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Kiwi's Tenkara Flies

Kiwi's Tenkara Flies are a great addition to the TenkaraBum site. Innovative patterns by a tenkara angler for tenkara anglers.

As anyone who has purchased tenkara flies here in the past few months is painfully aware, I'm having a hard time keeping up with the demand. There are only so many hours in a week and I think it is written somewhere that at least some of them must be spent fishing. Add to that the time spent sleeping and eating, cutting and tieing lines, and keeping up with website, and there just aren't enough hours left.

I've made a deal with Kiwi to offer his flies on the TenkaraBum site. Anyone who's participated in one of the fly swaps he's been in knows the quality of his flies. That quality, and his innovative patterns, were recently recognized when he won second prize at the fly tying contest held by the Montana Fly Company and the Outdoor Bloggers Network. I think he would have won first prize, but the first prize was a fly reel, and it would have been a bit of an insult to give it to a tenkara angler. I suppose to save face all around he was awarded second place.

The pattern he entered, his Bubble Kebari, is offered here in two colors, black and olive. Other original patterns offered here are his Royal Sakasa Kebari and CS Special. Rounding out his flies is another inchiki tenkara fly, one of Fran Betters' better flies, The Usual.

Ausable Kebari in action

Kiwi's tenkara flies are $12 per half dozen. Purchases of one dozen or more flies will be shipped in the same minimalist fly box as the TenkaraBum flies. Domestic postage for the flies is $3. International shipments require additional postage. Please see the Shipping section at the bottom of the page.

The descriptions of Kiwi's tenkara flies, and the inspiration behind them, are in Kiwi's own words.

Bubble Kebari

"I had just finished reading through some information on caddisflies by Gary LaFontaine when the idea for this fly struck me. Mr. LaFontaine suggested, with his deep sparkle caddis pupa, that the air bubble used by the caddisfly to reach the water's surface could act as an attractant to trout. With that in mind I added a mylar collar (and later a glass tyers bead) to the body of a takayama sakasa kebari to simulate a bubble. Either way the "bubble" is visible from a good distance and I have done well with this fly. It has become one of my favorites and I always have a couple in my fly box with me." The Bubble Kebari is tied on a size 12 Mustad C49S hook. The "grizzly" in the color description is the partridge breast feather, which has the black/white color of grizzly hackle (right). The "brown" is a partridge feather dyed brown. The black dots still show up and it makes a very nice looking fly.

Bubble Kebari - $12 per half dozen

Trout with bubble kebari

Royal Sakasa Kebari

"The Royal Coachman is an attractor pattern as it does not represent any natural food that trout consume. This has not detracted from from its effectiveness because it is one of the few classic wet flies that is still in use. The distinguishing features of a Royal Coachman are the peacock herl body with red band in the middle made of silk or floss. It also has a white wing and brown hackle. This pattern has been so effective that it has given rise to numerous variations based on scheme of materials and colors. Among them are the Royal Trude, Royal Bucktail, Royal Streamer, Fanwing Royal Coachman, Royal Humpy, and last but not least, The Royal Wulff. I would like to introduce another member to the family. I call it the Royal Sakasa Kebari. It has proved extremely effective on small stream brook trout and bluegills. Part of the fun in tying one's own flies is to learn a little something about where a particular pattern came from and why it was used. The Royal Sakasa Kebari family tree can trace it's roots to ancestors in Europe, Japan and 19th century America. What is truly amazing though is how they all come together to form a beautiful little fly that can help bring a brookie to hand and give me a perfect day on a small mountain stream." The Royal Sakasa Kebari is tied on a size 12 Mustad C49S hook.

Royal Sakasa Kebari - $12 per half dozen

Blue Dun Sakasa Kebari

Translucency is a visual characteristic that many aquatic insects display at some stage of their development. It is the ability of a material to allow light to pass through it but in a diffuse manner (it's not the same as transparency). An insect with air bubbles or one that is shedding its nymphal shuck will usually display some sort of translucency and this will act as a trigger for trout in some circumstances. Anglers who tied North Country Spiders created the effect of translucency by very thinly dubbing their flies with mole or muskrat fur. In combination with Pearsall's Gossamer silk thread, mole/muskrat dubbing "softened" the color of the silk thread and gave the illusion of a an insect about to leave its exoskeleton.

The Blue Dun Sakasa Kebari is essentially the same as the Blue Dun listed in Sylvester Neme's book "Two Centuries of Soft Hackled Flies" except that the starling hackle is tied "sakasa" style.

Blue Dun Sakasa Kebari - $12 per half dozen

Mohonk Sakasa Kebari

For me, the inspiration for The Mohonk Kebari did not come from a desire to replicate any specific insect or meet any specific need based on water conditions. I simply wanted to tie a fly that reminded me of one of my favorite places to hike and spend time outdoors. I tied this fly to be a miniature representation of the cliff faces of the Shawangunk Ridge in the Hudson Valley of New York State.

The white represents the beautiful conglomerate rock that makes up the majority of the ridge. The green peacock herl, aside from being a great addition to any fly, is supposed to mimic sections of pitch pine forest that dominate the top of the ridge for most of it's length.

I have done well with this fly while fishing for bluegills and bass but in light of a recent post on the Tenkara USA forum and other information I have gleaned over the last year from older fly fishing literature I believe a fly with a white body can do very well when it comes to trout. I have also seen a number of sakasa kebari tied by Japanese anglers that use a white body.

Taking the characteristics of trout vision into consideration as well as various water conditions that can be encountered, white is the color most visible under the great majority of circumstances.

I tied this fly because of sentimental reasons but I think I may have come up with a useful fly in the process.

Mohonk Kebari - $12 per half dozen

The Usual

"As some of you already know I really enjoy tying and fishing sakasa kebari but among my other favorites are the flies designed by Fran Betters. The first fly I ever tied was a Haystack. Since then I have spent a lot of time trying to become a better tier of his flies. Lately, I have become pretty good at tying Ausable Bombers. However, my favorite fly of his is the Usual. This fly was created around 30 years ago when Fran became a little bored tying flies one afternoon and decided to experiment a little. He eyed a snow shoe rabbit's foot and thought that the material must be excellent at repelling water due to the wintry environment it finds itself in a good portion of the year. He tied it in the pattern of a Haystack and left it up to friend to try it out. It proved to be a deadly fly and has been with us ever since. In addition, it introduced much of the fly tying world to a great material for use in tying various types of flies. The Usual is a great fly in that it can be fished dry and floats like a cork. With a little tug you can get it under the water and fish it like a nymph or emerger. It's fibers make it translucent and give it a certain iridescence and it is also very durable. The Usual is a very versatile fly. In my opinion I think it's a great fly that should be in everyone's fly box." The Usual is tied on a Mustad classic dry fly hook, size 16.

The Usual - $12 per half dozen

CS Special

This is a fly I have wanted to tie for some time now. The inspiration for it comes mainly from another tenkara angler...Chris "TenkaraBum" Stewart. On his site Chris has routinely touted the ability of the Killer Bug (a Frank Saywer creation) to catch trout. In addition, Chris introduced other tenkara anglers to his own creation, the Killer Kebari, during the first Tenkara USA fly swap. The Killer Kebari is essentially the Killer Bug with a rear facing brown hackle.

I have done well with both flies and have even managed to pick up a couple of fish with them I never expected to catch on a fly (namely a shad and yellow perch). The common component in all of these flies is the yarn body. Though I don't posses the Chadwick's wool used in the original Killer Bug, I tie mine similar to the way Chris Stewart does, using Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift yarn (color: sand with further coloring using a prismacolor sand colored marker). When this yarn body is wet it really gives the fly a translucent appearance, which is appealing to a lot of fish. I have tied the hackle of this fly in the style of a sakasa kebari and added a peacock herl collar for some extra flash.

CS Special - $12 per half dozen

Payment

Payment is through Paypal but you don't need to have a Paypal account. You can use your credit card. PayPal payments will be made to chris at tenkarabum dot com. Credit card statements will read CM Stewart.

Shipping

Domestic shipping is covered by the flat $3 shipping charge added to all orders.

International First Class Surcharge - $2

International Priority Mail Surcharge

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