When I first heard Rigs Fly Shop (a Tenkara USA dealer here in Colorado) was coming out with a new level line, I wasn’t really all that interested. After all, how much can you really innovate a level line? But when I first laid eyes on it, I knew it was something special. And when…
Over the weekend, I got a chance to field test a prototype line made by John Veterlli of Tenkara Guides. It’s a hybrid line based off of a formula invented by master Japanese tenkara angler Eiji Yamakawa (a.k.a. “Eddie” on the Tenkara USA Forums). While I’ve pretty much been fishing tenkara level lines exclusively over…
In tenkara, we talk a lot about level lines and tapered furled lines but there really isn’t much discussion on “weight forward” lines. Yes, I do mean “weight forward” in the western fly fishing sense. In fact, I had never even considered it until Tenkara Talk reader Tony Wee mentioned it in the comments section…
Recently, I tried out some red Amnesia for a tenkara level line. I was impressed with its high visibility, but not so much with the way it cast. Being nylon monofilament, it isn’t as dense as the fluorocarbon level lines I’m used to fishing and didn’t turn over as well. It casts, but you have…
Not too long ago, I wrote a post about using Red Amnesia as a sighter for tenkara level lines. Having fished it for a while now, I can say really like it. The bright red Amensia is easy to see in all lighting conditions and makes it much easier to follow your fly and detect…
With the impending extinction of the famous orange level line from Tenkara Bum, many tenkara anglers have been on the quest for a good replacement. Sanyo has recently come out with a new orange fluorocarbon line of its own called Valcan, but is it a good substitute for the Tenkara Bum line? At first…
Anyone who has ever dead drifted a fly with a tenkara rod has undoubtedly discovered two things: 1. Sometimes it’s hard to detect a strike on a level line. 2. Strike indicators don’t cast well with a tenkara rod. Luckily, for anyone who finds it difficult to see their line, there’s a simple way to…
The big news this week for lovers of level tenkara lines is that Tenkara USA will be listing a new yellow fluorocarbon line on their website within the next few days. I recently had a chance to field test the line and here is my initial review. Any discussion of tenkara level line inevitably involves mention of the orange…
[/caption] I came home from work today to find a nice package from Japan in the mailbox waiting for me. Red fluorocarbon! I’ve been talking to a company there about getting some bulk hi-vis level line and they were gracious enough to send me some sample line. Here’s what it looks like and my initial…
Tenkara USA has just updated their traditional furled tenkara lines and I recently got mine and had a chance to do some test casting with my 13 footer. Here are my thoughts comparing it to the 1st generation monofilament lines and 2nd generation spectra lines. The 2nd generation Kevlar lines were an improvement over…
For Christmas, my lovely wife got me a horse hair tenkara line kit from Tenkara Bum. I’ve always wanted to try to make my own horse hair line and since I have this whole week off for the holidays, I immediately started furling away. The results were very interesting. So far, I’ve made two lines.…
I got my Daiwa fluorocarbon Plasma Line from Japan today. While I’m completely happy with my Tenkara Bum and Tenkara USA level lines, I Just wanted to try something a little different. The diameter is 0.310 mm (0.012″) and is marked as a #3.5 line. This is a just little thinner than the…
Today, I got some fluorocarbon tenkara level line and a nice note from Chris Stewart of Tenkarabum.com. Chris is a level line guru and has tried just about every type of level line out there but also encourages experimentation. So I was delighted when he sent me a couple of “extras” to try out. The…
Tenkara USA level lines are now available in the gear shop! If you’ve been using traditional, furled lines, click here to see why you might want to give level lines a try.