Does anybody here fish the Fujino straight line? How does it compare to level line? I normally fish YGK pink 3.5 (have trouble seeing other colors) or if I’m using my hellbender to throw a long line I will use the Fujino tapered nylon line. It’s got my interest since it has little to no memory and has the sighter at the end. Thoughts?
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Use the search engine, a number of threads will pop up.
Its a nice line but heavier with fewer length options.
Look up spiderwire too. I make my own lines from it and it has no memory.
In my opinion, making your own lines is the way to go.
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@AkaSouthBound how long of a line do you throw and what flies? Are you fishing for trout or other species?
Its not a bad nymphing line but not an improvement over flouro level line in my opinion. One note is I also used it on a hellbender and with the zero stretch line on a rod that stiff its not hard to snap fish off on the hookset. Took me awhile to readjust my timing as I am used to softer rods. All in all the line isnt bad and is cheap enough to give it a try.
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If I’m fishing medium/smallish river I’ll have 13-14 ft of line on my tanuki 375. Yea only trout. On big water or targeting big fish I will fish my hellbender with 13-18ft of line. I’m pretty happy with my big rod setup, just looking to try something different for my 375, I love casting the level line, I just hate the memory coils. I’m fine with it when I’m only fishing a 8-10 foot rod but when with the 375 I like to get as much reach as I can with as little line sag as possible.
So, I migrated from LL, furled leaders, and all tenkara lines a long time ago for all the reasons you note.
Coils, visibility, weight, and with furled…the dreaded birds nest one can get pulling a snag.
Fujino is heavy. To match its weight and feel you would need to buy 80# spiderwire stealth. 65# is a notch lighter and what I use almost exclusively. A 125 yard spool is the same price as one fujino straight line. I occasionally will use a tapered leader of 80# and 65# or 50#. Tooled around with 65# and 50#, but really I am not sure how much a difference it made in its lightness compared to just straight 65#.
The sighter on the fujino is nice, but not as visibile as the translucent spiderwire stealth.
Spiderwire is not as dense as LL. It is not as aerodynamic. But it solves everything else…if you choose the option get the translucent option as it is white. In wind, the aerodynamics is a bit of an issue, but I just get creative in my casting.
There was a forum thread where folk note growing out of watching their line. Even after 7 years I still will watch my line and it being white I can see its whole length. I watch both where my presentation is, and the end of the casting line. Depending on water clarity, glare, and other factors sometimes I just cannot see my fly, so I rely on the line.
Over time I have found there is over-indexing in line sag or drape. Also the same in drag free drifts. Both are completely absurd when you consider how a traditional fly fisherman can catch many many fish, and they are using a line so heavy it makes even the heaviest of tenkara lines seem like a feather. I feel Discover Tenkara is fault in this. Flyfishing is full of this professional advise and it is often riddled with contradiction.
Take master tenkara angler Yuzo Sabata, his line is a furled leader and looks like a jump rope. This video is qued up to view his line… After you see the line it is a beautiful video, watch it from the start. I miss Daniel Galhardo’s presence in our activity. We owe him so much. Funny…a big no no according to DT is dumping the casting line on the water…yet Sabata is laying his line on a still pool. His tippet looks like spinning mono. Maybe we should correct Sabata?
Tenkara is not about drag free drifts, it is about fly control. There are times where the trout want a drag free drift, and times we have to take care in how our fly lands, or how much line we lay down on the water, but it can be conditional. Often they want something moving…not a dead drift. Often we can be really intrusive and get away with it. How many times have we caught several fish from the same pool. There is nothing more intrusive than a fish thrashing around and then a net dipping into the water and scooping them up.
Trout can be wary of us, but they also acclimate to us. Our task is to sell them a presentation they cannot refuse to overcome their caution.
Because you noted trout. I will mostly short line putting the line within the 1 and the 1.25 rod length. I used to use a long line on occasion, but found it limited what i could do with the fly effectively. I embellish a lot and start feeling loss of control with a longer line. A longer line can really screw with the presentation angle and the ease of diverse tenkara techniques.
This is all personal preference. I am sure plenty of folk have a style and have found how to make long line work for them. How I fish, is more optimal short line and a 3-4 ’ tippet. Mostly 4’. As Sabata demonstrates there are no hard rules to success.
If you give the fujino or the spiderwire a whirl, be sure to right up a review on it so the next guy can benefit from your experience.
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Thanks! Yea I’m definitely going to try the spider wire line now. I started fishing Tenkara almost 5 years ago and just kinda was figuring it out on my own. I really appreciate everyone on here and the wealth of information, so when I have a question or have a new thought I can see from those who have tried these things before me.
I have found the same things with long line but I tend to use it for fishing downstream on a large river and will manipulate the fly back upstream to where I cast from. It’s only rarely that I fish a very long line.
I can’t wait to try out the spider wire, as it sounds like it’s exactly what I am looking for when fishing line 1-1.5x the rod length.
Since in my version, I nymph over 90% of the time dead drifting is what tenkara is about for me. 
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Ah we should talk!!! I will fire up a new thread soon! For all purposes everthing we do is nymphing unless its on top.
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