imaxfli78 0 Report post Posted October 4, 2020 Darn.......kinked it between my 2 piece 8 wt......is there any future hope for this leader. Can a kinked Furled Leader be unkinked????? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikechell 0 Report post Posted October 4, 2020 As far as I know ... anything that has been kinked, now has a weak point. Nothing can be done to strengthen that weak point. However, if the leader was way over the necessary strength to begin with, then it's likely usable even with the kink. I use straight mono for my leaders, and a straight piece of mono for my tippet. I've had air knots in both and have continued fishing and catching fish with them. BUT, it is weaker, so whether to go one using it or not is a personal judgement call. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Philly 0 Report post Posted October 4, 2020 99% of my furled leaders are made from tying thread, so I've never experienced a kinked leader. Occasional wind knots in them though. If it's made from fluorocarbon you can probably straighten it like you would a normal fluorocarbon leader. I'll run it through a folded piece of soft leather a few times and the friction will straighten out the leader. Another possibility is to hang the leader from a nail with a small weight attached to the tippet end, let it sit for a couple of days and see if that helps. Mike has a point about the potential weakness in the leader at the kink point. Not sure how that would play out with a furled leader. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SilverCreek 0 Report post Posted October 4, 2020 2 hours ago, imaxfli78 said: Darn.......kinked it between my 2 piece 8 wt......is there any future hope for this leader. Can a kinked Furled Leader be unkinked????? I assume it is made of monofilament since thread does not kink. Both tension and heat can remove kinks in nylon monofilament. You can try to slowly pull on the kink to try to "relax" the nylon. If you have a leader straightener like the one below, you can try to use friction to heat and straighten it. If you don't, maybe steam can straighten it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DFoster 0 Report post Posted October 5, 2020 Imax I have removed persistent kinks on 20 to 30lb mono by hanging a weight to stretch it and hitting kink area with a blow dryer. I don't use furled leaders so I don't know if this will work but it might be worth a try. I certainly don't see it making the problem worse. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt Bob LeMay 0 Report post Posted October 5, 2020 I’ve been straightening monofilament and fluorocarbon leader material for many years (fluoro less since compared to mono it’s a relatively recent development). Mono not only kinks but will take and hold a curl - to the point that you can’t use it unless you can straighten it properly. A combination of heat and stretching is needed for mono - and depending on where you are and how soon you need to use it .. will determine what kind of heating you employ. The quickest without tools is friction - particularly for light tippets. In a shop a heat gun, or hair dryer works well. For heavier mono, like the bite tippets used for big tarpon, I knew anglers years ago that would drop their heavy monos into boiling water... just after it came off the heat and was below boiling temperature to straighten out kinked, coiled, or other problems with monofilament. I’ve never seen a sign that moderate heat on mono weakens it at all... Heavy mono is why fly leader stretchers were invented all those years ago. Fluorocarbon is completely different than monofilament material... All that’s needed with fluoro is to stretch it and hold it for a few seconds. It will straighten out and not return to it’s former state. That’s why I use it day in and day out (Mason hard nylon has similar properties). With the advent of fluoro, tarpon fly stretchers became obsolete and you don’t see them much any more. As for kinks weakening a leader - maybe with really light tippets but I only find weakness in leaders that have abrasion or nicks showing ( and few freshwater anglers will test their leaders the way we do on the salt...). By the way, a fair number of my fly anglers from freshwater bring leaders with them that just won’t hold up - and it’s the knots that fail mostly... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted October 5, 2020 Excuse the getting OT deleted Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt Bob LeMay 0 Report post Posted October 5, 2020 I routinely use straight 20lb fluorocarbon for “Poor Boy”leaders (with an 8wt that’s a butt section that’s four feet of 40lb Ande premium mono that loops to a five foot section of 20lb fluoro for the tippet). I only stretch that 20lb once - then use it to destruction. Since without a bite tippet, you have to cut the fluoro back a few inches after each fish, it just gets shorter with each bite then gets replaced when there’s only two feet remaining... Why are you repeatedly stretching that leader? I’ve never done that... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt Bob LeMay 0 Report post Posted October 6, 2020 Remember that no leader, in use, is under the stress that you’re able to place on it by pulling against an anchored end (except right at the boat -and I can’t remember how many I’ve broken off by being too hard with 80 or even 100lb mono -really green fish need a very easy hand, they’re just too powerful at close quarters...). Heck, the max pressure you can transmit to the hook end of things by putting a full bend in a fly rod is barely 3lbs (measured at the hook end of your leader), of course to the angler it feels like they're pulling as hard as possible... Moments after this photo that fish slapped me in the face with its tail before it settled down... and for those who've never fished them, this was only an 80lb fish - they get a lot bigger... I was able to finally leader the fish for a quick photo then carefully release it... I’m only stretching fluoro just enough to straighten it and have no interest in trying to load it to nearly the breaking point since I’m certain that would weaken it... Moderator, please move this thread to the appropriate board since we've gotten a bit far afield... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
imaxfli78 0 Report post Posted October 6, 2020 Thanks the the advice. I have it hanging and have stretched it just with my hands and the kink is much better. Will try heat and a little weight now to see if it will be all better. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikechell 0 Report post Posted October 6, 2020 11 hours ago, Capt Bob LeMay said: Moderator, please move this thread to the appropriate board since we've gotten a bit far afield... There's no better forum for it, Bob. This is fine, right where it is. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Poopdeck 0 Report post Posted October 6, 2020 There's another great reason to move to the suffering heat and humidity of Florida. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt Bob LeMay 0 Report post Posted October 7, 2020 We’ll be there tomorrow, doing a bit of exploring, particularly small rivers where there should be a big tarpon or two (it’s that time of year, their last few weeks of warm water before falling temps force them offshore). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
