If you’ve been following tenkara for any length of time, you’ve probably seen some discussion on line visibility. For traditional, furled tenkara lines, this isn’t really an issue. They’re pretty thick and are often brightly colored so they’re almost as easy to see as western fly lines. But for the thinner, fluorocarbon lines many tenkara anglers prefer, it’s a different story. Not only does their comparatively anorexic diameter aid in on-stream invisibility, their color and transparent nature can make them impossible to track in different lighting situations. While it might not matter much for an angler fishing a dry fly or sight fishing, I argue that line visibility makes a big difference for those fishing wet flies in the more traditional tenkara method.
For strike detection, obviously, the best thing to watch is what is closest to the fish–which is always the fly. But often, you cannot see the fly when fishing subsurface. In those cases, the next best thing is to watch the line. And if you can’t see the line, the third option is feel. Feel alone is the least reliable. I read somewhere (I think it was in a Gary Lafontaine book) of an experiment where a scuba diver watched someone nymphing underwater. When the diver came up he told the angler that several fish had hit his fly and spit it out. The angler didn’t feel even one of the hits. I try to avoid relying on feel alone when possible. The time a tactile indication takes to reach the rod grip is too long and will likely lead to lost fish. Since the most immediate indication is what is closest to the fish, I think line visibility is important when you can’t see the fly. Therefore, line visibility matters.
But let me put a finer point on that. While I think it’s important to see the line, it may not be important to see the whole line. If you think about it, you’re watching the tip for a strike so you really only need to see the last few feet of line (I say a few feet in case some of it is submerged). So, if you’re fishing something like the notoriously invisible titanium line, a 2 or 3 foot high-visibility sighter should suffice. I’d even argue that the same is true for using clear, non-tenkara specific fluorocarbon. That means you could even buy fluorocarbon from your local fishing store and simply add a sighter to the end. I have done this and it works fine. Just make sure you get a line that is 100% fluorocarbon and not one with just a fluorocarbon coating (it makes a big difference because the densities are different).
I can’t think of any reason why you’d need to see the whole line. Some might argue that it helps your casting but if you look at the experts, they don’t watch the line in the air. They focus on their arm and wrist movement. If their form is correct, the line does what they want. Of course for beginners learning to cast, I can see a value in being able to see the whole line so they can see if it’s turning over correctly or not.
Since most of my fishing is subsurface and I usually can’t see the fly, being able to see the end of the line is crucial for strike detection. I don’t care about the rest of the line.
So if you’ve got a tenkara line you like but can’t see it, don’t fret. Go get some Amnesia or other hi-vis material and add it to the end. Remember, you only need to see the line where it matters most.
What is your take on tenkara line visibility?
I am almost afraid to switch from my furled line. I am just getting used to the action it makes with a cast. Understanding how it casts in different winds etc. This said, eventually I will try a level line. I am fascinated by the various lines and in even learning to furl leaders myself. Just to say I can do it perhaps? I don’t want to jump in too quickly though until I feel I have mastered casting my furled and then I can decide objectively about other lines when I try them.
As for seeing the strike…I like to let my line be the indicator so far. Just watching it on the water. I let about 6-12 inches float on the water and watch for motion in the line I think also keeping this lack of slack in the line is also the surest way so far as I can tell to be right there when the strike happens. Thank Jason for giving me something to constantly read and learn from.
Dennis, I think you’re doing it right. Don’t let me cloud your method. I’m just putting different ideas out there. Probably a simple fluorocarbon line is all we need but I just like to explore options.
I’ll add a hearty “It all depends.” You’re right on for trout in streams. But now that I’ve shifted to tenkara (OK, with a keiryu rod) to fish for carp in low light, I need to see the full line in order to estimate where my fly is vis-a-vis moving fish, estimate when I have a take, and — it happened last night — avoid snagging the southbound end of 10 lbs of northbound fish. A hi-vis segment doesn’t help me when one cast can be close in to a mudder, the next at maximum reach to a cruiser, the next to a pod chewing through surface debris. Even the inevitable droop in the line can tell me if the fly I want to see in one place has shifted toward or from a targeted fish.
Just added a foot of orange to the end of all my lines was having trouble seeing the green line on bright days now I have been able to pick up the change in colors and the orange acts as strike indicator.
Jason thanks for sharing all you know about Tenkara fishing I justed started this spring and you site has been very helpful.
Mike
Lately I have found that I can see the green Amnesia better than the red. I have changed all of my red Amnesia sighters over to green. I feel that it “glows” better than the red. This has allowed me to shorten the sighter to 6-8 inches. The line’s more fluorocarbon and less Amnesia has made my line cast even easier.
-Tom
A lot depends on the lighting. Sometimes I have to watch the line 5 or 6 feet up from the end because the combination of low light and glare makes the last 2-3 feet invisible. I tried sighters before I settled on hi-vis lines. How a line needs to be constructed may depend on where and when you fish.
for me the visibility of the line serves two purposes mainly; seeing where the line is of course and seeing where my tippet begins. Not strike detection as much. I’ve tried to fish clear lines and the problem is mainly depth control – rather than overall visibility (or at least as much as overall visibility). When I can’t see the change from line to tippet easily I don’t know where my fly is vertically – if I don’t know where my fly is vertically I don’t know if I’m getting the fly where I want it. Since I haven’t been using added weight I use tippet length as a way to control depth (which works very well). I cast and get my line off the water down to the point where the tippet begins – if I use clear line I can’t see that transition.
As color is related to strike detection I can usually spot the clear lines pretty easily – but of course the color helps. But it helps mainly for casting rather than strike detection. I find that for tenkara subsurface strike detection, I rely much more on keeping a tight line – and preemptive hooksets (pulses when the fly is in the zone) rather than watching for line twitches.
I saw another interesting thing lately – while fishing a stream in VA my preferred orange line was nearly invisible – whereas a yellow or green was visible. Usually it is the opposite for me. I couldn’t figure it exactly – but I guess it had to do with the background color of the stream.
Anthony, I also notice a difference between the orange and yellow lines against different backgrounds. So far, I haven’t found a line that is visible in all situations. I’m waiting to see if the new lines from Tenkara USA are more visible in more conditions. I can’t see clear lines at all.
…no…it’s nice but not necessary…in fact, I find it unnecessary when using dry flies…
I have really liked the new TUSA pink lines. Works very well for me on those overcast days. I think that in the end, contrast is what helps the best. Lines in at least 2 colors. What I find difficult are the varying light/shade conditions in mountain streams. That is where I feel the contrast helps the most.
John, agree with you about the contrast. I’ve tried making multi colored sighters and they worked well. I have some multi colored line from Tenkara Bum but haven’t tried it yet. Can’t wait until the new pink like from Tenkara USA comes out. That stuff looks really visible.
I fish dry flies on small streams exclusively. Because I am always watching my fly on the water, I always felt that line visibility was pretty much a non-issue for me in my Tenkara fly fishing. But this year I switched to a HiVis Orange T-line and I really like it as it is much easier to stretch the coil set out of the line and subconsciously monitor your line’s position in the air and against the background of the water with your peripheral vision while you are watching the floating fly on the water than it was with the No-Vis lines that I have used in the past.
I also bought a spool of TUSA’s size 2.5 Pink level line and made an 11 foot line out of it for a very light weight Seiryu rod I got from Chris. I also put pink transition sections on all of my size 3 and 4.5 level lines as well, to go in between the lines and the tippets to be used as sighters, with the joining knots probably being the most visible points on the whole line. But I have to say, to my eyes and in the backgrounds I am fishing under, the Orange line has proven to be more visible to me than the FL-Pink line has been so far, and the difference in diameter between the size 2.5 Pink line (about the same as 3X tippet material) and the size 3 Orange line is not all that great. A lot of the streams I fish have a willows and azaleas growing along their banks, and also dogwood trees as well as conifers, and umbrella plants growing in the stream bed itself, so the contrast that the orange lines show against the green foliage shows up a lot better for me than either the green or pink lines do. But your millage may vary considerably on that score in your fishing backgrounds.
On the matter of why the chartreuse or green lines appear to be more visible in some lighting conditions, T-Bum sent a length of green size 3 line to me with a rod that I bought from him. Compared to the orange size 3 HiVis T-Bum line, the green line looked to be larger in diameter – at least a 3.5 in size or slightly bigger. But a dial caliper measurement showed the two lines did, in fact, have the very same diameter. The green line just looks bigger. And I believe the same thing holds true for the pink lines as well – the lighter colored line, whether it be green or pink, appears to be bigger than it really is in some lighting conditions and will show up better.
I am also waiting to see what the New TUSA Orange colored lines will look like. My hope was to use line color as a line size indicator – pink for size 2.5 lines, one color of orange line for the size 3 lines, a different orange color line for size 3.5 lines, and the chartreuse color for the size 4.5 lines, with all the lines bigger than size 2.5 having the pink sighters as transition sections with a short section of clear 6 Lb. test. FC finishing off the transition section, before adding the desired length of either 5 or 6X tippets to the lines. There is one line company selling a lighter colored, slightly opaque, orange colored line that may also appear to be bigger in diameter than its true size. I would be interested in hearing how well that line works if there is anyone out there who has tried it.
Jason, the pink TUSA lines are available. Contact TJ & he will get you squared away.
Ahhhhhhhhhh! Why didn’t I know this?contacting them now. Thanks John!
I’ve been using a multicolored line with a section of amnesia as a strike indicator for some warm water fishing. I’ve been getting a number of strikes on the end of the amnesia where it touches the water. Clearly, it doesn’t seem to bother warm water species, but it got me thinking that if the fish can see the amnesia that well, do you think it could spook trout? Thanks
“There is one line company selling a lighter colored, slightly opaque, orange colored line that may also appear to be bigger in diameter than its true size. I would be interested in hearing how well that line works if there is anyone out there who has tried it.”
Karl, I will send you some.
Thank you very much for your generous kindness and offer, Chris; it is much appreciated. For anyone interested in the Valcan line mentioned above, there is a review of that line right on this board: https://www.tenkaratalk.com/2012/05/valcan-tenkara-line/
I did some stillwater panfishing almost into darkness last week, using a floating Tenkara line made out of 14 feet of 0.024 inch diameter RIO light orange floating running line, and the visibility of this opaque light orange line remained outstanding for as long as I was out, which is strongly motivating me to give the Valcan Tenkara line a try.
Well, Chris got a coil of size 3 and size 4 Valcan FC lines to me yesterday, which turns out to be a kind of muddy orange in color that does not show up very well at all even with a one foot long length of a FL-Pink spotter tied to the end of it. So both Chris’s and Jason’s comments about this line being inferior to the T-Bum Sunlines were correct and spot on. And it is a far cry from the visibility that RIO’s Orange Powerflex Shooting/Running Line is showing. And to tell you the truth, I am also very disappointed in the visibility that TUSA’s new FL-Pink Level FC Lines are showing, as well. Hopefully their new Orange line will be better, if and when we get to see it. They are already out of stock on the pink lines with out having made the orange lines available after a couple of months longer wait time than they said it would take, which is no way to run a business in my view.
Karl, when it comes to level line not sure I will ever give up the Sunline as it is just to easy to see in 95% of my fishing situations. I have found a few times it has been hard to see but not enough to switch back to anything else.
Well TUSA’s Orange and Pink Lines are now available in all the sizes that they stock, and here is what TUSA has to say about the general better visibility of their Orange line: http://www.tenkarausa.com/product_info.php/products_id/158
Hi Karl,
I saw that. It’s interesting because to me, the pink looks more visible. But I haven’t tried either yet so I can’t say yet. I’ll order both colors soon and will probably post a review/comparison.
I just ordered the pink line and will have a review as soon as I get to fish it. I hope it arrives before the weekend because I’m going fishing Sunday and would like to try it out.
Jason, I have a spool of size 3.5 Orange line on the way. What they look like on the spool and in the air and against the water and stream side plant growth is a completely different story. And as you have pointed out so well before, the thicker lines do show up much better visibility over all.
I am currently using Cortland fly line backing hi vis yellow for my entire line. I can see strikes better and to be honest the line looks really cool in the air when casting. I can see the yellow line better than anything I’ve found and……………..it does look really cool in the air. When I put 18 feet of line on an 11 ft rod, makes me feel like a rock star. This may sound silly or vain but really I found if I feel cool and the line looks awesome being cast it effects my hookups. Now all I need is some theme music perhaps “eye of the tiger”?
Slightly serious
jimi
Jimi,
I tried backing before but didn’t feel like it turned over very well. Are you using 20 lb. or 30 lb. backing?
I received the new TUSA Orange Line the other day. It is a more opaque line than the T-Bum HiVis Orange line is, which has a see- through quality to it. Although both lines are Orange, the TUSA line has more of a pink quality to it, so it is pretty easy to tell the two different maker/seller’s lines apart at a glance side by side. In the air or on the water, I am not so sure yet. Perhaps I will find out more next week when I go fishing.
Karl, I just got the Tenkara USA pink level line yesterday. I will have a review of it up after I fish it tomorrow.
What knot do you prefer to connect the thick fluorocarbon lines? I love the idea of a indicator but I want to keep the profile slim. Thoughts?
Hi Jesse,
I use the knot Daniel shows in this video: http://www.tenkarausa.com/blog/?tag=tenkara-knots