Tenkara Flies on Wednesdays is back? On a Tuesday??? I’ll be less US-centric time-wise for this post. By the time the post is up on our site, it will be Wednesday here in Japan, so I’ll run with it.
One of the things I had promised you to do on this trip was to cover some fly-tying with our friends in Japan. Yesterday was our last day in the Maze area, and while there wasn’t as much time as I had hoped to cover tenkara fly-tying, I made a point to ask my friend Shintaro Kumazaki to demonstrate his go-to tenkara fly. Shintaro grew up fishing. His father did tenkara before him, and his parents have owned the tackle shop in town for the last 12 years. Also, he’s practically next-door neighbor with the famed Katsutoshi Amano (by the way, this post and video of Mr. Amano are a must-see if you are interested in tenkara and tenkara flies). Shintaro has taken a much stronger interest in tenkara when I was visiting last year. He certainly caught the tenkara bug when we embarked on an epic trip fishing and canyoneering in search of wild iwana.
On another note, Shintaro and I had a very enjoyable afternoon session of tenkara fly-tying last year when i was visiting. The small picture to the right, which says “SHARE”, is of Shintaro tying a tenkara fly for me last year >;>;>;>;>;>;>;>;>;>;>;>;
After we were done with sawanobori (shower-climbing) and fishing yesterday, we headed over to his parent’s tackle shop (/pottery store) in Hagiwara, where he had his fly-tying station ready to go. I hope the film I shot (hand-held, and edited in my last 3-hour train ride) will please you.
Thanks for the fly tying video Daniel. Being able to listen to and watch other tenkara anglers, watching them tie, hearing their philosophy does so much to increase the tenakaras-phere. I particularly love to see the diverse flies and tying techniques, it really emphasizes the diversity of what some see as a homogeneous style.
great video. While I am a firm believer that in fast moving water the fly does not matter, I am also a firm believer that fly material makes a difference, and this video helps to confirm that for me. here in the west peacock hurl has always enjoyed a legendary status as a fish attractor, and it seems that in japan it has the same status, many fly tiers use hurl in their “one fly” design. I even noticed Dr. Ishigaki using it at this years summit. the fly may not matter but there is no doubt that some things just plain work
I would be interested to hear why these fisherman have chosen the materials they use in their fly
Great video, Daniel. Always nice to watch others’ ways of fly tying.