furled leaders vs hand tied leaders

[bullhead 0]

What is your preference for fishing river Bass with a 7 or 8 wt line?  I have been using one for several years but they seem to pick up an off color after a while.  Making it quite obvious to me and perhaps the fish.  Any good recipes for mono or flouro hand tied leaders?

[mikechell 0]

For bass ... I just use a short section of 12 or 14 lb. leader and 18 or so inches of 10 lb. test for the tippet.  In my experience, Bass aren't very line shy.  When I'm fishing with conventional gear, all my reels are spooled with braid.  Doesn't seem to put them off.

[Philly 0]

I've been fishing with furled leaders for about 20 years now.  I haven't used a hand tied tippet in that time The majority of mine are made from tying thread.  I didn't make them.  The colors range from white to gray to yellow.  The bass don't seem to mind.  Come to think of it, the trout don't either.  Right now I have a yellow ones on both my 6 and 8 wgt rods.  Mike's a bit more adventurous than I am.  Most times I use 5 or 6 feet of 20 or 25 lb fluorocarbon for my  tippet.  Two reasons  big bass and toothy critters in the lakes I fish.  On my local creek, I drop down to 15 lb tippet and a lighter furled leader, the biggest bass I've caught out of it was a shade under 17 inches, most of the bass in it are 12 inches and under.  If I'm fishing a larger river, with a chance of a 4 or 5 lb bass, I'll go back to the heavier leader and tippet.

[robow7 0]

There are as many formulas for hand tied leaders as there are people who tie their own leaders (and I think I've tried them all).  In the end, you'll find something that works for you.  I myself prefer to keep it rather simple with less knots and so the majority of my smallmouth leaders are made of Berkley Big Game (Lefty's favorite) and have no trouble turning over my largest articulated flies.  I have also used Flouro in the past but have found that the knot strength leaves something to be desired.  It has handled everything I've asked of it, including those wonderful surprises that occur now and then.

4 ft of 30 lb mono

3 ft of 20 lb mono

2-3 ft of 10 lb mono 

 

 

[Justin H 0]

Most of the time when I fish my 8 weight I throw a sink tip and/or I am using a wire leader, so 1-2 feet of heavy tippet is all I need, no leader. The fish don't seem to mind.

That said, I do like furled leaders and they are the only type of leader I use, mostly because they are very forgiving to cast and they seem to turn bigger flies over better. As you mentioned they do turn yellow over time, but I don't think it matters to the fish--they look kinda like a strand of algae I think. I make mine out of a single strand of mono, either 4 lb test or 2 lb depending on what I am trying to do, and put shorb loops on either end. As others have said, just experiment until you find one you like.

@robow7- That's a nice grass carp! A lot of fun but boy are they tough to catch. Took me a whole summer to catch my first one and I haven't been able to get another one since, the big ones are very alert and hard to sneak up on.

[Poopdeck 0]

For my 8wt river smallie rod I generally go with a base leader of 4' of 30 lb, 2' of 20 lb and 2'  of 12 or 10 lb. for poppers I'll cut the last section from 2' to 1'. If I'm fishing something light I'll tie in a 1' section of 10 or 8 lb as the tippet and I may clip a foot off the butt section. If it's really windy I will shorten my leader and if it's really clear I may go with a longer lighter leader with the addition of 1' sections of 8 and 6 lb. SMB really don't require a lot of leader thought as a splash down generally doesn't bother them and in most cases is a welcome sight. All my leaders are tied with trilene mono and I adjust them as I feel necessary according to conditions and what I'm fishing. Start with a base leader and just work off that. 

I tie and fish thread based furled leaders but not on my 8 wts because I like to work up and down the water column until I find what works best that day. Thread Furled leaders really aren't good for switching techniques. I dont furl mono. 

[vicente 0]

I do a 3ft section of 20lb mason hard mono, 2-3 ft of 20lb maxima and a 2ft section of 10 or 12 lb im using plane cfx right now I'm pretty happy with it will likely buy it again when I run out.

[JSzymczyk 0]

I went through a phase many years ago of being so good at fly fishing I just HAD to tie my own leaders all the time....  oh they were so awesome and I was so good---- until I realized that every knot picked up algae and weeds and they were more expensive than good commercial tapered leaders.    Nothing wrong with making your own if it gives you satisfaction and the performance is what you want.    I haven't run into a situation in the last 20 years or more where I felt I could have done better if I was fishing one of my own tied leaders.    I usually cut back the "tippet" section of a tapered mono leader and tie on a mini tippet ring,  and just replace tippet sections as needed. 

[samsonboi 0]

I like furled leaders but I also really like hand-tied Maxima. For trout I graduate down through 25, 20, 15, 10, 8, tippet ring, 6, 4lb (4X maxima) and if I need thinner a 5X maxima tied to that. For low water OR smooth water leaders I go to 6 and then the tippet ring and for extra low water or low water AND smooth water I go to 4 lb and then the tippet ring with a 6X flourocarbon or 7X regular tippet.

Our rivers have a very, very low weed content so I don’t worry about the knots.

For high, rough water the tippet ring is at 8 lb with a 6lb (2X maxima) tippet and I can put 4 or 5X on if I wish. For bass in ponds and lakes I use a 5-6 foot leader with an 8lb tippet, 6 if it’s really clear out.

[tjm 0]

I like hand tied leaders because I can adjust the length and stiffness on the bench or on the water, and my guess is that for ~$40 of Chameleon  I can tie 50-60 trout leaders, less the tippet,  so mine at least are much cheaper than off the peg leaders. For bass or pan fish,  mikechell has as good a recipe as any one;  mine is a section of mono heavy enough to turn the fly over with a tippet small enough to fit through the hook eye.

I haven't used furled leaders, but I did use 5-10 kinds/brands of extruded leaders and ended by cutting the over sized butts off and shortening the tapers and cutting the "tippet" sections back to the taper to get leaders I liked so I still had knots. I kept trying those things for two or three years and haven't bought one in maybe 15 years so maybe they are better now. Tried tippet rings too, they just aggravated me. So, what pleases one angler may not work for another- try everything and let your brain rule, don't depend on others' opinions. Opinions are like noses every body has a different one.

[DarrellP 0]

I have been very happy with furled leaders from FC with tippet rings.  I tie on Maxima as a tippet, 90% of the time.  Size depends on fly and quarry.  I have furled leaders for most of my rods, from 3 wt to 10 wt.  I also use some hand tied leaders, and some extruded leaders.  I guess I am not as sophisticated as you guys.  I generally like the furled leaders because they make up for my casting, and I like to throw a lot of poppers and big flies.

[tjm 0]

10 minutes ago, DarrellP said:

poppers and big flies.

That's where I get real sophisticated and run with ~4' of ~20# - leader is tippet

[flykid 0]

I'm with you DarrelP, my head is spinning after reading through this. I've only ever used commercially produced tapered leaders. I've heard of furled leaders and hand tied leaders but never tried either. Tippet rings are a new thing to me too, haven't tried or even really heard of those. I guess I'm a bit of a simpleton. After reading a little about furled leaders I'm intrigued, I may give them a try.

[flytire 0]

tie your own leaders

https://globalflyfisher.com/leadercalc

[Sandan 0]

Like flytire said, tie your own. But I like this. http://www.garyborger.com/2012/05/09/uni-body-to-harvey-style-leader/