Fly Tying
The Fluoro Sakasa Kebari Fly
A Beginner’s Guide: How to tie the Fluoro Sakasa Kebari Tenkara Fly Pattern
Published in
3 min readDec 1, 2021
I used to think Tenkara fishing was just something hippies do when there aren’t enough people for a drum circle…But after a year or so of semi-dedicated time on the water practicing the techniques, I can emphatically claim that I put just as many fish in the net with my Tenkara rod as with my reel rig in 2021.
The Top-3 Reasons Why I Love Tenkara Fishing
- Carrying two rods sucks. It sucks just a little bit more than having to swap out your rig from the leader-down when the dries start to pop-off. I carry a reel rig and attach a Tenkara rod to my wading belt with the Fishpond Quikshot Rod Holder. I usually have the reel rigged up for nymphing and the Tenkara rigged for dries.
- The dry-fly game is on point. A Tenkara rod delivers dry flies with such delicate grace I could stack snowflakes with it if I could tie them on before they melt. The long rod takes some practice, and your casts have a more limited range, but I put dozens of fish in the net on the Frying Pan this summer by gently landing green drakes right in the sweet pockets.
- Nothing to freeze up in the winter. I love fishing so much because of the lack of people. And when you want the good waters all to yourself, you fish in the winter. Without a reel, guides, or anything else to freeze up on you, it makes winter fishing a little bit easier.
Anyway, back to the pattern…
Pattern Details
- Family — General Attractor
- Category — Tenkara Fly
- Lifecycle Stage — Emerger
- Style — Sakasa Kebari
- Best for Seasons — All Year
- Best Time of Day — All Day
Ingredients
- Hook: Firehole Sticks 633, size 12
- Bead: Wapsi Mercury Glass Bead, Medium
- Thread: Semperfli Waxed Thread Black 8/0
- Hot-Butt: Wapsi Mirage Tinsel, Small, covered in UV Resin
- Hackle: Whiting Farm Hen Cape, Fl. Orange, Fl. Yellow, Fl. Green
Steps
- Fix bead on hook
- Wrap down entire body with thread, attach tinsel at bend of shank
- Wrap tinsel for hot-butt, tie off, return thread to bead
- Cover hot-butt in UV resin, cure
- Finish building tapered body with thread
- Attach hackle behind bead, wrap 1–3 times depending on how thick you want the hackle
- Whip finish behind hackle, cover entire body in water-soluble glue.
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