Dr. Ishigaki's style custom made tenkara straight line

ストレートラインの作り方 - How to make a straight line.

http://www.tenkaradaio.sakura.ne.jp/tenkara/2020/fujino.htm

He writes that he believes more people are doing tenkara. Attracted by key words: easy, inexpensive, and no bait due to using kebari. And the attraction of being away from crowds in nature and on mountain streams.

But has noticed they are increasingly bringing Fujino’s “straight line” to introductory classes. Because while tenkara level line is excellent choice, the coil in the line must be taken out each time the line is deployed. The line coil if not removed causes casting problems for beginners, that is eliminated by using Fujino’s straight line.

Fujino straight line is ready made in 3 different lengths, item K-27: 3.3m, 3.6m, and 4.0m.
https://www.fujinoline.co.jp/archives/4458.html

However, since this spring Fujino Line has made available 2 different versions of their tenkara straight line in 10 meter spools. Allowing one to make a straight line of custom length to better balance rod length, line length, and stream size.

In his blog post he list the materials and shows the knots used to make his style of straight line of custom length. So that one might make their own line, to best fit countless situations.

Two types of 10 meter straight lines:

K-32 (green label) tenkara straight line, equivalent to 3.5号 line:
https://www.fujinoline.co.jp/archives/5941.html

K-33 (red label) tenkara straight line powerful , equivalent to 4.0号 line.
https://www.fujinoline.co.jp/archives/5936.html

Plus

K-24 tenkara easy mounting kit. A kit of 5 ready made chichiwa loops, to connect line to lillian.
https://www.fujinoline.co.jp/archives/3610.html

K-28 straight line marker kit. 3 pieces, 50cm in length, with black marks every 5 cm.
https://www.fujinoline.co.jp/archives/4498.html

Interesting that he notes that the marker lines are - " nylon 0.4×6 braids. Because it is a braided yarn, water penetrates and the tip becomes heavy" thereby becomes an aid to casting the line. Basically a weight forward shooting line.

Of course one can find many types of braided line to make custom made, non-coil memory tenkara lines, without ordering the Fujino Line products. Maybe Dr. Ishigaki’s method of knotting the lines might be of interest as a guide how to go about it.

The Fujino tenkara straight lines, K-32 and K-33 are both listed as having AQ Coat. That has as part of the symbol what looks like a drop of water. A few months back I did a little internet searching to see if I could figure out what AQ Coat [AQ コート, AQ kōto] is.

If I recall correctly, it was originally developed to be a floor wax or floor sealer to resist water penetration, abrasions, etc.

Fujino Lines web page about it - AQ コートとは? - What is AQ Coat?
https://www.fujinoline.co.jp/aqcoat.html

A digital translation of the opening paragraph:

For traditional fishing line coating,
Fluorine processing and silicone resin are used,
AQ coat uses 100% plant-derived wax.
After coating the surface of the thread with wax, by heat setting with heat,
A strong film of wax covers the entire yarn, It protects well from water and scratches.

And from the AQ Coat website:
http://www.aqcoat.jp/

The floor coating has a tough protective film on the flooring to protect it from scratches, dirt, UV rays, and moisture, making it easy to carry out regular maintenance. About AQ coat. AQ coat uses “glass thin film” by nanocomposite technology.

[Sorry, but I could not provide links to digitally translated web pages. Every time I tried, I got the following error, with every translator I tried using :

400. That’s an error. Your client has issued a malformed or illegal request. That’s all we know. ] Hopefully the translation error is only a temporary problem, and it will work properly later.

Anyway, if you’d like to give Dr. Ishigaki’s method a try, but without using Fujino Line tenara straight line - I guess it’s pick your alternate line of choice, and maybe also your preferred floor wax and heat source. :grin: :roll_eyes: :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

2 Likes

Dr. Ishigaki seems to be in the mood to make a few new blog post on basic principles of tenkara.

Another one in the series is

キャスティングの原理 - Casting principles.

http://www.tenkaradaio.sakura.ne.jp/tenkara/2020/casting.htm

Ah, digital translation is working correctly today, no translation error message. :grin:

Digital translation http://www.tenkaradaio.sakura.ne.jp/tenkara/2020/casting.htm

He describes a wrist only casting method, but admits everyone’s method is a little different. And that teaching correct casting can’t be done effectively by words, or video. Just too difficult to convey the feeling or sensation of the balance of fast, strong/power, and timing. But if the basic principle is understood, good casting is not difficult.

What I found most interesting is his comparison to dart throwing, wherein the more body joins that move, the larger the error. This was taken from a grad student motion analysis study of a top dart player in Japan.

For me, as long as I catch at least one fish, and am not skunked that day. I enjoy the day’s fishing if I am pleased with the grace of my casting. (not always as successful as I’d like, especially when switching to a different rod and line combination. Or size of kebari). It’s what I call - The Joy of Casting. :smile:

3 Likes

I like that phrase “the joy of casting”.
Probably because that’s a big part of my enjoyment of tenkara, the casting. As for just catching one fish (my standard for a good day also) I find that when I’m casting particularly well I catch a lot more fish. But that’s just because I’m hitting my target :grin:

1 Like

I agree. Joy of Casting.
I will add Joy of River and Joy of Nature.

I also dig the dart throwing concept, but also feel that we all master a number of casts. The textbook cast can be just a couple hinges in action. Sometimes more come into use when we have more obstacles and more creativity in our presentation.

2 Likes

I don’t like the tips on those lines so I cut them off. I attach a tippet ring and done.

This is a nice line but I’ve seen anglers cast knots into it pretty easy with tailing loops. It’s an easy mistake to make. I pick the knots out with a needle and the line heals nicely.

You can get seriously tight loops with this line and a precise rod. I used it a lot on my Ito (not a precise rod) and it helped with accuracy.

I might have to dig this line out and try it again.

Definitely going to buy the 10m kit.

2 Likes

I’ve asked Chris about ordering me one.