To get a good understanding of Tenkara lines and their functions, you need to develop a good understanding of fixed line rods and why they are designed in the ways that they are. This is kind of like asking the question: Which came first - the chicken or the egg? I do not know for sure but I believe the fishing line predates the fishing rod. But who ever figured out that a flexible lever could be used to cast a line and fly put us on the very productive road to where we are today.
In the interests of getting a handle on understanding T-rods and their casting abilities, please read the following articles and all the comments following the first article. Both of the articles will help explain why some T - rods will cast light level lines much better than heavier tapered furled or woven level lines. They will also explain rod tip heaviness, balance, and why we need to put lines on our rods that weigh enough to load the rod and bring out its action for easy, accurate casting.
To bring all this back around to lines again, I would like to introduce a slightly different concept: AnglerTemperament. Are you young, strong, have fast reflexes, are you hard charging, fish from before dawn to well after dark, for the biggest fish you can find? If so, then you are probably a good candidate for an 8:2 or a 7:3 action casting T-rod and the heavy tapered furled or level woven or horse hair lines those rod actions tend to cast best.
On the other hand, if you are older or more laidback, do not care all that much about getting the most and or the biggest fish that you can, then a slow, full-flexing 5:5 rod and light level line might just be exactly what the doctor ordered for you.
If you fall somewhere in between those two extremes and might like to have the option of fishing both level and tapered lines as you have not decided just which way you want to go yet, then a 6:4 action rod might be just perfect for you.
In case you did not notice in the Penny Test rod deflection photos in the links above, some of the stiffer rods were labeled LT and other rods were labeled LL line rods, which means they are recommended for Level and/or Tapered Lines, whereas the LL designations mean the rod maker recommends those rods only for Level Lines. None of this is written in stone but the people making the rods probably know a lot more about Tenkara fly fishing than a new or even a fairly experienced T-angler does. If in doubt, following the rod makers recommendations will probably yield the best most pleasurable results.
In this day and age, most of us do not have access to big fish to hopefully catch, so there is something to be said for fishing with tackle that allows the average sized fish we mostly catch to be challenging and thrilling. Let us Love and care for the fish we are lucky enough to have…Karl.
It seems to me the whole thing is a habit. All my rods are 7: 3 and I catch level line # 3, 5-4, I tried a conical cord, but I didn’t like to catch them (but these are personal feelings, I used to catch with a straight line). Last year, Gressak gave me two of its lines. I caught them all summer and I liked them. I think it’s worth trying again the braided conical line.
