Over the years, I have bought and played with many different types of lines. I started with furled lines, but then quickly transitioned to fluorocarbon level lines, because of their obvious advantages when fishing Japanese-style tenkara. They work great for me in almost all situations, and so I stick with them. But one situation where they don’t work well for me is when fishing dry flies.
I must admit that I don’t fish dry flies very often. Why you ask? It’s not that I’m against “dry fly tenkara”, rather, it’s that I fished dry flies with traditional fly fishing gear for a couple decades and so it no longer interests me. Dry fly tenkara is very effective, and many tenkara anglers swear by it, but it’s not what I choose to do. I fish dry flies maybe three time a year – when I use the occasional foam parachute ant, or when PMD or BWO hatches are happening. Even in this last situation I prefer soft hackles or subsurface kebari.
But when I do fish a dry fly, I’ll often use the level line that’s on my rod, because I’m lazy. Unless the casting distance is relatively short, this strategy usually doesn’t work very well due to the fly’s light weight and air resistance. But when I’m really serious about fishing dries, I change lines.
One of my favorite lines for fishing dries is the Fujino Tenkara Japanese Standard Tapered Line. I’ve had this line for a few years and I find it answers really well. This line has a nylon monofilament core and a tapered polyurethane coating. Unlike a PVC line, the Fujino Japanese Style (FJS) is very small in diameter and lightweight, and you can keep most of the line off the water. I’ve got some PVC tenkara lines, and they work great for heavier flies, windy conditions, or when casting longer distances. But the FJS line is perfect for smaller streams when fishing small air resistant dry flies.
The FJS line has a “not-too-bright” orange polyurethane coating and a welded end loop. A Dacron loop is supplied to attached the line to your lillian via a girth hitch. Below the weld, the coating is tapered from 0.6 mm (0.024″) to 0.4 mm (0.016″). The coating is 360 cm (11′ 8″) long. From where the coating ends, the nylon monofilament continues another 60 cm (23.6″). I don’t need the mono do be that long, so I cut mine shorter and adding a 2 mm tippet ring. I tie my tippet to that ring.
The line comes off the spool without significant curling or looping and doesn’t need to be straightened. I usually just attach it to my rod and after a couple casts the line is perfectly straight. And by the way, it casts beautifully. It probable weighs about as much as a standard furled line, but it doesn’t have the water absorption and spray issue that furled lines have.
So, if you are looking for a line to use while fishing small dries, or if you are looking for a tenkara line that casts easier than a level line (and don’t like the problems inherent to furled lines), then take a look at the Fujino Tenkara Japanese Standard Tapered Line. I’ve sure loved mine! You can get one from Tenkara-Ya, but maybe someone will import them in the future for those who prefer not to order directly from Japan.
Editor’s Note: Following this article’s publication, DRAGONtail Tenkara has begun stocking and selling this Fujino line domestically in the United States.
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Hey Tom, I’ve had some of TUSAs tapered lines for a number of years now for this vary reason. But I only use it when I absolutely have to, like with the lightest of dries or an especially air resistant dry. Each time I change, I’m reminded of how much more drape a slightly heavier line has.