Fujino Soft Tenkara 3.3 line -- review

In general, I use a level fluorocarbon line for my tenkara. I have found this type of line to be very functional and cost effective. But occasionally I like to try out other options. I will therefore periodically try a furled line or in this case a manufactured tapered monofilament line.

I have tried a manufactured tapered monofilament line previously; the Tenkara Midi line. I found it to be very good at laying down a soft presentation, but it was more difficult to cast and control if there was any breeze. It was 3.5 m long. Today I'll review a similar line, the Fujino Soft Tenkara 3.3 tapered tenkara line. I chose the 3.3 m so I could use it on some of the smaller streams I've been fishing. Recently Jason Klass of Tenkara Talk review this line, but in the 4 m length.  My review will compliment his in that Jason and I fish tenkara differently and thus we each have a different experience with the line. He prefers to fish downstream, while I prefer to fish upstream. This is important since tenkara lines may not work the same depending on the presentation.

The line with its short white loop attached.

The Fujino Soft Tenkara 3.3 tenkara line is a tapered monofilament line which comes in bright orange. As Jason stated in his review, this line is bright! I found it very easy to see under all conditions -- against foliage, against water reflections, in shadows, etc. It comes with a small white Dacron loop for use to attach the line to the lilian with a girth hitch knot. I found this loop to be too small for convenient use in forming the girth hitch. I feel this loop needs to be longer. I took my loop off and replaced it with one of my own making; it was longer.

My replaced Dacron loop

The line feels smooth between your fingers, but it feels softer than fluorocarbon. This may impact the robustness of the line. It may be easier to notch and/or scratch than a fluorocarbon line. This could affect its strength and wear characteristics.

The line uncoils easily and straightens with just a slight pull. The line starts at 0.019 inch (0.48 mm) but tapers down to a fine 0.012 inch (0.3 mm). There is no loop on the terminal end of the line. I connected my line to a few inches of mono with a tippet ring attached.

To cast the line, I used a Nissin ZeroSum 360 7:3 rod. Although this rod is advertised as a 7:3 it acts and casts more like a slow 6:4. I chose this rod over a 5:5, like my Sagiri 39MC, to see how the line would act with a slightly faster rod.

The line casts very well. It unrolls perfectly in the air and like the Midi line, lands very softly. It presents an unweighted kebari very delicately, without much splash. It did excellently in still air, pretty well in a very light breeze, but poorly in air movement over 5 mph. Clearly, this is a line for calm conditions. A #4 or even a #3.5 fluorocarbon line casts and controls better in a breeze than the Soft Tenkara 3.3.

One theoretical advantage of monofilament over fluorocarbon is that it weighs less and has a lower density. This means it floats and possibly could make it sag or belly less, thus making it easier to keep of the water. Of course, a shorter line, like the 3.3 m will be easier to keep of the water than a longer line, say a 3.9 or 4.5 m, but I noticed that my 3.3 m line still had quite a bit a sag.

I mentioned above that the same line used in different presentations may act differently. I stand by my observations regarding this. Here is an example. If you cast and fish with an upstream presentation, like I mostly do, the fly and line will immediately begin to move towards you as soon as it touches down. This will make the line want to sag immediately, unless of course, you constantly adjust the elevation and angle of the rod tip in relation to the water surface. However, a line that bellies or sags will still tend to do this more with an upstream presentation.

Fishing upstream

If you present the line downstream, like Jason mostly does, the fly and line will immediately begin to move away from you as soon as it touches down. Gravity will still want to make the line to sag, but the constant resistance of the water on the fly will cause the line to tighten, pulling it straight, thus counteracting the effect of gravity on the line's sag.

Fishing downstream

This of course is for tenkara on faster moving water. If you fish still waters or slow moving water none of what I just said will be of any concern.


Jason thought that the Soft Tenkara line was easy (maybe easier) to keep of the water. I didn't really see that in my line, rather it felt that it was about like a #4 fluorocarbon line in sag formation. But bear in mind, I fish upstream, whereas Jason fishes downstream -- that is maybe where the difference in observed line sag lies. Anyway, I decided to test the line for sag compared to a #4 and a #3 fluorocarbon level line of comparable lengths. I used 3 feet of 6X tippet on each line with the same hookless casting-practice fly. Since tenkara lines are hard to record on video, I positioned the sun behind me so that it would shine through the lines. I then positioned myself so that the lines would be seen against a dark tree in my backyard. I tried to keep the rod tip at the angle I usually cast.

What I found was although the Soft Tenkara 3.3 line is made of monofilament it formed more sag than a #4 or #3 fluorocarbon level line. This is what I saw on the stream as well.

Soft Tenkara 3.3 line -- a lot of sag

#4 10.5 foot fluorocarbon level line -- less sag, but still quite a bit.

#3 10.5 foot fluorocarbon level line -- much less sag; a straighter line = better control.

Conclusion: This is a nice line that is really visible in all streamside situations. It also presents a fly very delicately. Since it is monofilament it floats better than fluorocarbon. But it doesn't cast well in even a slight breeze. Also, it is heavy and does sag quite a bit when fished upstream. This can be compensated for by dynamically adjusting the rod tip, however.  I'll likely use mine in calm air when I want to present either a dry fly or an unweighted kebari very delicately, such as in low, clear water situations.

Here is a 2:30 minute video of my line sag test. It's best viewed in HD so you can see the lines better, especially the #3.

A Few Hours; A Few Fish

The other day I walked into the upper reaches of a creek that I love to fish. I went by myself, walking along a trail and feeling the sun and smelling the air. It was a beautiful afternoon.

After reaching my desired location I was pleased to see I was alone. It was the beginning of the Memorial/Decoration Day weekend and since the weather was nice I figured there would be people all over the mountains. I did see a bunch of ATV and motorcycle riders in the distance, but they were on a different trail. While I was on the creek no one came past, at least on a motorized vehicle. I they did come past they'd have to be walking, as I didn't hear anything but the creek and the breeze in the trees. Also, the cattle haven't been brought into their mountain grazing range yet -- no cow pies to navigate.

The water was really nice; clear, good flow and not weed choked (yet). Since it was sunny, I had to keep low and make my casts very precise.  I still struggle with that, the precise casting thing, especially when a breeze comes up.

I used my Daiwa Sagiri 39MC and, at least at first, a Fujino Soft Tenkara 3.3 tapered mono line. This combo worked really well. The Sagiri is a slow 5:5 rod that loads really nicely with the light mono line. The casts are delicate and lay the fly into the water without splashing. On water such as this, this is what is needed to not scare the fish away.

However, after about an hour a breeze came up so I changed to a 10 foot #4 fluorocarbon line. This handled the breeze better than the Soft Tenkara mono line.

For the fly, I used a #12 UKB. I did use a white Takayama kebari for a few minutes but this wasn't doin' it, so I changed it out. The UKB was into fish quickly.

All the trout were cutthroats. That maked me pretty happy. There was nothing of size; I think the largest would have come in at near 12 inches, but all the fish were bright and strong.

I fished for 2 hours; took around 16 fish. I didn't take any video, I just fished. It was nice and very relaxing.

A Quick Trip to Test the Waters -- May 19, 2014

I drove over the mountain the other day to see how the waters were shaping up. Run-off is still on but some of the smaller streams, with water sheds which are at a lower elevation, are slowing down a little bit.  I drove my Rokon and my son drove his Honda.

The roads and trails were pretty much dry, excepting where the shade was more persistent. In these few places there was still snow. The drive was nice as the day was warm, sunny and no significant breeze.

Still some snow in places.

As we approached the stream I could see that the water levels were good and the turbidity was clear. My son didn't want to fish today, so as he took a nap I worked my way upstream.

The stream is about 4-5 feet across, has mountain flows and works its way through a valley dotted with beaver ponds. It is a classic mountain meadow stream without the usual run-plunge-pool configuration of most of the streams that I fish.  I really like the stream because it is easy to find solitude and it's full of wild, native cutthroats.

A typical reach

The bend pool near where we parked the bikes

As I fished I picked up a number of small to medium sized cutthroats. I did hook one rainbow as well, it coming up from the lower elevation reaches of the streams were they are planted for campers. Most of the fish I hooked were 8-10 inches, with one coming in at over 12 inches. I did see one very large cutthroat though, I bet he'd come in at near 20 inches, but I only scared him not hooking him!

I used the Gamakatsu Multiflex Suimu 40; a nice rod for this type of water. I mainly used a 10 foot #4 line, but when a breeze kicked up I did change to a 3.3 m Masterline. I went with a Sunset woolbodied kebari.

It was a fun couple of hours. The mountains were beautiful. I'll be back as it appears the water is ready for more fishing!

Here is a video of the trip:

Perspective

I've mentioned it before, and I'll likely mention it again, I generally fish alone. This allows me to come and go as I please and work a stream until I feel tired, which nowadays is not all too long of a time. But fishing alone has its downsides. So, sometimes I do enjoy going with someone else. It's fun to talk and compare experiences, and I'm never too old to learn something new. I'm always trying to learn something new, whether it be be talking to someone else or reviewing and analyzing my own data.

As you know, I like taking video of my fishing outings. I mostly do this as a way to record the stream, its conditions, water levels and fish locations for future review. It's sort of a video log, if you will. I do try to make them at least somewhat tolerable by adding music and some narrative, but really they are taken for the data and therefore they likely mean a lot more to me than to anyone else who views them.

But videoing by yourself has its downsides. First of all it's hard to get good footage of yourself fishing. Like many others, I have set my camera up to record me fishing but this generally doesn't work very well. I'm either too far away, or I move to fast through the FOV or the camera doesn't work or what ever. That's why most of videos are point of view (POV) or taken with my 3rd person set up. Still, on occasion I would like to have the ability to review my fishing from a different perspective.

Point of View.

3rd Person View

This past weekend one of my daughters visited home and I invited her to go fishing with me. She likes photography and so she decided it would be fun to take pictures of me fishing. I thought this might be a fun idea and I agreed. We had a great time talking, eating junk food and just hanging out together.

The stream I fished was small and brushy. I am aware that many of the streams I present on my videos do not look that small or tight, but I think this is just a phenomenon of the sports video camera I use.  This stream is about 3-4 feet across and is lined with conifers, willows, red-twig dogwood and other common riparian vegetation. Like most of the streams I fish you cannot fish it from the bank; you have to be in the water or you will not be able to fish at all.

So after we arrived and I geared up I entered the stream and started working up stream -- my usual MO.  I used either a 180 cm or 240 cm Kiyotaki rod with either a 5 foot or 7 foot line, depending on the situation.  My fly? A UKB of course. I had planned on loosing a lot of flies; this stream eats them!! My daughter followed me upstream taking pictures as I fished.

Due to the low overhead branches, or the tightly concealed trout lies, I used the bow and arrow cast frequently on this stream. It's not my favorite cast, but it gets the job done when no other presentation will work. To be effective you must pull the line backwards enough to impart energy into the line upon release, but not pull it back so far that the line slaps the water or the fly rebounds when the released line fully extends. It takes practice; I'm still adjusting my technique.

You can't see the large fir branch directly over my head.

I look like I'm fencing!

I also spent a lot of time on my knees. This is because I couldn't cast very far and so I had to get close to the fish. Being that close, I had to low my profile so to not scare the trout.

I took a few fish, but I must admit, it was slower than usual. Still, all of the fish were fun on those small, short rods! The 12 inch rainbow was the best of the day and on a 180 cm rod it was fantastic!

A 10 incher

We had a fun few hours tromping through the woods and enjoying the fresh mountain air, the sun, the breeze and each others company. In fact, we had so much fun, maybe I ought to go fishing with others more often, especially my daughter!

I want to thank my daughter for taking the time to come with me and to photo document her old Dad splashing around in a mountain creek scaring all the fish away! Thanks, babe, for giving me perspective and showing me what's really important in life!