of Kebari type fly would work.
Popular/productive flies are Para Adams, EHC, GRHE, PTN, Pink Squirrels and midges. Except for the midges, most are tied on size 14-18 hooks. There are other patterns that will catch fish, but these are the reliables.
I may tie up some Sakasa Kebari flies using thread/dubbing in the colors of the western style flies that I fish and have even thought of tying up a Pink Squirrel Sakasa Kebari.
Dave
I might recommend “Simple Fly Fishing: Techniques for Tenkara and Rod and Reel” which talks a bit about this point. The author doesn’t specifically say that using traditional Japanese flies is a “must” but at the very least it teaches you the importance of fishing in a way that tries to emulate the fly you’re using. Japanese flies are mimicking something, so if you pay attention to that you will probably catch fish on anything.
Jason, I look forward to your posts. As always they are insightful and straight forward. Keep up the good work. Information makes all of us better. I learn something from each person I meet. When I was in Yellowstone this summer I met an old guy like myself. Took a little to get him talking but in just the short while I spent with him, he shared information about the park I could not get any other way. Thanks, Mike
Thats funny Jason, I also found myself with a lack of info being an early adopter, just a couple months after Daniel opened shop actually. I had the exact oposite experience though. See, I have have never been a “match the hatch” believer, I have always felt that its “triggers” rather than exacting representation that causes a fish to strike. For many years I was and still am a huge fan of Enlgish style wet hackles. So when I first saw a sekasa kebari I thought “Sweet! it’s a Japanese wet hackle” from the minute I tied my first one up and started fishing I was having tremendous success on my local small streams, and was sold on them and have only continued to grow from the outpouring of knowledge.
It makes me wonder if it was a confidence in the fly, fishing style stemming from two different fly fishing philosphies, or simply coincidence that made our early experiences differ. All that being said I now also often reach for a sekasa kebari before anything else, even when dusting off the old western style rod.
Although, I always tried different patterns as a Western angler, I’ve never have any trouble fishing with Tenkara flies. I can say that I caught more trout with a sekasa kebari since I adopted Tenkara as my favorite way of fishing. Thanks for posting your comments.
I share a similar experience Jason. I ordered a rod, lines and tenkara flies. Later that month, after the season opener, I went to the mountains to give it a try, and no love from the fish given to the tenkara flies. So I switched to my usual flies and my usual fly rod and caught a bunch of fish. It was early season, still very cold, and I was nymphing. First time out, not impressed, but not giving up just yet.
Second time out was two weeks later, and with no fly rod in tow. I told myself that if I don’t catch fish with my new tenkara rod then I’ll just call it a skunk day. A new creek, the weather was warmer and the fish more active. Well I caught many fish that day. I used my tenkara rod only, but with my western flies. Baby steps.
A few more times out with the western style flies and my confidence with a tenkara rod was strong. I started to employ tenkara flies and focus on the techniques. By now, the season is in motion, the weather is very warm, the fish are active and tenkara is really coming into its own one the mountain streams. At this point, I’m sold on my new tenkara rod, so I bought another one and……five years later, here we are with our baskets full of tenkara rods.
Since I started this Tenkara adventure two months ago (thank you Jason) I have stuck with the Kabari flys that were included with the rod package I had bought. Until today I had only fished Tenkara for and caught Bluegill at a local reservoir (Elizabethtown, KY area). Well today I changed location and I caught my first trout…EVER! And on the Tenkara rod, with the Kabari. Great time! I went to Otter Creek Park about a 40 min drive from home. It is a state stocked trout stream that runs out of Fort Knox Military Reservation and on into the Ohio River. I never fished with trout fisherman before so it just wasn’t ever on my radar. Just ponds, lakes and reservoirs. I’m 66 years old but I gushed like a kid when I pulled that Rainbow in. You may enjoy hearing more? If so…
When we left home to scout out Otter Creek I almost left the Tenkara rod behind but at the urging of my wife I grabbed it,and a small empty coffee container with a line spool holding a fluro level line that had the tippet and fly already on it, my hemostat, roll of 5X tippet, clippers and small box of a few more Kabari flies. We get there and parked. I show up on the rocky shore. I’m in my Crocs and jeans wearing a hoodie. No waders, no vest just carrying my rod still a collapsed 21″ and the rest of my light gear in the hoodie pockets. My wife’s in the car reading. She don’t do walking much, just kayaking. Temp is in the low 50s overcast with some gusting. I watched for about 15 mins four reeled fly fisherman wading and casting nearby and a few more further down stream. No one was catching anything. I studied the water and could see some surface swirls of fish with a few breaking the water occasionally. There were some small gnat like bugs about but I didn’t look at any.They were tiny critters.I maneuvered rock by rock to a large flat rock about 10ft out into the stream and I managed to stay foot dry getting there. I was feeling like an intruder in the yard but I finally attached the line, extended the rod and started casting. The rock I was on was under a tree so I mostly cast sidearm. I even did a few “bow and arrow” casts I saw on a YouTube vid :-). In just a few casts I got hit once and that encouraged me. It took maybe 10 mins more of short bites before I hooked up the Rainbow! After shooting some selfies with it, I released it back, started casting again and hooked another bigger one! After I had got my line in hand and was towing it near the bank…slacko. I thought maybe a break somehow but my fly had come untied from the tippet. Should have checked it after the first fish,but hey, I was excited. I guess that trout’s showing his friends the new fly on the block 😀
My wife wanted to see more of the park facilities so I left right after that. Guess I was on the creek for nearly an hour total and I saw just one fisherman get a fish as I got in my car. Kabari works. I WILL be going back. If you want to see a Ky trout stream, check out title ” Otter Creek Trout Fishing KY GoPro ” :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFIstRA_iiU
This “Blog O’ Brothers” is the only place I could tell my fish story to as I don’t know a single other Tenkara fisherman. Thanks for “listening”,and blessings to ya’ll.
(I’ve tried to attach a picture hope it works. It may be sideways )
Hmmm…my ex post facto proof reading reveals that I misspelled “Kebari”. I did get Tenkara right!
Mark the clown STFU, who the heck are you? Go troll somewhere else!
Jason, thanks for the encouragement here on the transition into Kebaris. I’ll be thrown in head first when I visit Japan in March. I’m planning to leave *most* of my western flies at home!
I think it has a lot to do with focusing on how you’re fishing, where you’re casting, what the drifts are like, instead of spending time/mental energy doubting your fly choices.
The key thing about some kebaris I would guess, is how they can be fished in different sections of the water column.
My issue will be getting down deep enough, but I’ll be trying to use the natural water features as much as possible to make this happen. I also tied some Kebaris with wire ribbing, for a little help. Nice to see that you do that too! (Noticed from your most recent post.)
Hey Adam, sounds like you’re on the right track. Would love to hear back on how you do in Japan.
Nice post. Having some similar growing pains from Western to tenkara. Very new though. I gotta laugh and wonder at the mark guy who initially posted. I see so much unsolicited hate popping up in the tenkara community. I am a member of some other forums (not fishing) and that crap doesn’t fly like it does here. Maybe it’s just new and ripe for trollin’, but I see it a lot. Weird. Great blogpost, you got a ton of useful relevant info here.thanks!
Thanks for the positive thoughts Joaquin. Yeah, since the early days (and to some extent still today) tenkara has ruffled a few feathers in the fly fishing community. But it’s a lot better than it used to be. There will always be negative people on social media in any discipline but I try to take it with a grain of salt.
I’ve been doing exactly what you propose…working for me.
Since Wendy woke this thread up for 2016 (thx!)… I got my first tenkara rod 5 days ago. 4 days ago after a dozen horrible casts I caught my first ever fish on a fly- a something-or-other kebari that came with the rod. 15 years ago I had tried fly fishing. Took casting lessons. Bought several hundred dollars worth of decent beginner gear. Caught nothing. Sold all that gear on eBay.
I can say that the simple, inclusive, non-elitist message being delivered by this blog, Yvon, Daniel, Chris Stewart and others had everything to do with enticing me back to this sport.
Maybe I had a huge benefit of ignorance is bliss – never being a hatch matcher, trout weenie, or whatever you call people who taking fishing way too seriously. Tenkara works to get many people who gave up, or never entertained, fly fishing out on the river. Unless you want the rivers all to yourself, how is that a bad thing ?
Ignore Mark..That was a fantastic article that probably describes 90% of us…Love your work, Jason..Keep it up!
The Sakasa kebari is often associated with and labeled the Tenkara fly. However as more information comes out it seems that the Sakasa style is only one of many types of flies used by Tenkara anglers. The Tenkara rod for me is an excellent tool for fly fishing whether so called traditional flies or any other are used it is simply a tool for throwing flies.
My entry into the world of Japanese kebari happened in a very long protracted way. I tied one sakasa back in 2011 when I ordered my first rod. The fly sat in my flybox for the next 6 years as I struggled along with western flies. I moved to Colorado and attended my first Tenkara Summit in 2017. Watching Ishigaki cast and hearing all the seminars on kebari and technique really gave me some ideas.
So the next time I went out, I tried my 6 year old Sakasa. The results were nothing short of amazing. Since then, I haven’t tied on anything but Japanese Kebari. Futsu’s and Oni Sakasas have become my favorites.