Why We Don’t Use Leaders in Tenkara
When I first started tenkara, I fished furled, tapered lines because they were easy to cast. The turnover was very good and loaded the rod well. But they are typically “heavy” and difficult to keep off the water when you want to make a good dead drift presentation. Eventually, I “graduated” to level fluorocarbon lines which were much lighter and easier to keep off the water. They made a great presentation, but even the brightest ones were difficult to see. This is due to two reasons.
1. Fluorocarbon level lines are much thinner than furled lines. That just makes them intrinsically hard to spot at any significant distance.
2. Fluorocarbon doesn’t take dye well. Nylon does, but fluorocarbon doesn’t. But the problem with nylon is that its lower density makes it difficult to cast. It doesn’t load the rod as well a fluorocarbon and doesn’t transfer energy well enough to cast in the wind.
Enter tapered nylon lines. I’ve recently been testing the “Soft Tenkara” tapered lines from Fujino. These are knotless, tapered lines (just like modern fly fishing leaders) that turnover very well and load the rod easily. Even though they’re nylon, the taper seems to make up for any lack of density during the cast, yet the light weight makes them just as easy (maybe easier) to keep line off the water as a fluorocarbon.
And, because nylon takes dye better than fluorocarbon, these lines are BRIGHT! They’re more opaque than most fluorocarbon lines and I have no problem seeing them on the water.
Out of the box, the line comes with an attached loop for a girth-hitch connection; however, you could cut this off if you prefer the slip knot connection typically used with level lines.
I tried the 4 meter length but they’re also available in 3.3M, 3.6M, and 5M. Honestly, I wish they made some longer versions like 6 or 7 meters but the physics between the nylon material and tapers may not add up there. Who knows. Maybe they’ve already tested longer versions and settled on these lengths for a reason.
The Fujino tapered lines are a good fit for anyone who wants a line that is easy to keep off the water, turns over well, and is easy to see. The only limitation I can see is length. But if you’re used to fishing shorter (less than 16 ft.) tenkara lines, then it won’t be a deal breaker for you.
If you’re interested in trying one out, they’re available on the Tenkara Bum website.
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Comment Thanks Jason for commenting your views on this line and share it with us.
It seems a very good choice.
I’ve got these in 3.5 and 4.5, but they are colored bright green – I’m fairly certain I purchased them from Chris Stewart and I don’t think orange was available at that time, or at least he didn’t carry it. Good lines, need a bit of stretching to reduce the coil, but turn over dries really nicely. Easier to see than fluorocarbon but right at the moment it is lush spring here in Texas and everything is green, so the orange line would make more sense. Give it a couple weeks for stuff to dry out and the green will pop against the browns nicely.
Michael, I had a similar experience with the coils. You really have to stretch the line out to get rid of them. Not a deal breaker for me though. My fluorocarbon line do the same thing anyway.
I have the green 4.5m, purchased from Chris.
The nylon floats better than FC so better for dries for that reason too.
It’s not a very good in the wind.
I find it most useful on my Nissin 450SP and AirStage 390.
I don’t like using it with any sort of weighted fly.
I tied a small clip in the hatch of my car. I clip the line on via girth hitch and give my lines a good stretching before use.
I terminated my line with a tippet ring after having tippet pulled past the stopper not I initially used. It happened twice which was enough to make me lose all confidence in using a stopper. Might just be me…
Why would you need a tapered line? The leader is only the length of the rod plus 18 to 36 inch tippet. This total length is not enough for a tapered line when the majority of the line is off the water. There seams to be a lot of over kill here when Tenkara is back to the basic fly fishing.
Larry, some of us fish lines that are a lot longer than the rod. I often fish a 13 ft. rod with an 18-22 ft. line + 3 feet of tippet.
Hey Mark, I’ve tried tippet rings and just didn’t like them. I felt like they broke my tippet more often and didn’t really offer any convenience. Can you tell us what advantages you think they offer?
Yeah, Jason, definitely not a deal breaker, I just notice the memory with this line more than any other. I checked Chris’ website and he updated his discussion of these midi lines to cover the new orange option, and more than just the obvious color difference, the orange has different lengths and is apparently somewhat thinner at the butt end than the green version is, however they both taper down to the same diameter. Definitely a line for still days, and even then I can really only cast it well with my Oni rod.
Where can find Fujino tapered tenkara line?
Hi Dennis, you can buy them at Tenkara Bum: http://www.tenkarabum.com/tenkara-midi.html
Jason,
The answer is a year late… but if you had breakage, you probably had bad tippet rings. I know I got a bad batch that varied between suspect and obviously unusable. I had one ring that cut through 25lb Maxima. I moaned about it and got a free replacement pack… but I didn’t use them. Too late, my confidence in them was shot.
I like Hend’s 2mm rings the best. Dohiku’s also work well (the Hends are just a little smaller.) The reason I use them is that I can replace tippet at will… without having to worry about eating up my taper or carefully constructed hand tied leader. It also allows for a modular leader construction… I can remove or swap out the sighter as conditions warrant. I tried stopper knots, but lost a few fish when the tippet either slipped off or broke easier than expected, and I haven’t used them since.