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Horsehair Line Kit

The Horsehair Line Kit solves the only significant problem that keeps most people from experiencing the outstanding qualities of a horsehair line. Horsehair lines cast beautifully. The only real problem with them is that they aren't very strong so they will break. That alone keeps most people from ever trying one. Being able to make one yourself, and better yet, to repair it if it breaks, solves that problem. (It doesn't make the line any stronger, but it makes a broken line a fairly minor event.)

Horsehair line kit

Ronald Girnus' large chub caught on a horsehair line

Making your own line is a bit like tying your own flies. If you remember the satisfaction you felt from catching your first fish on a fly you tied yourself, you'll have that again, and more, when you catch a fish on a line you've made yourself - from scratch - using techniques that have been used for hundreds if not thousands of years.

I recieved my horse hair kit 2 weeks ago. I made my first line and it was so easy. I found it a little light however. I made my next one a bit heavier. Casts and turns over great and lays the fly on the water with hardly a ripple. Hooked a fat 15" today who jumped 6 times, and landed him without a net. Love it and just wanted to say thanks. I see no reason to fish anything but my own horse hair lines.

David J, Utah

No tools are needed other than a pair of scissors, although a dubbing needle or fly tying bodkin will help in tying the knots and applying the flexible cement that keeps the knots secure. You don't need a jig like you would to furl lines. You don't need a vise like you would to tie flies. All you need is the horsehair that is included in the kit and the instruction sheet that explains, step by step, how to make your line. I have also included a short piece of 2X tippet material for a line to tippet connection and a short piece of braided fly line backing for the line to rod connecion.

A bottle of flexible cement, like Dave's Fleximent or Rumpf Flex Cement is recommended, but is not absolutely necessary.

There is enough hair included in the kit to make several lines. How many you can make depends to a large extent on the length and taper chosen for the lines you make and the number of hairs you break in the process. You must break some, because each hair is briefly tested for strength before being used.

Fishing with light horsehair line

If you do a thorough search on the internet, you can find a number of ways to make a horsehair line, from the instructions laid out by Dame Juliana Berners in The Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle in 1496 on down. None of them are as simple and straightforward as the method used with this kit, and none include photos of each step.

Some of the instructions you can find on the internet are for making a knotless line. It is absolutely not necessary to have a knotless line. To the extent possible, a tenkara line should be in the air, not in the water, so picking up debris on the knots really isn't a problem. If anything, the knots are valuable reference points that aid you in watching for the minor hesitations or twitches that can be the only clue to a subtle strike.

The instructions also cover using horsehair tippets, which will return the callenge to catching even modest fish. Tenkara rods protect light tippets very well, though, so horsehair tippets are not unreasonable (all right, not completely unreasonable).

The Horsehair Line Kit, with all you need to make several lines, including detailed instructions, is just $12. For international shipments, the price of the kit is $1 higher to offset additional postage cost.

Rainbow caught on single horsehair tippet

12" rainbow caught on a single horsehair tippet

International shipments will require additional postage. Please see Shipping section below.

Horsehair Line Kit - $12.00

Payment

Payment is through Paypal but you don't need to have a Paypal account. You can use your credit card. PayPal payments will be made to chris at tenkarabum dot com. Credit card statements will read CM Stewart.

Shipping

Domestic shipping is $3. Most small items can be shipped together for $3. International shipments require additional postage.

International postage surcharge - $2

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