Horsehair lines.

[chriscreeler]

Good Hayre then get,so that it be not blacke;
Neither of Mare nor Gelding let it be;
Nor of the tyreling Lade that beares the packe:
But of some lusty Horse or Courser free,
Whose bushie tayle upon the ground doth tracke
Like blazing comet that sometimes we see:
From out the mid'st thereof the longest take
At leysure best your Linkes and Lines to make.

Then twist them finely, as you think most meet,
By skill or practise easy to be found;
As doth Arachne with her slender feet;
Draw forth her little thread along the ground,
But not too hard or slacke, the meane is sweet,
Least slacke they snarl, or hard they prove unsound,
And intermixt with silver silk, or gold,
The tender Hayres, the better so to hold.


Then end to end, as falleth to their lot
Let all your Linkes in order as they lie
Be knit together, with that Fishers knot
That will not slip,or with the wet untie:



That delightful piece is from ''The Secrets of Angling'' by John Dennys. Has anyone here had a try?

I have recently twizzled and knotted up a few, and I wish I had started years ago. Something which evolved to swish away the flies, swishes out the flies beautifully.

I'll post some details if anybody's interested.

Chris,

[marcouns]

Tenkarabum has horse hair kit for line
M

[adric]

I would be interested.

Richard

[paul1966]

I've ordered my kit from tenkarabum too I'll report back.

[Deleted]

I have used the Tenkara Bum horse hair line kit. The instructions are very easy to follow. There is enough material to build several lines. The lines that have worked best for me are 3.6m. I have also been experimenting with different tapers to get the line balanced to the rod I am using and my casting style. I am getting close to the right line formula for my personal taste. Very fun hobby.

John
??

[chriscreeler]

I bought a cello hank of stallion hair from Michael Sowden of Drighlington near Bradford, who specialises in hair for instrument bows. A cello hank contains about 225 hairs, and a violin hank about 150. There are other dealers online, and a number of sellers on ebay, mainly in China and the USA, who will supply single hanks.

There is a video on the moscavalsesiana website showing Arturo Pugno twizzling up a link by the same method as I used. Also on this site Douglas Hall (thetroutfly) has posted a video of himself twisting a two strand monofilament line in the same way. It is difficult to see clearly, but Arturo appears to have divided the hairs into three groups, the loose ends going through the gap between his index and thumb and the next two spaces between his fingers. I did not do this, just letting the hairs all hang down together and the results were ok. It is very important to constantly clear the loose ends as you work.

A proportion of the hairs will be feeble, so they need to be tested with a gentle tug and the poor ones disgarded; they taper from end to end, so it is advisable for the strongest links to lay half one way, and half the other.

When all the links are ready to be made up into the line they should be soaked in water for half an hour or more. You will usually find (but not always) that the hairs shrink unevenly and distorts the links. When this happens you should quickly twizzle along them again, working any unevenness along to one end where you can cut the knot, work it right out and knot again.

Knot the links together while they are still damp; I settled on an ordinary fisherman's knot for this, with a single over hand knot each side.

I usually use a 3lb b.s. tippet so I made the thinnest hair link of five hairs, which, on the ones I tested broke under a load of 4lb or slightly more. Below this I added another link of .32mm nylon mono.

I'll talk tapers if you think you can stand the strain.

Chris

[adric]

Interesting so you join lenths together to make the total length required. What are the advantages of using horse hair.

Richard

[cm_stewart]

1. It casts very nicely.
2. It is easy to modify the length and taper to suit your preference.
3. It is translucent - it doesn't scare the fish and is reasonably easy for you to see.
4. When made in a weight appropriate for casting with a tenkara rod, the line is almost certain to break before your rod does.
5. Several lines can be made from a single hank of hair, making them quite inexpensive.
6. Making your own lines gives you the same satisfaction as tying your own flies.
7. If you happen to lose a line, it is completely biodegradeable.

[chriscreeler]

Seconded.

Also,when wet it is quite elastic, and so, shock absorbent. Handlining?

If you don't fancy white, with its advantage of good visability, and want something a bit more subdued, you can use 'pepper and salt', which is a mixture of colours, mostly black and brown and white.

Chris.

[paul1966]

Great service from Tenkarabum the kit arrived very quickly from the USA 4 days I think. The instructions are really easy to follow, even I could do it. I made a 6 5 5 5 4 4 taper and it cast like a dream. It unrolls through the air like a good quailty fly line. I haven't tested it in on the river yet, being a fireman I have the perfect environment to test lines which is in the bays. Loads of hank left to make more lines.

[chriscreeler]

And at the lowest end forget it not
To leave a Bought or Compasse like an eye
The Linke that holds your Hooke to hang upon,
When you think it good to take it off and on.


Which Linke must neither be so great nor strong,
Nor like of colour as the others were;
Scant halfe so big, so that it be as long:
Of grayest Hue, and of the soundest Hayre,
Least whiles it hangs the liquid waves among
The sight thereof, the warie Fish should feare.
And at one end a Loope or Compasse fine,
To fasten to the other of your line.


J. D., Esquire.

[chriscreeler]

This is from 'The Gentleman Angler' via 'The Fly- Fisher's Craft'.

'A young, vigorous healthy Stone-horse, who is in his Prime, affords the strongest Hair; and the most proper Time for plucking his Tail,(from hence alone Hair for making Lines is to be taken)is when he goes to cover a Mare.'


'Evidently, provenance is everything', was Darrel Martin's comment.