A follow up to yesterday’s post on tying glass bead kebari:

Glass Bead Takayama Sakasa Kebari

I tied eight more of the same pattern (pheasant hackle, red thread, peacock herl) tonight and am starting to get the hang of it. I also stepped down from a size 10 nymph hook to a size 12 dry fly hook, which has a slightly longer shank than the nymph version, allowing a bit more room to fit the beads, hackle, herl, and tail.

I also experimented with mashing it up with another classic pattern, the partridge & orange: I used partridge hackle, orange thread, and Shetland Spindrift wool yarn in moss in place of the peacock herl. I kind of like it and will probably tie a couple more.

I’d ideally like to tie ten of each pattern I like to get the hang of it. The first three are not that great, four is acceptable, then 5-10 are usually keepers. That will roughly take me two nights if I’m learning a new pattern (I’m slow and still learning).

I took a closer look at the pheasant feathers tonight and feathers from this section seemed to fit the size 12 hook better, leading to better, more balanced flies.

The photos are still tricky… I don’t have enough light at night to get the most out of my SLR without setting up big lights, which I don’t have time for, and the photos from my phone are overprocessed and lack detail. I guess I need to be patient and take photos the next day.

Back to stiff hackle flies next. Probably the Shetland Futsū:

Simple Yarn Tenkara Flies: The Shetland Futsū