Glass Beads

[Traditionalist]

Tenkara flies are used with specialised techniques ( Tenkara of course! ) and so adding various weighted stuff like beads and so on does not have the same effect as when such flies are used with conventional gear, although it of course affects how the fly behaves.

Of course many Tenkara flies will work on conventional gear but usually not as well.  While I am not averse to experimentation with anything at all, I tend to design flies with specific properties for specific applications, and although I have tried a lot of things I have usually found that many designs are simply less suitable for various purposes.

The idea of the "bubble" sounds attractive but there has always been a great deal of discussion and controversy about it. ( See Gary LaFontaine among others http://www.flyfishusa.com/flies/cadlarva.htm ).

http://www.troutnut.com/topic/2211/Lafontaine-sparkle-pupa

http://www.flyline.com/tips_trivia/all_that_glitters/

I corresponded with Gary and others on this subject for quite a while and have been involved in various discussions about it in various places over the years.The simple truth is that most flies don't have such bubbles and so adding one might well make a fly less effective. The only way to find out is to dress some and use them, but I would be very surprised if they were any more effective than good "conventional" flies. None of those I tried were.

TL
MC

[Traditionalist]

As it happens I use a number of techniques which are very similar to Tenkara style fishing. This basically involves the use of a long rod ( I usually use a 14 footer), and various techniques and flies suited to it. This is however completely different to what is now considered "conventional" fly-fishing, the casting, lines, flies etc are all quite different to what most people use.

This book is a very worthwhile read if you want to try some "advanced Tenkara" style fishing;

http://www.wildfisher.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=16986.0

http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=The%20Angler%20and%20The%20loop%20Rod

I also use specialised teams of flies for this, among other things, ( but never more than three flies ), and various weighted flies are used for specific purposes, some info on that here;

http://www.wildfisher.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=16756.0

this is also one of the reasons that discussing various flies divorced from the specific application is always difficult.  What you use is largely determined by how you use it.

Flies with various beads do work but my opinion on that is that they usually work because they sink further. On very many occasions surface flies simply don't work because the fish are feeding sub-surface or even hard on the bottom. The only way to catch such fish is to get down to them. This is why bead heads and similar work so well.  There may be some extra attraction from the "glint" of metal or other beads but the primary reason they work so well is the weight which allows them to actually reach the feeding fish.


TL
MC

[Rabmax]

Interesting read Mike i have read about Webster & the loop rod before & it looks very similar to Tenkara anyway.I tend to fish similar to this like the Americans with there high sticking often crawling up the river on knee pads with as long a rod as i can get away with & lifting as much of my line & leader off as possible.I find this my most effective method by far but it sure takes its toll on your body.Cheers

[Highlander]

Do not quote me but I seem to remember on the advertising blurb some years ago that the
drying agent/desiccant Frogs Fanny will impart an air bubble if the fly is in the least bit submersed. You might want to look into that one. Weight will certainly not be a problem if that is true.
Tight Lines

[Traditionalist]

Interesting read Mike i have read about Webster & the loop rod before & it looks very similar to Tenkara anyway.I tend to fish similar to this like the Americans with there high sticking often crawling up the river on knee pads with as long a rod as i can get away with & lifting as much of my line & leader off as possible.I find this my most effective method by far but it sure takes its toll on your body.Cheers

I don't crawl or kneel much any more, my knees have unfortunately deteriorated quite a lot in recent years, but I still stay back and in cover as much as possible or at least with trees or bushes or even just a high bank behind me, although I don't wade much any more either, not a major loss as I usually preferred to avoid it anyway if I could.  I also skip one or two places I would once have fished as crawling or kneeling would be necessary there.  I certainly catch fewer fish in some places as a result, and forgo a few larger ones too, which I once would have caught, but that's how it goes. I still catch plenty so it's not really much of a problem yet. As long as I can still fish it doesn't matter if I have to skip some places.  The method itself still works well and I use other methods as well which are not quite as strenuous but are also less successful. Being really stealthy requires one to be really fit, and as I wrote, my knees are going now, and a slipped disc doesn't help a lot either!

I definitely agree that keeping casting line off the water is often of paramount importance, something you just cant do with modern "short" rods and plastic lines. Indeed, this is also one of the reasons Tenkara is so successful, it causes far less disturbance.

TL
MC

[Rabmax]

Do not quote me but I seem to remember on the advertising blurb some years ago that the
drying agent/desiccant Frogs Fanny will impart an air bubble if the fly is in the least bit submersed. You might want to look into that one. Weight will certainly not be a problem if that is true.
Tight Lines

I cant remember where but i remember reading somewhere about people treating nymphs with Frogs Fanny to impart air bubbles & they reckoned they caught more fish. Worth a try Highlander