Quote Originally Posted by larryg View Post
My wife is (due to my age) starting to request that I fish stillwaters for now. Although I am not a Tenkara purist (with rods/flies/line) I do use some of the flies.
The question is what Tenkara flies do you find most 'rewarding' in catching fish? I am in the Mid-Atlantic (MD) is that is helpful for your replies. Thank you for your helpful suggestions.
Well, I have to say that I'm not familiar with the Mid-Atlantic states, but my wife and I really enjoy using "purple nurple" killer bugs that we tie. We use a size 12, style 1120 Daiichi scud-style hook, about 8 wraps of .015 lead-free wire, chartreuse thread base, with purple haze yarn over that. (You can get the yarn from Chris Stewart at TenkaraBum, plus some other sources.) I also wrap the bug with small chartreuse wire, finished with the chartreuse thread as a "hot spot." Don't know if purists would call it a "tenkara fly," but we've caught lots of fish with it under a variety of conditions. It has a moderate sink rate, and the chartreuse plus purple colors seem to work well. I'd say any kind of Utah killer bug or old-style Sawyer killer bug is a nice go-to fly.