okay , why do these guys only have a couple of flies and we , regular fly gear fisherman, have so many patterns to choose from?
It is a Zen thing… I switch between Tenkara and western style. When I fish Tenkara I take a small shoulder bag with everything in it. When I fish western I wear a 28 pocket vest (and have stuff left over). Go figure.
yep, 500 flies for a couple of fish
For my Tenkara fishing, I take a couple “western” flies to fish.
For my conventional fly angling, I take a couple “western” flies to fish.
Lately, for either approach, it has been three or four of the same FEB golden stone pattern and three or four of the same Duck’s Green Drake pattern.
In the near future, it will be a few of the same FEB October Caddis pattern.
Through that timeframe, I’ll take along a few of a couple smaller caddis and mayfly patterns and a few Griffith’s gnats, just in case.
After that, when the weather gets really cold, it will be a few of the same rubber legs stonefly nymph pattern.
May sound boring, but the fishing ain’t. :shock:
John
no John , i am with you, its just curious to me how many bizzzilion flies there are out there, variants, and how few tenkara flies there are. as a commercial tyer, i just cant keep up with all the newness of gotta have materials anymore and have stopped trying to. its just mind boggling… in my own pack , i have just a few flies for the places i have dialed in and a couple streamers.
I have went from a vest to an over-the-shoulder bag… and I have fished maybe 6 different flies so far since March. It would be fewer, but the different fish I am after require different styles of flies. You can’t target bluegills using size 1 bucktail minnows too effectively! 
I am like the q kid… I went from carrying four fly boxes of everything from clousers to Deer hair poppers and everything in the world all the way down to zebra midges, including stone flies of all sizes and caddis flies, and blu this and pink that and red this and purple that and green this’s and brown that’s and turkey this’s and partridge that’s and on and on and on… finally I gave them all to Real Recovery and started tying all over again.
Now I have one small two sided box of things that work both on Bass (Small and LM) on one side, and the other side on smaller pan-fish. Anything from Trout to bluegill and crappie and I still have a great time fishing. And better yet… I’m less tempted to change flies and work on presentation. I found that presentation was more my problem than the fly was. So I didn’t NEED all those flys anyway.
Some of us have to start out with four boxes of flies to have any left at the end of the day. I’ve got a half a box of buggers, all the same size and pattern, in the hopes that I don’t end up bereft at the end of the day. I know I was a forestry major in college, but really now… At least least I can identify most of the culprits by name, Latin name. Jason may be Hungintree, but I seem to snag to the whole forest. I’ll tell you, retrieving a fly from a quarter-inch thick poison ivy root is a mite ticklish.
I know the alders on the Au Sable River are out to get me. I’ve had one foot tall bushes jump three feet up in the air to snag my backcast. I turned around and caught one still tucking in his roots. How can you beat that?
Ed
If you mean the Japanese anglers who know what Tenkara is, it is because they typically are fishing only a specific place and time for a specific kind of fish.
I get a laugh out of the “I fish Tenkara” and “I fish WESTERN” comments. Get real, guys. If you are fishing a body of water in North America with your pole and string rig, you’re fishing Tenkara in name only. Whatever, I don’t care, I just gotta laugh. ( I lived in Japan, and was exposed to Tenkara-style fishing while I was there.) We tend to make a whole lot more out of labels and image than we do out of the activity itself.
You may be right about the specific place / time / fish thing in Japan. My own take is that they are following a tradition of using a simple, effective system to put food on the table ( kind of like farm boys using worms to bring home some dinner - how many kinds of worms are there ?? ) or have something to take to the market for a profit.
As to distinguishing between one style of or approach to angling and other styles or approaches, words are helpful, at least to those of us who have some interest in communicating. Tenkara is a word that in this country at this time on this Bulletin Board suggests a certain approach using a particular kind of gear, to distinguish it from conventional or western gear, and from switch and spey, for example.
It’s not a matter of making stuff out of lables and image, it’s actually a way of talking about the activity itself.
I do think that some of your comments disparage the owner of the FAOL website and this Bulletin Board who chose to provide a Forum for people to share their experiences, and a lot of good people who enjoy the opportunity to do so. If all that makes you laugh, you are most likely laughing alone.
John
You may be right about the specific place / time / fish thing in Japan. My own take is that they are following a tradition of using a simple, effective system to put food on the table ( kind of like farm boys using worms to bring home some dinner - how many kinds of worms are there ?? ) or have something to take to the market for a profit.
As to distinguishing between one style of or approach to angling and other styles or approaches, words are helpful, at least to those of us who have some interest in communicating about such things. Tenkara is a word that in this country at this time on this Bulletin Board pretty much suggests a certain approach using a particular kind of gear, to distinguish it from conventional or “western” fly angling gear, and from switch and spey gear, for example.
For the vast majority of us, it’s not a matter of making stuff out of lables and image, it’s actually a way of talking about the activity itself.
I do think that some of your comments disparage the owner of the FAOL website and this Bulletin Board who chose to provide a Tenkara Forum for people to share their experiences, and a lot of good people who enjoy the opportunity to do so. If all that makes you laugh, you are most likely laughing alone.
John
Well said John. Thanks kindly.
Yup, that happens a lot! In fact the older I get, the more often it happens. Last I looked, this isn’t the tenkara forum.
What makes me laugh is that by and large, in most cases, someone using a cane pole, string and a sponge spider would be looked on as inferior but someone using a $200 graphite pole, a few feet of fly line and only carrying a few copies of the same fly would be looked on as philosophic, advanced, and superior. Again, that’s a generalization but if you’re honest you know it’s true in the fly fishing world today.
I think it’s an American syndrome. “If it can be made, I have to have one.”
And we call folks who think otherwise, “Minimalists”.
Companies target people that are psychologically geared with certain needs as in all marketing. It is purely psychological. the needs could be purely functional for a product that works with no added hyperbole (status). Thus a $35 dollar reel is created that does the job intended and made well. Than there is the added hyperbole to target one with an ego and need for status. Thus a $875 dollar reel is created to meet that need. Both reels function equally well both made as well. One may use more expensive metal for the arbor and reel but both structurally last as long.
As a remarketing coordinator in the automobile industry I see this for what it is and how we use it to (pardon the pun) bait and hook our target. The reality is amazing and it is all based on psychology and using it to sell them a product that though costs infinitesimally more than the next model down is no more superior to it except in the way we create perception in the minds eye of the consumer. Read that (consumer) as fish.
It blows my mind quite frankly that one would pay 800 900 plus for a reel that is designed to just pull line out and reel it in. That is a medium sized motorcycle engine, a very nice TV, a very nice bicycle, and on and on. But hey status is in the mind of the beholder. Tenkara is as well as is western style fly fishing. Both catch fish and not everyone is looking for a trophy. Some just love them little buggers called blue gills, some love Atlantic salmon. There is no one rig that does it all eh? But I digress. There are so many ways to fish and if a human being has found a way to fish that gives them pleasure than that my friends is all that matters. After all to quote Chris Stewert “it is just fishing”. Cane poles are fun too and that kid or adult kid over there that has fished that stretch all his or her life is catching more fish “somehow” than that new comer wearing and carrying 2000 bux worth of gear.
Now as to why I have so many flies as a Western angler… Cause I like em! The more the merrier
Plus some flies lend themselves to certain areas or picky fish then others. There is a stretch on the Swift river I fish that is so technical it taxes the best of em. It has caused one seasoned angler to snap his rod right over his leg in frustration.
well said JC.
As for intentionally breaking a rod in frustration over picky fish… that person is an utter fool.
I am not taking shots my brother sells Toyotas & Lexus, just asking, is a “remarketing coordinator” someone who works selling used cars. Everyone has tried to make every job sound as important as possible sometimes you cannot tell what a person really does. I have been loss prevention, risk control, fire prevention/safety/security, and probably a couple I don’t remember any more so my industry is as guilty as any.
If i am true to myself, I only ever fish the same flies over and over again. A beaded PT nymph as my dropper and a Parachute Adams as my top fly and dry but i have alot more boxes of flies in my vest, 7 x boxes full. But those two stated are what I usually use as my go to flies and I only vary the size of the nymph, go smaller and vary the depth of dropper when fish arent biting (it works for me). I’ve always wanted to go minimalist, I have a double sided fly box which has only Beaded PT nymphs, size 14,16 and 18’s on one side and Parachute Adams size 14 only on the other so I can use when I go Tenkara and Western fishing
No I am not a salesman. I am a manager of two stores used car inventory. My main responsibility is watching service that they don’t take advantage of the dealership and making sure our vehicles go through all necessary chanels before they are ready for sale. This includes handling online listings and the list goes on. The position was created to cut down on costs and increase sales. It is a hands on approach that works and is saving the dealerships in three states a huge sum of money as well as increasing the bottom line. As far as importance, I don’t swing that way I am a worker amongst workers. That is a personal philosophy. I used to run my own photography studio but got out for various reasons. Still do fine art work. When I am not fishing…