I got an email today from a reader who had the following comment:
“While crawling around the web researching the subject, I ran across some Japanese websites, and noticed the flies they have seem to be more sparsely tied than the American versions. Is there anything to this?”
It was an interesting observation–though (I think) not entirely true. If you research tenkara flies (both traditional and modern), you’ll see that Japanese anglers tie in just as wide of a variety as we do in the West. Some tie sparse, while others dress their flies heavily with thick bodies and lots of hackle.
When I first started posting pictures of my tenkara flies online, I had a lot of people comment that I was using too much hackle and they’d be more effective if I tied them more sparsely. In fact, there’s a philosophy among the soft-hackle crowd that, “the sparser, the better”. While I can certainly see their point of view, I think an argument for the opposite can also be made.
I tie both sparse flies and more robust flies and in my experience, each works better in different conditions. Here are a few observations I’ve made as both a Western and tenkara angler.
Sparse Flies
In the view of the soft-hackle devotees I just mentioned above, a fly should have a very slim body (usually of floss or minimal dubbing) and just one or two turns of hackle. You’ll find the same “less is more” design philosophy among many spring creek anglers, British anglers who fish spider patterns, and even some bonefish anglers.
These flies are wispy and impressionistic, leaving the fish to use their imagination and fill in the gaps between materials. In my experience, sparse flies work well in the following conditions:
- In clear, slow moving water such as meandering meadow streams or spring creeks
- Where the fish face a lot of pressure and see a lot of bulky store-bought flies
- When the fish are spooky and highly selective
- Shallow water
Heavily-dressed Flies
I recently wrote an article touting the virtues of tying more robust flies. The basic gist was that many insects that trout eat are either round and plump, or have a wide, flat profile offering more protein. But heftier flies can also spook fish in the conditions mentioned above. I’ve found more heavily-dressed flies to be better suited to the following conditions:
- On big water as a searching pattern
- In stained or muddy water where visibility is low
- When fishing large, deep pools
- In high water
- When targeting larger fish (though sometimes the opposite is true)
- In streams that harbor larger caddis or stoneflies
Sink Rate
Another thing to consider is that how heavily a fly is dressed can affect how quickly it sinks. A fly with a heavy hook and skimpy dressing with sink faster than a fly with a thick yarn body and 8 wraps of hackle. Basically, the extra material is creating resistance in the water. To compensate for this, you can choose materials that absorb water well or simply weight the fly with copper wire, lead wire, or a bead head.
Just as there’s no one way to catch a fish, there’s no one way to tie a fly. While die-hard soft hackle anglers preach the virtues of scantily-clad flies, my experience it’s best to carry a mix of both. Just as with the changing seasons, there are times to wear a bikini, and times when it’s better to bundle up in a parka. At least where I live, it wouldn’t make much sense to wear the same thing all year round.
Greetings from Belgium,
Sink rate is in my opinion the most important reason of tying sparse or heavily dressed flies.
During cold weather, fish lies deep, while during warmer weather and a good hatch, fish feed higher in the water. Depht of the water is also important for choosing a sparse or heavily-dressed fly, as does the speed of the current of the water.
In muddy water I use fluo colored flies.
I would say I also factor in:
Aesthetics – sometimes a fly just looks cooler to me as sparse or more bulky. (This has to balance with function, of course, and function means catching fish)
Castability – some flies, just don’t cast well depending on how they are tied and the rod and line I’m going to fish. Too light can be trouble in the wind and too heavy or wind resistant can be impossible to cast with some rod and line combos.
I agree Jason, there are right circumstances for both. I have a semi-streamer pattern I have developed that utilizes a very large ring neck pheasant feather with plenty of turns facing toward the bend of the hook. It is used to fool the fish that the bait is large, and I usually ties them on size 8 hook. I’ve caught large trout on this pattern and it’s become a favorite. On the other hand, fishing a size 20 Adams fly on the Platte is very effective as well…..has a much smaller hackle. Both have their respective places just like you said.
Jason I think your observations are spot on. I’m a big fan of soft hackles flies and try to tie my hackles sparsely but I tend towards bulkier bodies. My experience on spring creeks has been that sometimes the bulkier bodies tend to spook trout.
Great post. I’ve caught trout with tiny insects in their belly and trout that are stuffed with large crawfish, frogs and one time a mouse (true story). I don’t think there is a one size fits all. If the same thing worked everytime we would all get bored fast.
I also agree with your observations Jason. I use the same patterns but tied with sometimes more and or less hackle to match what I feel are best match for the location. You have showcased for us your tying talents many many times and with plenty of variations in size, and design. However, one thing that I hope you never showcase for us is this summer bikini you speak of. LOL just kidding buddy. I couldn’t resist.
I’d really like to see some of the flies these guys have developed. As a new to Tenkara
fisherman, I need all the help I can get. I tied the Killer Bug and while it looks great
I would like to see some of the flies these guys have developed like the one Adam tied w/pheasant feathers. I’m new to Tenkara and would really like to see some new flies. I
tied the Killer Bug and must say it looks good to me, either it doesn’t look good to
the fish or I did something wrong. Keep the Tenkara Talk coming, I really look forward
to it, thanks, Jim Ritter.
Jason you are right on. Adam, i too would like to see you fly.