leader boards

[eastern fly 0]

My leader board is set up with 2 side by side pegs and I start my loops from there. I have seen some that start from the other direction, with a cup hook. Can someone tell me whats the difference? Is that a beter way to do it?

 

Kevin

[jburge 0]

Kevin,

 

Have you seen Kathy Scott's DVD? She demos the two pegs side-by-side at one end setup. I've used her pattern for a variety of leader lengths and have been delighted with the results. Are you set up with two pegs at one end and just one at the far end?

 

John

[ditz2 0]

It sounds a lot like my board. My head peg is a large cup hook. I just furled a couple this morning with 4# mono. The 4 pounders are the right size for fishing the small creeks around here with my 6' 5wt and 2wt rod. It is real easy to break the legs when twisting. The main twist is less delicate. I am no pro. On an earlier thread one of the fellas told about his adjustable board using 'T' bolts which sounded like a great idea to me. About a week ago I made up a couple of leaders using 6# mono but I did not care for them in my small creeks. I guess that they were just too thick. The first ones I made up were out of 4# and I liked them. I also had made up one using uni tying thread. I tried that one last week and I really didn't care for it either. It sank too much and it sprayed out water on back and false casts. I did soak it with Rain-X after I got home but have not tried it since the Rain-X. I might add that I intend to try the leaders made with 6# on my 9wt rod Have fun finding the magic combo. How long is your board?

[perchjerker 0]

Kevin:

 

Without knowing more about each method being described, it is difficult to give a meaningful answer to your question. If the layout is a "V" layout, where each leg is twisted independently and from the butt loops, the twisting and furling is done by removing each butt loop from the peg/hook, one at a time, and twisting it for a given number of turns, or a specific amount of time. I fail to see how one can properly twist or furl from the tippet end with this layout, as the two legs will have a tendency to furl before they are properly twisted.

 

If you have a "straight line" layout, you can twist from either end, but you have to double the leader back on itself at mid-point to bring the two legs together for furling. One of the major disadvantages to this method is that for a 7ft leader, you have to set up in an area with more than 14ft of clearance, plus additional length for the length of thread allowed for reduction and working room for the individual doing the furling. (The clearance for a 'straight line' layout has to be double the length of the finished leaders, plus reduction allowance, plus working room at at least one end of the layout.) Hence, the very common use of the "V" layout where the length of the working area, and the board itself, can be no more than the length of the leader plus allowance for reduction. For example, using the "V" layout, you should be able to make to make 7ft leaders very easily on an 8ft board. The straight line layout would require a board would require a board at least 15ft long and set up in an area that would enable you to walk around one end. The end walk-around area is not needed if you use the "V" layout.

 

Regardless of the set up, you need two hooks (posts, pegs) for the butt end (one for each leg) and one hook (post, peg) for the tippet end. The hooks/posts for the butt end loops should be placed side-by-side, and the tippet post should be in alignment with the mid point between the two butt posts, at the appropropriate distance down the board. This will produce identical length legs for both twisting and furling, which is essential to a good leader.

[perchjerker 0]

ditz2

 

I am 'the fella' who mentioned using "T" track; not "T" bolts. Using the "T" track allows one to move pegs as needed for each different leader length, without having to drill holes in the board, that often wind up over lapping one another.

[eastern fly 0]

Here is the set up I was referring to, http://midcurrent.com/gear/a-case-for-the-furled-leader/. As I look at it again He is twisting from the double peg position and he just started from the other end that I do.

 

Kevin

[dreamcaster4639 0]

That is neat, I like building things. Now how do u attach the leader to line and tippet with the loops. I am a better tyer than fly fisher and why does it need to be so long?

[ditz2 0]

Eastern fly.....Your last post indicates that you are spinning from the single pin end (the butt of the leader)....If that is true that is the reason the leaders are balling up on you. The 2 legs are twisted individually and then the drill direction is reversed and then the two legs are twisted together. All twisting is done from the double pin end.(tippet end) While putting the bottom (or tippet) end together for the reversed twist you must keep pulling pressure on both legs to keep them from balling up. During the early part of the reverse twist you will feel the leader to start getting longer. This gain in length will only last for a few seconds before the leader will start getting shorter again. I personally do about a 15% furel. ( sorry, can't spell well )

[eastern fly 0]

I think I need to clear this up. First my leader board is set up the way it is in Kathy Scott's DVD. I start my loops from the butt end,(2 pins) and twist there. One at a time and my weight is at the tip end(1 pin). I have seen a board set up that had 3 hooks on one end twisted each leg independently then both together and then let the weight furl. I have also seen other like Claude W. Freaner who twist from the tip end. So my original question. Tip end twist or but end twist. What is beter?

 

Kevin

[perchjerker 0]

Kevin:

 

As far as I know, it is simply a personal preference. I learned from Skip Shorb, and twist each leg simultaneously from the butt end using a "V" layout configuration. (I have a motorized board, which makes this possible.) Once both legs have been properly twisted, I put the butt loops on a single hook and reverse the twist direction to furl the legs together. I never work from the tippet end.

 

I suspect the board you saw with three hooks at tee butt end was a motorized board, and with the hooks attached to gears. One gear would be the driver gear, and is the one attached directly to the motor shaft, The other two are 'satellite' gears, and turn in the opposite direction of the driver gear. My gears are linear in their arrangement, though they can be arranged in other configurations, such as a triangle. Initial twisting is done with the butt end of each leq being layed out on the hooks on the satellite gears. Once the proper amount of reduction has been attained for the given leader, the butt loops are then transferred to the single 'driver' gear hook, and again twisted. This step, which twists things in the opposite direction to that of the initial twisting, is what imparts the furl.

 

During both of these steps, the tippet end is attached to a hook that is attached to the tension weight and suspended off the end of the board, with the connecting cable passing over a pulley at the tippet end of the board. As the legs are twisted, the layout length gets shorter until the desired point of reduction has been reached. When the two butt loops are then transferred to the driver hook, and furling has started, the leader lengthens for a brief period, before returning to it's original preset reduction point, at which time the completed leader length has been attained.

 

It should make absolutely no difference from which end all of this is done on the overall quality or function of the leader. (Some say NEITHER; others say NIETHER!!)

 

Cheers!