Tippet Lenths Various Techniques

[rabmax]

From what i gather people seem to be using rather short tippet lengths for tenkara (often 3-4foot)The tippet lengths seem much shorter than i often use when western style.But information on tenkara techiques is still limited.I have been practicing pulsing sakasa kebari upstream & downstream..Are you best to use a longer leader with longer tippet.How high do you hold your rod & how much tippet or leader do you lay on the water while pulsing your fly.I have found this pulsing technique very effective in higher flows.But the rivers are very low where i live at the moment.I have watched a few youtube videos ect with it working in very low river conditions.But you don't know there leader & tippet setup & it can be hard to see how much line they have on the water if any.Any tips welcome from fly pulsers.Cheers All

[springerman]

rabmax, can I suggest you sign up to the Discover tenkara tutorials.  Paul & JP also offer an ebook "Discovering Kebari".  So much first class information on lines and techniques. 
Hope this helps.
Ian.

[springerman]

rabmax, have a look in this category, for the thread 'Tenkara dry fly fishing query' which was started last June.  I am sure most of your questions will be answered from the comments and video clips.  Good Luck.

[cm_stewart]

The primary reason for long leaders and tippets in western fly fishing is that the fly line on the water scares fish. Tenkara line is much thinner, and is largely kept off the water so it doesn't scare fish. There is no need for long tippets. Also, since tenkara line has much less mass and line speed than fly line, it doesn't have the energy required to reliably turn over very long tippets.

If you keep your rod tip high (minimum of 45 degrees from horizontal, and higher than that most of the time) you have not been seduced by long-line tenkara, you are unlikely to ever have more than 4 feet of tippet in the water and will generally have less. Thus, the end of your level line, hovering a couple inches above the surface, makes a very visible and very sensitive strike indicator. With a longer line or a longer tippet, you lose that end-of-line positioning.

[rabmax]

I made up different length & weight leaders to try out.I went fishing for 2 days & now have a much better understanding of what lines & tippet length to use.I fished much the same as when french nymphing but with a shorter tippet.It was mostly windy so mostly used a Utah Killer bug & it slayed.Yes the long rod short line does appeal to me.Will probably buy a longer rod than the Sato in the near future.Cheers All

[paul1966]

I generally use short tippet length usually no more than 3 to 4ft but when nymphing I've been using a short heavy level line #5 8ft ish and a long tippet 5 to 6ft it seems to work for me whatever the depth I can keep all the level line out the water and sink the nymph quickly. If a rise starts I can quickly change the fly to a dry and the heavy line seems to turn over the long tippet okay.

I don't want to confuse you too much if you are starting out for general tenkara short tippet is best.

[orangeotter]

On small streams like the Ceiriog I only use an 8ft line, even on a 12ft rod. This is combined with a tippet of only 2ft. This obviously gives a total line length of 10ft on the 12ft rod. I find it gives superb control. A long tippet would be a liability for me as I need to cast into tight places.

[paul1966]

I was recently fishing Cherry Brook in Dartmoor you can literally put your arms out and touch both banks in some places. I used I similar set up but with clear fluoro 7ft main line and 12 inch tippet, it worked really well. I found using a clear main line wasn't an issue if the fly was held in the surface film, takes were easy to spot. I agree in situations like this a long tippet would be a liability.

I should add the reason for the clear line is because I didn't want to cut down one of my coloured lines and I had a spool of 12lb fluoro in the back of the car so I improvised. It became my favourite line for the 3 day trip. I am beginning to wonder if coloured line can scare the fish?

[rabmax]

I am back at my work now for a few weeks.But i did try quite a few different setups when home.For really low water with spooky fish.A keiryu type setup was deadly often though when nymphing.10lb clear fluorocarbon mainline & 4-5ft of tippet with a couple of ajustable inline visible markers.I only ever needed 2 patterns a black sakasa kebari or a Utah killer bug (great stuff).Cheers all