That’s not a typo. We talk a lot about “Hi-vis” line in tenkara but this one really is a “Bi-vis” line because it’s actually two colors. The first two thirds are clear fluorocarbon while the last third is hi-vis fluorocarbon. It all started during a conversation with Karel from Tenkara on the Fly.
One day, Karel mentioned to me that he was thinking of making a level line that only had the last section of the line use the Tenkara Bum Orange level line. The rationale was that you really only need to see the end of the line to detect strikes, so why make the entire line out of the relatively expensive high-vis stuff when you could use cheaper fluorocarbon for the majority of the line, and just put the hi-vis line at the end. As someone who goes through a lot of Tenkara Bum line for experiments, my ears definitely perked up and I just had to try the idea. Here’s how it works…
I’ll use the 15 ft. line in the picture above I created specifically for my Tenkara USA Ito, but you could adjust the lengths depending on what kind of rod your using and the level of visibility you want.
The first 10 ft. is just el cheapo Stren clear fluorocarbon. On the end that attaches to the lilian, of course I added my dacron girth hitch connection. Then, I connected 5 ft. of Tenkara Bum orange fluorocarbon to that using a blood knot. At the end of the hi-vis section, I tied a simple surgeon’s knot to connect my tippet with a loop-to-loop connection.
The line was pretty easy to make and after test casting it in the backyard, I’m pretty pleased. I can see the last five feet of the line very well and it casts the same as if the entire line were made of the hi-vis fluorocarbon. This means I can now use 1/3 less of the rare orange fluorocarbon by putting it only where it really matters and use the cheaper Stren to form the rest of the line.
In case you’re wondering, I used Stren Fluorocast 12 lb. and Tenkara Bum #4 level line–both with a diameter of about 0.013″. I will be experimenting with different diameters and lengths just to see which combinations work best.
If you make a lot of tenkara level lines and like to experiment as much as I do, you might find this design to be a little more economical. While it’s certainly nice to have the entire line be hi-vis, I think it’s definitely not necessary. The end of the line is really the most critical part when it comes to visibility.
So, I have to give Karel pat on the back for this one. I think it’s a simple, yet great idea that is worthy of more exploration. If you’re willing to take a little time to pre-make a few lines before you hit the stream, the Bi-vis tenkara line is a good one to try out.
How does it cast?
I guess the only reason I go with Tenkara Bum’s line is that he’s already done the experimenting – completely worth the extra price in my opinion. I’d rather fish than experiment.
If you match the diameters, it casts the same as a one piece line. I don’t notice any difference. The Tenkara Bum line is indeed worth every penny and for most tenkara anglers who don’t go through a lot of it, it’s not expensive. But when you experiment a lot like I do, it can add up. I’d rather fish than experiment too but, unfortunately, I can’t always go fishing. So, when I can’t I experiment because at least it’s something fishing related (and fun).
I like to go super low budget – clear fluoro then a very short section of hi-viz mono (because I have ginormous spools of the stuff). I do just a foot or so of the hi-viz mono, even though it’s a different density, the short bit of it doesn’t seem to matter for casting. I’m wondering if anybody has tried marking the clear line with sharpie – It’s something I mean to do, and think of every time this comes up, but then forget to try. What I’m thinking is that you could put 2″ or 3″ marks and then equal spaces at the tip, for a couple of feet or so. You could use black or another color – I haven’t tried this yet though.
Well I did a quick sharpie test – it doesn’t seem like the fluoro will take the sharpie well enough to be useful…oh well, whatever never mind…
Thanks for letting us know Anthony. I was going to try it when I got home but you beat me to it. Good info. to know.
ERik +1.
Jason – thanks for the credit of the inspiration. I have spent a lot of time thinking over this subject and as you know, I really wanted something along the lines of a “removable” hi-vis front section or tip but couldn’t come up with anything better than a loop-to-loop connections which I didn’t like, then later I dropped the idea completely. Your solution is a good one and I would like to try and cast it, but at the end of the day, buying the 20yards of Tenkarabum and cut the 3 or 4 lines or so you need, might still be the better (and maybe even cheaper) solution. After all, you would still need to buy one of those huge spools of FC at Bass Pro or Cabelas and the Tenkarabum line.
Hi Karel,
Not sure what you mean by “huge spools”. You can get 200 yd. spools pretty cheap and they will last a very long time.
I don’t know if I only use 5′ of the Tehkarabum hivs it would last longet and I can buy 200 yards of clear 12lb fluorocarbon for abour $20.00. And even if the clear went bad I could still reuse the hivs and still have 4ft. I am going to give it a try.
Ton
I stay away from hi-viz on pressured waters. Do any of you find that the hi-viz reduces hookups in pressured waters? I fished a highly pressured C&R section of stream using orange hi-viz and then switched to clear mono and had more success with the clear mono. I know that ideally the line should be off of the water, but I know my casts sometimes hit the water. Any thoughts? Of course this change in hook-ups could have had different causes (time of day, etc..). Generally I can get a good angle with the lighting to see clear lines ok(but not always)and I opt for them when I can just in case.
Hmmm, I don’t know. I usually use a very long tippet on high pressure waters so maybe that’s enough to keep the line out of the sight of the fish. I suppose it depends on the type of water you’re fishing. Also, any line (even clear line) can cast a shadow or reflect light that could spook fish.
Funny how things goes… Before reading this post i’ve written to Chris Stewart asking him about a #5 hi-vis hand tied line with the last two sections made o clear FC!
Why? well, cause as i use mostly streamers and heavier flies and they are cast under mangrove roots, longer tippets are no use for this kind of presentation, so using a shorter (and stiffer) tippet is the rule and thus having the tip of the line made from clear FC helps with spooky fish!
I’ve been using a bivis rig for most of the season, simply to use the green (valcan) fluoro I got from Daniel at TenkaraUSA, with Chris Stewart’s hibis orange as my sighter, as I can’t see the valcan or clear fluoro in the darker shadows anymore.
Same setup as for czech nymphing, really. The hivis orange fluoro is translucent and glows more than any of the pink dyed lines, and I’ve found it’s actaully better (for my fading eyes) than siman bicolor (which is opaque). Used this way it becomes economic.
I thought the bicolour might be a little more stealthy, but, frankly, from what I’ve seen this year it doesn’t matter. Sighting the end of the line is more important than having a camo line.
And don’t forget to use loons mud or similar product on the tippet to remove the fluoro tippet’s shine.
Craig
As noted in “Tenkara: Radically Simple Ultralight FlyFishing”, Misako Ishimura uses this set up! She uses fluorocarbon followed by a short indicator section of Amnesia mono then tippet. (Reinventing the wheel?) Some of the monos like Amnesia are brighter than any fluorocarbon tints and having a section that floats can help on longer casts. There are lots of indicator section possibilities if you leave your main line fluoro.
Course a single fluoro line is pretty darn simple and you can buy Hi-vis fluoro from other sources,…but until someone else spills the beans, I’m glad to support The Original…Tenkarabum.
I’ve used the amnesia mono in a bright red color and also Suffix in yellow and orange – to tell the truth I’ve used these instead of FC for the whole line and they work pretty darn good – not good for wind though is what I hear.
Jason.
Found your site today, great as I’m thinking about Tenkara.
I see the level lines are classed as light/medium/heavy.
What would that relate to in line diameter or BS? I see you used 12bs would this be light or medium. I see on one site they suggest 17lb bs for level lines med/heavy?
I like the idea of making my own leaders, coming from a hand tied background?
Thanks.
Hi Richard,
It’s not really accurate to use lb. test to classify the line. But if I had to, I would say 12 lb. is light, 15 lb. is medium, and 17 lb. is heavy. Byt that’s not really how it’s described in tenkara. They use numbers like 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5 (3 being lighter and 5 being heavier. A more accurate way to descible the line is diameter. To give you a rough guide, check out this chart from Tenkara Bum that shows which diameters correspond to which tenkara ratings:
size 1.5 (diameter .205mm = .008″),
size 2 (diameter .235mm = .009″)
size 3 (diameter .285mm = .011″),
size 4 (diameter .330mm = .013″) or size 5 (diameter .370mm = .0146″)
The reason it’s not accurate to use lb. test is because different manufactures could have the same breaking strength but different diameters. I hope that clears it up some.
Last fall I was getting into bigger tailwater fish and wanted a rig that would be good for light strike detection and big fish.
I came up with using a 4-6ft furled 4wt leader as the butt section. For the middle “indicator” section I used a 16″-20″ legnth of pink shock tippet. For the final section I used 3 feet of furled 3wt leader.
I found that this rig had excellent strike detection, and the shock tippet was very useful for tippet protection when landing trout over 20″ (as well a a couple really pissed Kokes.)
Someone gave me a Pole Rod and he thought one must put fixed guides on. I said no in the late 80’s I saw a team sent from SA to Holland , then they removed the guides from theit rods and fixed a braid or elastic in front of the rod. I god referrenve from someone at Alan Tani. Where will I fount the Equipment ect?? I scanned through your page. How do this Rod work can I use any elastic ect.
Thanks Mahala