I don’t know about you, but there are times (sometimes many times) that I have difficulty seeing my level line. Despite my line being bright orange and my sighter being bright green, I can still have issues seeing my line. This is particularly true with small diameter level lines like #2, and #2.5.
So what can you do to make the line more visible and aid in detecting when a fish takes your fly? You can use a larger diameter line or furled line (but that defeats the virtues of a fine diameter level line). You can add keiryu-style yarn markers, but they can still be difficult to see and may affect your casting. Then there is line wax. This stuff works, but it’s messy and you have to re-apply it frequently.
Well, over the last many months, I’ve been using Sakura Solid Paint Markers with great success. In fact, I’ve been amazed at how much a marker can help my eyes see my line. I haven’t even been using a bright color! In fact, The Sakura marker I’ve been using most is the black one. I apply the solid paint marker to my line in an eight inch strip between my line and sighter, and voilà, I can suddenly see my sighter much better. The contrast of the black strip between the orange and green really makes the sighter pop and helps me see my line.
DRAGONtail Tenkara is now offering Sakura Solid Paint Markers in different colors – pink, orange, yellow, black and white. These markers are just what they say they are, solid paint. There’s no felt tip like a Sharpie or other markers. The paint goes on smoothly and covers extremely well. You must let it dry before using or touching it, but that only takes about 10 minutes. The paint is quite robust and I’ve only had to re-apply it about every third or fourth outing. Unlike wax, once dry, the paint doesn’t wipe off on your hands or clothes. If you want to take it completely off of your level line, then use a dry Magic Eraser. The paint markers also work really well on furled lines, but you can’t effectively take it off after applying (but I’m not sure why you’d want to).
I love these markers, well, at least the black and white ones, as they are the only ones I’ve needed to used so far. But they have changed my practice of level line tenkara and made my #2 fluorocarbon line much more visible. I’ve been very impressed!
So, if you’re having difficulty seeing your line, you might want to give Sakura Solid Paint Markers a try. They’re so good, they’re now a permanent part of my tenkara kit! Leave it to the Japanese to come up with solid paint markers. Who would have thought?!?
Editor’s Note: If these paint markers sound familiar, Anthony also has a fondness for them. He gave his thoughts on them, as well as a few other items in a “Things I Like” video from December 2023. Give it a watch!
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They also work on clear fluoro 2X (#2) and 3X (#1.5) lines to add a sighter to an invisible line. They really hold well on Adams 4X (0.18mm) white euro mono even better than fluoro.
Choose the colour that works best for your eyes and the background. Great for making a line more visible as dusk comes on.
this is a bit confusing for a newbie, it doesn’t seem this would be considered traditional tenkara, maybe it’s more for fixed line type fishing
must be getting low on actual content
Oh it’s tenkara also – euro skills are completely transferable and the tenkara rods allow one to deliver unweighted nymphs and kebari type flies in a delicate way that euro/western rods cannot. And dries also.
The core point here is you can use any type of fluorocarbon for a level line even clear for stealth, just pick the weight that matches your rod, fishing style, and casting. How do you see the end to identify fish takes? Thefts where the markers come in – you can colour a metre to make a sighter length, or colour the entire line.
It really simplifies things down to basics.
That’s to the op, not your comment.