"Typical Tenkara" & Okumino Itoshiro Kebari

I've taken a lot of inspiration from Yoshikazu Fujioka's tenkara site, especially his fly tying pages. These pages are invaluable for anyone interested in tenkara flies as they really demonstrate the diversity of regional patterns. For the fly tyer, Fujioka-san's site is a great source of information, and a good place for anyone looking to get started tying tenkara flies. His simple directions for the sakasa kebari (kebari = fly) and "typical tenkara" kebari provide a solid foundation upon which you can build your own variations.

In appreciation of Fujioka-san's work, here are a few of my recent efforts:

"Typical Tenkara"

Hook: Mustad S82-3906B, size 12

Body: yellow Lureflash Superbug Yarn & gold wire

Hackle: pheasant downy feather

This is my interpretation of what Fujioka-san calls a "typical tenkara" kebari. Traditionally one would use zenmai (aka "fern fuzz," and something I really should get around to devoting an entire post too!), but to conserve my supply I've used a synthetic yellow yarn which makes for a decent stand in. I've substituted a few other materials as well. From what I can tell the ones on Fujioka-san's site are lightly dubbed over gold tinsel, I used an over-wrap of gold wire instead. I also substituted a downy under feather for the "pheasant's alula" he calls for, only because I haven't been able to figure out exactly which feathers those are on the bird just yet. It still makes for a very nice nymph-like fly though.

Okumino Itoshiro Kebari

Hook: Mustad C49S, size 14

Body: peacock herl

Hackle: pheasant downy feather

This is another regional pattern, and uses a rare material - those annoying under feathers you're constantly throwing in the trash! The use of which inspired my take on Fujioka-san's "typical tenkara" kebari described above. This is a really interesting and unique fly, hence why I wanted to give it a shot. To tie it, I found that wrapping the under feather around the thread, then wrapping the two together around the hook works best. The stems of the under feathers are extremely fragile, and initially very frustrating to work with. Once you get the hang of them they aren't too bad though.

I'm excited to fish these flies, I'll let you know how they work! I'm curious how the hackle will behave in the water...

Sunday Morning

Placement

Since receiving my medical clearance, things have happened pretty quick. Tuesday morning I checked my application status online, discovered that my placement review was complete, and that an invitation packet was in the mail, awesome! It arrived Thursday afternoon, and I have 7 calendar days to accept. So come Monday morning, I'll officially be bound for Ukraine on September 24th!

I hadn't initially thought of Ukraine as a place I'd like to go, but after doing more research, and reading about the experiences of other volunteers, I have to admit I'm getting excited. Ukraine is a big country, and I won't find out where I'll be assigned until after the three-month pre-service training; there are lot of possibilities with a country the size of Texas. In any case, I think the Ukraine will offer exactly the kind of experience I'm looking for. I'll likely have some wild experiences, challenges, frustrations, and hopefully a lot of fun too. I'll doubtlessly learn a lot.

I'm pretty amazed that this whole thing has finally come to fruition. I'm still amazed I made it through the application and interview for that matter. After 6 months this is no longer hypothetical, I've been accepted to the Peace Corps, and I am going to Ukraine.

Now I have about two months to start learning Russian, get my financial affairs in order, pack, and say good-bye to my friends and family.

Peace Corps Medical Clearance

As many of you probably know from reading my profile I graduated from college this spring, and am currently applying to serve as a volunteer in the Peace Corps. This has been a long process. Way back in March I submitted my initial application, interviewed in Boston, and secured a nomination for a position teaching English in Eastern Europe, for which I'd depart in September, 2010. Little did I know at the time that that was really only the beginning of the application process. Since April I've been working toward my medical clearance. And today, after over two months of doctors visits, paperwork, and waiting, I found out that the Peace Corps Office of Medical Services has finally granted my clearance!

I'm a healthy 23 year old, so there was never much doubt that I would eventually be cleared. Yet, I have to say that I've never been through such a thorough evaluation of my health. All the paper work, and nerve wracking snafus (especially over the last two weeks), have really kept me on the edge of my seat. Gotta say I'm very relieved. Now I'm on to the final step - placement, which, like the initial application and interview, is also a competitive process.

So hopefully within the next few weeks I'll be able to tell you all whether or not I'll be serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and where I'm going!

A Little Fishing & Some More Time at the Vise

Unfortunately I haven't had many opportunities to fish lately. I did get a chance to go fishing on the Swift today, as always, the river was beautiful, but crowded. But unfortunately, I remembered the camera, but not the battery that I'd left charging on the wall the night before. I was kicking myself for that since I missed some dramatic shots of a foggy, steaming river in the early morning sun. It really was a beautiful morning on the water.

I didn't fish all that hard, and spent a lot of time watching fish from the bank. I observed some very active sub-surface feeding by the big rainbows, it was fun just watching them flicking around in the current snatching tiny morsels. As far as fishing went, I didn't get any interest on the sakasa kebari, but had a few strikes that should have hooked up on a size 18 CDC biot comparadun when I borrowed my friends 3-weight fly rod for some casting practice. I was happy to find that my form is still there! Although I do have to consciously think about mending and line control.

Thanks to the generosity of a friend, I've been experimenting with some different hackles this past week. Mostly I've been tying with partridge, which I'm finding is great stuff. Here are a few examples of what I've been tying lately: