In my last post, I briefly mentioned this fly pattern which was very productive on a small lake near Mt. Whitney and I thought I’d post the recipe. It’s a simple fly to tie (as many successful patterns are) and very buggy looking because of the iridescence of the materials used.
The recipe
Hook: Any heavy wet fly hook #12
Thread: Black Uni 8/0
Hackle: Natural Starling
Body: peacock herl
Rib: Medium gold wire (counter wound)
How to fish it
Like any sakasa kebari, it can be fished various ways. You could dead drift it like a nymph, swing it like a wet fly, do a Liesenring lift, etc. However, the method I found to most effective was more like the traditional way of fishing tenkara wet flies. Simply let the fly sink, then slowly lift the rod while twitching the rod tip. This action forces the hackle to open and close, giving it an irresistible “swimming” motion. I’ve found that fish tend to strike pretty aggressively with this presentation so it’s best to use the heaviest recommended tippet for tenkara rods (5x) to avoid break offs.
Give it a try and hang on!
That is an excellent pattern! When I first began Tenkara fishing and fly tying a couple of years ago I used this fly and it worked like a charm. It does seem that the simplest fly patterns work the best.
Hi Chris, that’s great to hear. I tied it thinking I would use it more in stained water but as it turns out, it works pretty well in clear water too. I guess you never know!