Dr. Ishigaki, the most renowned tenkara angler in Japan, shows us that tying tenkara flies can be pretty simple. Tenkara fly patterns come in all shapes, but you don’t need a lot of them. In fact, Dr. Ishigaki has been using this one pattern for over 10 years now.

Here’s how the ties the “Ishigaki kebari”

Fly tying materials for the Ishigaki kebari:

1) Sewing thread (black mostly, but he occasionally uses light color threads, like tan or gray)

2) Cheap hackle (any hackle is fine, really)

3) Size 12 barbless hook