FURLED LEADER LENGTH

[Deleted]

With warmer evenings nearly upon us i will be moving towards
across & down stream wet & spider patterns. I have only fished up stream nymph with the tenkara rod, setup as follows. 12ft rod, 9ft furled leader & 4-5ft tippet. Would i be better served with a 12-13ft leader for the across & down method. what about level line vs furled for this?

[chriscreeler]

I would say, longish, tapered and on the heavy side would generally be most useful, especially if you intend to use three or more flies.

[Deleted]

Cheers Chris, Normally use a longer set up from nymphing with my normal tackle, so the same must apply.

[leckie]

stevie,
The standard size of a furled leader for a 12' rod is 10'6" so I think the furled leader that you have is a tad too short.
I would add 3' of line (15lbs) from the lillian and attach this to the furled leader and it will make all the difference.
Furled leaders are easier to cast than level lines but get some #4 (15lb) fluorocarbon and make some level line casts up of 12' and 15' and give them a try...the longer the line the more difficult it is to cast...and of course it depends on the river dynamics as well, tree lined, open etc.

Have fun experimenting

Alex

[Deleted]

Thats good strong advice leckie thank you. More things to try at the weekend, Ace! You got me hunting in the cupboards for that spool of 15lb line i thought i'd never need!

[chriscreeler]

I fish in this style quite often and have three twisted tapered lines of varying lengths and weights I made for the purpose. They let me switch and roll cast and throw a wide loop with less tangling of a team of flies, all very helpful in this way of fishing.

I don't like a level line with more than two flies because of the tangling problems , though you can get away with it perfectly well in a following wind.

Recently I have modified the tapered lines into 'weight forward', with the thickest part centred
about one third down from the rod tip, and they seem to work better.

Chris.

[leckie]

WOW....3 flies on a wet fly cast tenkara fishing....I wouldn't even dream of trying that...2 is the maximum for me....then again the rivers I fish are pretty tree lined so 90% of the time it is a single fly....it's less stressful and probably just as productive....although with my catch rate I'm not too sure about that

Each to their own....the main thing is enjoy yourself

tight lines

Alex

[Deleted]

It seems types & lengths of leader seems to be one of the biggest talking points with tenkara.
Thanks for advice guys.

[chriscreeler]

Alex,

If you read 'The Angler and the Loop-Rod', Mr. Webster will tell you, most entertainingly and in some detail how to angle with up to nine flies on your cast.
Of course even in the nineteenth century not every southern Scot fished the ''strap.'' Three or four flies seem the usual choice, and at least one, John Younger, inclined to your way of thinking. --''I have always hated the confusion of fishing with more than a pair of flies,and would rather nip off the dropper and fish with only one than fish with three, and be sure of more success too, as through a day or night you have no hankings or hindrance.''

While reminding myself of the quote above I came across this amusing passage: ''and yet his is the only instance I have known of an angler becoming excellent who was not bred to it from boyhood; * for John had never once thrown a rod at the time he took a lease of Dryburgh water, being then a labouring man, a husband, and a father. But then he was one of the few amongst the sons of men who could calculate the nature of things as they are, without regard to fashion or general opinion.''

*In a footnote the editor, ''With due deference'', disagrees.

Chris.



























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[Deleted]

9 flies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I gave up trying to get distance with a team of flies a long time ago, got sick of spending the day untangling line & picking flies out the back of my head, i remember one particular day at foremark res it was one tangle after the other with the wind, A headache is the last thing you want when your there to relax.

[chriscreeler]

Whilst not being one to struggle unduly against adversity, I don't really think I go fishing to relax. It's more an occaisional fix of mesolithic mentality; and when circumstances suit, I find using four or five flies on the cast, a satisfying way of fishing which does it for me.

[Deleted]

I do like the sound of this mesolithic mentality Chris, if it allows me to cast more than three flies. Could you elaborate on this approach please.

[custheyder]

Multiple hook points can be an issue on some waters. I know hwre in the Isle of Man we are limited to 3.

[chriscreeler]

Stevie,you must have something of the mesolithic mentality to go to the water in the first place, and to stick at it through the long hours of disappointment, if you have those.
But to the job in hand, fishing a big team of flies without too much cursing. The rod I use is a Shimano 'Mainstream', before that I had a two-handed loop rod, home assembled out of bits and pieces.The lines are 14 or 15ft(previously 18), long, made from 3lb fluoro. twisted into snoods and knotted together. One has 15 filaments in the thickest snood , the other 18. I also have a shorter, lighter version, but use that with one or two flies.
The cast onto which the droppers are tied should be heavy enough to carry them out. I think it usefully could be tapered, but I have never done this. Currently I am using .20mm fluoro. which is slightly on the light side but works well enough.
It is most convenient to have the dropper flies pre-tied on 2 inch loops which are just looped on above knots. The stretcher is on a finer tippet.
Casting is by continuous motion, switch, Spey, and roll casts to throw wide loops and avoid tangling, and if you are neither a comfirmed up or downstreamer, you don't have to fight the wind.
That in a nutshell is my watered down, modern take on the method, for 'the full Monty' you should consult David Webster, which is no hardship since his book is a joyous read, especially if you don't skip the bait fishing chapters, which as in actual fishing contain some of the best bits.

Chris.

[Deleted]

I get mesolithic vibe now, Spent two days on the spey in september & not a take! But i'd do the same tomorrow at the drop of a hat.

Thanks for the info posted i shall have look at David Webster book.

Regards Stevie