Sunday, February 13, 2011

"Tenkara-Fisher" Swap

I participated so far in two Tenkara fly swaps, one being the first "completed" American Tenkara Fly Swap with folks from the TenkaraUSA forum. If you were to be correct though about the "first" part, the first "initiated" Tenkara fly swap would be the one from Tenkara Fisher's web site and the associated forum (this link might only work if you are a member of the forum).

As with the swap from TenkaraUSA, I am highly impressed with the overall quality of flies, particularly since some of the Tenkara fishers out there just began fly tying as an extension to their Tenkara addiction. I wish sometimes I would have come up with a certain material and color combination; I don't really consider myself being very creative.

From the growing number of posts and members on both forums it looks like the Tenkara bug is spreading like wildfire in the States as well as in other countries across the globe. I have seen people contribute and read posts from various countries in Europe such as France, Germany, England, Denmark, Italy but also from more exotic locales such as South Korea, Russia, Croatia (yes, also part of Europe), South Africa, Australia, New Zealand. Looks like we're onto something here.

Anyway, this post is about the swap and the flies. I do not think I have the all the origins or fly tyer information but where I do, I would like to offer proper credit. Should you be the tyer of one the flies without credit (aka "unknown", please let me know in the comments section or drop me a line through the link at the bottom.

So, without further delay, here is the group picture of the original Class 2011 of  the Tenkara Fisher Fly Swap, group picture:


















And here are the individual contestants:

Anthony Naples - Steelers Sakasa Kebari
















257ROBT:
















gentleshepherd:
















Terry:
















Troutrageous:
















Arson (and yes, he's a firefighter...):
















wrknapp:
















jleal:
















ERiK:
















unknown 3:
















Adam Trahan:
















and mine:

















WOW! What great work of art and craftmanship those flies represent. And if you think I will keep them stacked away in a dark and dusty box, you are wrong!! I am planning to fish all of those flies and hope to land many fish on them.

Tight Lines!

PS: and if I haven't mentioned it yet, THIS IS THE YEAR OF TENKARA!

8 comments:

  1. Karel,

    Nice post. The year of Tenkara indeed! I can't wait to get out with the Tenkara rod and some swap flies. I'm anxiously waiting for the unlikely conjunction of good weather and free time.

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  2. You assumed correctly.

    We are now on our second swap and I have plans for a third...

    And there will always be a fly swap going on at tenkara-fisher.net

    Thanks for participating.

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  3. Karel,
    I am unknown # 2, tied with multi-colored brown thread and a combo of brown and grizly hackle. It works great for me on the Green river and during a caddis hatch.

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  4. jleal here,
    I think unknown #1 is mine. green thread body, peacock herl and hackle.
    One of my first attempts at Tenkara flies, if I remember correctly. Look forward to more swaps.

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  5. Thanks guys, I made the updates. Looking forward to the next swap!

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  6. What is the hook called that wrknapp used? And what is the reason for it's design?

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  7. Karel, great post. I always look forward to seeing other peoples ideas when it comes to tying sakasa kebari. Another great tie with yours. A while back troutrageous suggested that I do a post on my blog with all of my variations of sakasa kebari...I think you should do the same. It would be cool to see all of them.

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  8. Christopher,

    The hook is a Mustad 3257B. I first saw this hook in Gary Borger's nymphing book and decided to get some. You can still get them on eBay and were an early barbless hook for nymphing. They are heavier and stronger than most hooks the same size and I use them mostly for wet flies. Hope this helps.

    Randy Knapp

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