Tenkara Forum

[Karl Klavon]

This line has some very interesting characteristics that might make it a really good stillwater (and possibly running water as well) Tenkara fly line. Unfortunately they aren't inexpensive but great performance never seems to be these days. There is a video to watch, but since it involves the casting of two-handed rods to great distances, it may be lost on most of us T-anglers. It is worth a look though, anyway: http://oregonflyfishingblog.com/2014/08/22/opst-lazar-running-line/

[Karl Klavon]

Here is some additional information on the LAZAR LINEs: First off, they are made in Japan. They have been tested and approved by ED WARD, who is some kind of a two hand rod and Skagit fly fishing authority. OPST (the name of the firm that is importing and distributing these lines) stands for Olympic Peninsula Skagit Tactics.

I have it on good authority that the 25 LB. test line has already been discontinued. The 25LB. line Diameter was 0.405mm and the 30LB. test that is replacing it measures 0.445mm, for a difference of all of 0.001 in inches. The 50 meter spool of line costs $31.95, with a shipping charge of $4.95. The line is UV Resistant and Water Proof, and it does sort of float. I tested it coiled up with a 7 foot long Nylon and FC Leader attached in my bathroom sink, which probably explains why it listed slightly to one side. This Lazar Line was a level 12 feet long line, so line and leader with with a 36 inch 5X tipped would come in at about 22 feet, giving about 32 feet of reach on a 3.9 meter long rod.

There was some wind blowing this evening as I cast the line in my back yard; it cast beautifully. The hand of the line is just stiff enough to cast very nicely for T-fishing. It is not totally memory free as advertised, but it does lay pretty straight right off of the spool. Straighter, in fact, than any other Fluorocarbon T-Line that I have ever used. By the way, this 30 LB. test mono line tied to the Lillian just fine with a Slip-Noose just like FC T-lines do.

I will do an update after I have had a chance to fish with the line on stillwater, which is what I made up this line for....Karl.

[Karl Klavon]

Floating T-Line Weight comparisons between:

Three Rivers' Light Weight PVC coated, 9' Floating T-Line, - 15.0 Gr. - @ a 0.024" DIA.

Blue Ribbon Flies PVC coated, 12' Floating 000 Tapered L, - 20.8 Gr. - @ a 0.024" DIA.

Lazar Polypropylene Mono 30 Lb. test, 12' Running Line,.. - 13.4 Gr. - @ a 0.017" DIA.

To put the above into some form of context, the first TUSA 10.5 foot Kevlar Furled Line that I bought weighed - 15.5 Grs.

All of these lines had as close to the same leader as I could make them (which are included in the line weights given above), all were less the tippet, which is typically looped on at the fishing location. All the leaders were 7 feet long, consisting of:

48" of 10 Lb. test Stren Hi-Vis Gold Nylon Mono,.....DIA - 0.012;

24" of 8 Lb. test Cabela's No-Vis Fluorocarbon, ......DIA - 0.009;

12" of 6 Lb. test Cabela's No-Vis Fluorocarbon, ......DIA - 0.008.

To which 36 or so inches of 5X FC. Tippet Material is looped on to the Tapered Leaders, with a DIA of 0.006", @ a 5 Lb. breaking strength for lakes. And on streams the 6X FC tippet material is used, that's 0.005" in DIA. and @ a 3.4 Lbs. in breaking strength. The FC tippet brands that I am using are either Orvis Mirage, or RIO Fluoroflex Plus.

[Karl Klavon]

Well I had a chance to fish the Lazar line in a high lake yesterday under windy conditions, so I am reporting my experiences and impressions with the line as promised.

The Memory Free Claim - Not: First off, I didn't stretch the line nearly long enough - into a count of 12 for each double arm length section, which did not remove all the coil set from it by any means, but it still cast well and fished fine anyway. I read where ED Ward stretches his Lazar Lines for 3 minuets on nails, so you may want to adjust your technique accordingly.

The Floating Line Claim - Not Exactly: The line floated at first for a while, but there was a pretty serious chop on the water from the wind, so it did not float high and dry and sank to some extent eventually. The leader, of course, sinks, and when fished with wet flies, weighted flies and weighted nymphs, the sinking and weighted flies will pull the line under the water, as they will do with any floating line. I believe it would be more accurate to call the Lazar Line a neutral density line than a floating line. In running water, I believe the line would perform much more as advertised.

Conclusions From One Outing With A Lazar Line: One of the things I really liked about the Lazar Line is how visible it is for the angler - its like looking at a lit up green neon sigh in the dark! And yet, it didn't appear to alarm the primarily surface feeding fish on this day. This is a thin and light weight line. Thin is good for fighting the wind; light weight is not as good in the wind as a heavier line would be, but it did surprisingly well for being such a light weight line. And this was on an 8 - Penny rod with a 5 : 5 action, not exactly an optimum set up to be using on a windy day by any means. The line fished was a 12 footer, with a 12 foot + leader, casting size 18 and 12 foam beetles, a size 13 Terrestrial Spider pattern with a parachute hackle, #16 and 12 sized foam ant patterns, thru size 12 foam High Country Hopper patterns - all flies that have a lot of bulk and wind resistance. And all in all, I have to say, I really liked the Lazar Line. Is it perfect? Is it better than anything else out there we could fish? No, not necessarily. But it does have a good blend of useful attributes. Only time and a lot more fishing will answer the durability questions.....Karl.

[Karl Klavon]

This is an update to the earlier posts I did on OPST's Lazar Running Line used as a T-line. I have given up on using the Lazar Line as it was just too light in weight (not dense enough) to handle windy conditions. I gave it to a friend to use as a running line who casts shooting heads in fishing for steelhead, and that's really the Lazar Line's best and proper calling. Now, under really windy conditions, I use a Titanium Tenkara Line sold by Esoteric Tackle in the UK, which is far superior to any other line that I have used in the wind.

[Karl Klavon]

http://www.tenkara.im/pages/titanium-tenkara-lines

Since I mostly fish stillwaters with my Titanium T-line, I didn't invest in the Braided/Line/Indicator sections that Esoteric Tackle also markets as a part of the Titanium Line system, but I can see where the indicator braid sections would be really be useful for fishing in running waters as the Ti-Line is nearly invisible. In my stillwater fly fishing, it is mostly Spot-and-Stalk angling, so you often see the fish take the fly and the lack of line visibility isn't really that big of an issue. And even if you can not see the take of the fish to the fly under windy conditions, it is usually felt through the line and rod with this no stretch, highly sensitive line. So I use a fairly short tapered fluorocarbon leader in my fishing, consisting of : 24" of size 2.5 FC. level Sanyo Stealth T-line; 18" of 8 Lb. test Cabella's No-Vis FC. Spinning Line, and 3 feet of the 5X FC. Tippet material, and the presentations are not particularly gentile. But, with practice, they can be made more so. In windy conditions, fishing subsurface, some splash in fly presentation usually isn't all that objectionable, and certainly better than not being able to fish at all....Karl.