Its a Shooting Head!

by Les Albjerg
(Caldwell, Idaho)

I bought a spool of Sunline #1 line last week. Roughly following Chris' instructions under the title "Tenjo Line", I finally got what I was looking for. I made a line up for my Suntech GM Suikei Keiryu Special 44. I began with a girth hitch, 3 feet of Sunline #1; a tippet ring; 6 feet of 5x fluorocarbon tippet; tippet ring; 3 feet of Sunset Amnesia Monofilament; small snap swivel; Gamakatsu Zero Yamame #3 hook snelled with 7x fluorocarbon 18 inches long.

This line casts like a dream! It reminds me of casting a shooting head when fly fishing. The only real weight is the small snap swivel. I continue to learn that Keiryu and Tenkara fishing seems simple at first, but it isn't simplistic.

At Wilson Springs yesterday, the line just laid out like a feather. Wilson Springs is really a slow moving pool, so the water is moving. I took 6 redworm wigglers with me, and some Mummy Worms. It was a "Many Fish" day. All were lip hooked and released. I fished the wigglers with no weight, and several fish came up from the depths and nailed them! I have not had so much fun in a long time. I had to put a very small split shot for the Mummy Worms, and they worked as usual, very well! I need to try some of the other colors I bought. I seem to be stuck on the natural ones. Sorry no pictures today.

Thanks Chris for all your help getting my Keiryu lines figured out to some degree.

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten” - Benjamin Franklin

"Be sure in casting, that your fly fall first into the water, for if the line fall first, it scares or frightens the fish..." -
Col. Robert Venables 1662

As age slows my pace, I will become more like the heron.