Welcome to a new series profiling some simple and effective kebari patterns. I don't know the provenance of most of these flies or if they have any particular name. Most I just sat down and tied one day when I had a particular need, and if they caught me fish I kept on tying them.
While I was making them I did think though about the materials used and how the design might lend certain properties to the finished kebari, and I thought too about the ways they would be fished. I don't formulate patterns to imitate any particular bug, but I think instead about how best to present a target to the fish that will trigger a take. This for me is the true essence of tenkara. Readers interested in further discussion on this topic may enjoy my earlier post here. My good friend Karel Lansky over at tenkara on the fly puts it most succinctly when he says 'presentation over imitation.'
So first up, the black rooster and peacock herl stiff hackle kebari. A fly to use when a strong silhouette is needed to win a take - perhaps in coloured-up water or against a very bright sky overhead, or even when you think kebari of others colours are becoming all but invisible against the substrate and rocks in your stream. Without freaking them out I'm looking to show a fly to the fish that they can detect quickly and have the confidence to intercept easily in the flow. All of these things I'm thinking about when selecting which kebari to fish - but most definitely not which particular bug is flying or swimming about, except when this bug or that bug influences my fish to feed in a certain way or turn up in a certain place.
A couple of things show up in this photo - firstly how reflective feathers can be. Trust me, the stiff rooster hackle is jet black, but the slight oiliness of the feather barbs is reflecting surrounding light. Just look too at how reflective the peacock hurl body dubbing is, perfect for when you want just a little subtle flash in your fly. The other point to note is the blunt ends to the rooster hackle. This is because I've trimmed them to length with scissors after tying. Traditional western fly dressers might think me heathen. It came about when I just didn't have any hackles of the right barb length, so I trimmed them down to finish a fly. But in doing so I discovered a benefit - by using over-sized hackle and trimming down to length you are left with barbs that are much stiffer, which is great when you want a high riding surface fly. Which is just how I intend to fish this kebari. It will stand out well to the fish against a bright, pale, backlit sky in summer, and on such days the herl body will be picked out nicely. Incidentally, while fishing tenkara for dace on hot summer days, the black rooster and peacock herl kebari often wins some very emphatic takes when other patterns are ignored.
A couple of things show up in this photo - firstly how reflective feathers can be. Trust me, the stiff rooster hackle is jet black, but the slight oiliness of the feather barbs is reflecting surrounding light. Just look too at how reflective the peacock hurl body dubbing is, perfect for when you want just a little subtle flash in your fly. The other point to note is the blunt ends to the rooster hackle. This is because I've trimmed them to length with scissors after tying. Traditional western fly dressers might think me heathen. It came about when I just didn't have any hackles of the right barb length, so I trimmed them down to finish a fly. But in doing so I discovered a benefit - by using over-sized hackle and trimming down to length you are left with barbs that are much stiffer, which is great when you want a high riding surface fly. Which is just how I intend to fish this kebari. It will stand out well to the fish against a bright, pale, backlit sky in summer, and on such days the herl body will be picked out nicely. Incidentally, while fishing tenkara for dace on hot summer days, the black rooster and peacock herl kebari often wins some very emphatic takes when other patterns are ignored.
Recipe
Hook - Veniard Osprey barbless dry fly size 14
Thread- iron grey or black 8/0 uni thread
Hackle - black rooster
Dubbing - single strand of peacock herl
Method
Run the thread from the eye of the hook down to the start of the hook bend in touching turns and back up to the eye.
Run the thread back down a third of the way along the shank. Catch in the tip of the rooster hackle shiny side up with the tip laying along the top of the hook shank pointing to the hook bend.
Wind four or five turns of hackle around the shank, keeping the hackle barbs at 90 degrees to the hook shank. Tie off and trim away the spare ends of the midrib.
Run the thread down to the bend and catch in a single strand of peacock herl so that the tag end lays flat along the top of the hook shank towards the eye. Twine the herl strand around the tying thread four or five times to make a rope and wrap the rope back up the shank to the hackle in touching turns. Secure the hrs rope with a couple of turns of thread just behind the hackle and trim off any excess length of herl.
Work the bare thread back through the hackle taking care not to trap any barbs. Now the thread is at the head end of the fly, finish off with a whip finish. Varnish the head if you like - I don't bother, I just make a second whip finish.
Finally - and only if you are using an oversized hackle - gather the hackle together between thumb and index finger and draw it forward over the hook eye so that it resembles a flattened and closed tube inside which is the hook eye. Trim off with scissors. Release the hackle and stroke it back into its proper position. Err on the side of caution with your trimming as you can always repeat this step and take off a little more. Obviously if you are using a hackle of the correct finished size no trimming is needed. If you want a super stiff hackle then opt for an over-sized hackle like I did and trim as described here.
That's how I think my tying too ( except I'm less gifted with craft talent)... Great read!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words Thomas!
ReplyDelete