Nymphing

by Chris Schatte
(Texas)

On my last trip it was the first time that I had used my new Sagiri. Fished a little on Wednesday and had some success. Had better luck on Thursday most of the day.

The river I fish the most can go from very wide and shallow to narrow with lots of overhang just around the bend and I have been there enough that I know the water somewhat.

Thursday afternoon storms started rolling in around 5 and I was off the water by 5:30. It rained cats and dogs! Almost 4 inches fell overnight so I knew the water would be muddy with lots of debris. I had tried Chris's "killer bugs" here before and had some success.

I always take a decent supply of tying materials with me and had some red hooks. So I decided to tie a takeoff of the "killer bug" with some red d-rib and copper wire and a slightly darker dubbing.
The next morning with my Sagiri going from wide areas to narrow I had the best nymphing experience yet! Caught 15 almost 1 right after the other. Line was Chris's hi-vis Chartreuse.

I also noticed one thing once again while on the water. I have several T-USA rods and now 3 Daiwa rods. The Daiwa rods are much quieter when retracting. Since I am the only Tenkara Angler in my area I get lots of looks and comments. Each time I retracted a T-USA rod other anglers could hear and would look. This did not happen with my Daiwa rods.

Also, I did notice a considerable difference in weight while fishing the Sagiri and the Kiyose 30SF vs a "standard" Tenkara rod.

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten” - Benjamin Franklin

"Be sure in casting, that your fly fall first into the water, for if the line fall first, it scares or frightens the fish..." -
Col. Robert Venables 1662

As age slows my pace, I will become more like the heron.

We've all had situations where seriously chewed up flies kept catching fish after fish after fish. It is no sin to tie flies that come off the vise looking seriously chewed up.

Seriously, all the hooks sold on TenkaraBum.com, whether packaged as loose hooks or incorporated into flies, are sharp - or as Daiichi says on their hook packages, Dangerously Sharp. Some have barbs, which make removal from skin, eyes or clothing difficult. Wear eye protection. Wear a broad-brimmed hat. If you fish with or around children, bend down all hook barbs and make sure the children wear eye protection and broad-brimmed hats. Be aware of your back cast so no one gets hooked.

Also, all the rods sold on TenkaraBum.com will conduct electricity. Do not, under any circumstances, fish during a thunder storm. Consider any fishing rod to be a lightning rod! Fishing rods can and do get hit by lightning!