About three months ago I did post an article about the dubbing material made from fern fiddlehead fibers known as zenmai with a step by step fly tying sheet of the zenmai dou kebari on an Owner Shinobi hook.
The guenine zenmai dou is tied on golden hooks and I was lucky enough to be offered some by a Japanese friend. A reference I had never heard about: OWNER HERA PROST.
In his letter my friend did write that these were typical shaped for the zenmai dou kebari with wide gap, generously curved bend and barbless point. These hooks have no eye but a small spade so I have no doubt about the strength of ties on these hooks.
The size I did receive is 8 (号) so I can not really describe these hooks as "heavy wire". I would rather compare them to the Tiemco 100 which can be used for emerges, light nymphs or wet flies not destined to sink like anvils.
I have been fishing with wet flies long enough to understand that a fly tied with a cock hackle is a wet fly in power.
Differentiating a wet fly with a wet fly by the use of a cock or of a hen feather is a joke, a hoax in my opinion. If one does not use hydrophobic chemicals any dry fly will dive sooner or later!
Those who know the videos of Dr. Hisao Ishigaki, one of the greatest connoisseur of Tenkara, have certainly understood that the different casting techniques allow to fish subsurface with flies generally considered as dry flies.
A Tenkara angler understands that he needs to improve his technique instead of switching from one kind of fly to another, that is what teaches us the experience of Tenkara masters such as Dr. Ishigaki or Masami Sakakibara.
At least for me it is clear that it is these veteran practitioners who have something of value to pass on.
It is them who did what it takes for Tenkara not to disappear but instead spread throughout the world.
There is not any master outside of Japan in my opinion, there are sincere apprentices or insincere false experts.
