April 12, 2012

My latest favorite line -- searching for the holy grail

Well, the spring run-off is starting. This is the time of year that I usually hit the regional lakes for some float tubing midge fishing. I have, however, been experimenting lately with tenkara lines. I have been persuing that holy grail of tenkara lines: castibility, visibility, and control in the wind.  I have various lines that I have tried: traditional furled, monofilament, fluorocarbon, and combinations of each. For the flourocarbon lines I have used Stewart Hi-Vis orange, Daiwa pink Plasma line, Stren 100% Clear Blue Fluorescent, Tenkara USA medium visiblility, and Tenkara USA high visibility. I have also tried various combinations of these trying to come up with a line that is very visible under my local conditions, and that casts well. I think I have found it!

I used a line today that answered my needs. I could see it under all light conditions, through the reflections off the water's surface, when the sun was out and when it was not, when it was raining, when it was snowing, etc (yes, it was quite the weather day). It cast well with two heavy nymphs tied on. It didn't get blown all over the river when the wind picked up. It didn't drag my dry fly under. In summary, it seem to do all that I currently want in a line.

SO...... what is this mystery line? It is a hybrid of Tenkara USA high visiblility flourocarbon #4.5 and 15lb Sunset red Amnesia monofilament shooting line.  The line I used today was 11 feet in length (before adding tippet), 8 ft of the Tenkara USA fluoro and 3 feet of the red Amnesia. I joined them with a Seaguar knot. I end the Amnesia with a mini tippet ring. I added 2.5 feet of 6X fluoro tippet; this finished the line.

Here is the line -- note the end spirals
On the water -- the line stands out even on camera 20 feet away


The contrast between the bright yellow of the Tenkara USA line and the glowing red of the Amnesia really makes this line easy for me to see under a myriad of conditions. Since Amnesia is monofilament it tends to float better than other hi-vis lines, like Stewart's Hi-Vis fluoro, and the line casts well because of the weight of the #4.5 Tenkara USA fluorocarbon. Also, since Amnesia is a "moldable" line I can put a couple of spiral turns in the end near the tippet ring by wrapping the line around my finger. These spirals make a built in strike indicator and is sensitive for light takes. It worked excellent today.

One of the fish

Another one -- it looks small but it was 12 inches.

I am sure that this hybrid line combination has been used before, but it is new to me and I like it a lot. It seems to be the best combination for my oldish eyes. I'll keep looking for a better combo though. After all, it is the holy grail!


7 comments:

  1. This combo is very good for all the reasons you mention. It has indeed been the favored line combination of internationally competitive angler Misako Ishimura and is referenced in the Tenkara book on page 119 as "red nylon," though she uses a smaller segment. I too like the advantages of a floating line close to the tippet, which comes into play casting and floating under stream-side obstructions. Keep up the great posts on tenkara. I really enjoy your site.
    Kevin

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    1. Thanks Kevin. I thought about using a shorter segment of Amnesia but I need all the visual help I can get so I went with 3 feet.

      -Tom

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  2. Great idea! I've got some orange amnesia down in my basement that I use a light running line in the salt, so I will try this (I think mine is 20# though, so maybe a shorter length?)

    Paul

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  3. A couple of guys in the Tenkara Guides crew use amnesia as a sighter, and for those with limited eye site we'll make a complete line out of amnesia.

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  4. Great post and great blog. Will be back!

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  5. Is this still the line setup you are using? It kind of looks like a weight forward tenkara line. I like it!

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    1. Pretty much the same line -- some minor variations occasionally.

      -Tom

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