Jump to content
Fly Tying
DFoster

Hand Twisted Furled Leaders, no board.

Recommended Posts

Hi all,  recently I found the video below on how to make your own furled leaders by hand twisting them without the use of a pegged board.  These are very simple 50/50 -5' leaders (without the tippet) meaning when completed I have 2.5' of 4 strand and 2.5' of 2 strand.  A loop to loop attaches to the fly line and at the other end I clinch knot 4' of tippet.  So far I've only used 10lb mono but I intend to try other sizes of mono and other materials.   I'm surprised at how well they cast on both my 7' 3" 3 weight and my 9' 5 weight.   Besides costing almost nothing to make the great thing about furled leaders is that they have close to no memory and they are really durable.

I thought I would share this for anyone who's interested.  - I have found that wearing a surgical glove on my twisting hand works better than bare fingers at least with mono.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm not sure I watched this particular video but the subject has come up on a couple of other boards.  Now that I think about it wasn't this video, since there was no tippet ring used.  The other difference is that it was a tapered leader as far as tapered go.  I used 20# fluorocarbon.  It produced around a 5  foot leader.  The butt portion ended up with 4 strands of the fluorocarbon and the tippet portion was two strands.  The leader was 80#, 40# with a 20# or 25# tippet.  I also did one with 12# fluorocarbon ending up with a 48#, 24# using either 12# or 10# for the tippet.  They definitely work.    I found a spool of 20# Gudebrod Dacron stashed in one of my storage drawers.  I'm going to try and make a couple of leaders out of that.   I like the idea of the surgical gloves.  I have some left over from the beginning of the Covid crisis.  I'll give them a shot next time I try to make up a leader.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
28 minutes ago, Philly said:

I'm not sure I watched this particular video but the subject has come up on a couple of other boards.  Now that I think about it wasn't this video, since there was no tippet ring used.  The other difference is that it was a tapered leader as far as tapered go.  I used 20# fluorocarbon.  It produced around a 5  foot leader.  The butt portion ended up with 4 strands of the fluorocarbon and the tippet portion was two strands.  The leader was 80#, 40# with a 20# or 25# tippet.  I also did one with 12# fluorocarbon ending up with a 48#, 24# using either 12# or 10# for the tippet.  They definitely work.    I found a spool of 20# Gudebrod Dacron stashed in one of my storage drawers.  I'm going to try and make a couple of leaders out of that.   I like the idea of the surgical gloves.  I have some left over from the beginning of the Covid crisis.  I'll give them a shot next time I try to make up a leader.

I struggled with not being able to grab the mono tight enough to get it to twist correctly.  Any amount of perspiration on the finger tips and there's no chance.   Surgical gloves have a pretty good grip.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks and will view later. I have miles of a light green thread that might be used. Is it necessary to use mono line? Have one rod with furled leader and I like it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I've been making furled leaders with a board for a while now but I thought I'd give a non board furled leader another go.  I tried it prior to doing them on a board and thought they were pretty awful which is why I went to a board. I tried a hand twisted leader with 6, 8, and 10 lb test. They all turned out terrible. I ended with either a snarled twisted mess or a leader that was so loosely furled that calling it a furled leader just ain't right.  Perhaps I'm doing something wrong but I find doing it without a board to be way more hassle and effort only to produce an inferior leader then with a board. I'm pretty sure I'm doing something wrong although I don't know what because I'm not making them as easy as the guys in the videos. 

Anybody else try it? 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I've made a furled leader or two. I've found that if you stretch the mono before you start twisting,the line wont kink up as badly as you work.I usually wrap the line around a door handle and pull  the length of the line around the handle with a medium amount of pressure to get the line stretched.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 6/15/2021 at 4:42 PM, skeet3t said:

Thanks and will view later. I have miles of a light green thread that might be used. Is it necessary to use mono line? Have one rod with furled leader and I like it.

Skeet I don't know about thread but the video says you can make this style out of many types of materials.  I used mono because I have been tying my own knotted leaders for a while and I have many spools of mono from 30lb down to 4LB. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
10 hours ago, The Mad Duck said:

I've made a furled leader or two. I've found that if you stretch the mono before you start twisting,the line wont kink up as badly as you work.I usually wrap the line around a door handle and pull  the length of the line around the handle with a medium amount of pressure to get the line stretched.

Correct - you can also run the piece of mono from the spool through a leader straightener with good results.  One video I saw the tier was throwing one of the lines over his shoulder to keep the 2 lines from twisting until they reached his fingers.    I wish I could report I've tried something other than mono but sadly have been conscripted to complete a full kitchen remodel.  This will inevitably eat most of my free time for the foreseeable future.  It's that happy wife thing (they failed to mention when I said my vows).  I'll post before and after pics on the lodge side- 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
13 hours ago, DFoster said:

Correct - you can also run the piece of mono from the spool through a leader straightener with good results.  One video I saw the tier was throwing one of the lines over his shoulder to keep the 2 lines from twisting until they reached his fingers.    I wish I could report I've tried something other than mono but sadly have been conscripted to complete a full kitchen remodel.  This will inevitably eat most of my free time for the foreseeable future.  It's that happy wife thing (they failed to mention when I said my vows).  I'll post before and after pics on the lodge side- 

I do the same thing to keep the lines separated although, I place one line over each leg, in opposite directions,to seperate.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I make these for Tenkara fishing.  Save a TON of money over buying specialty Tenkara leaders.  I usually take a spool of line with me just in case I feel the need to make a custom leader on the spot.  Very handy.

I have found that it makes it easier to manage the ends of the line if I drape the lines down off the back deck on my house.  They don't get tangled as easily.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, DrLogik said:

I make these for Tenkara fishing.  Save a TON of money over buying specialty Tenkara leaders.  I usually take a spool of line with me just in case I feel the need to make a custom leader on the spot.  Very handy.

I have found that it makes it easier to manage the ends of the line if I drape the lines down off the back deck on my house.  They don't get tangled as easily.

How is the Tenkara leader different than any other furled leader? Curious.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Skeet,

 

The "Tenkara" leaders I purchased (two) were basically just twisted leaders like the ones discussed, albeit in fancy-dancy packaging. 

I, too, found a video on YouTube that explained how to make your own and that's what I did.  For a heck of a lot cheaper.  The main difference is the expensive Tenkara leaders that come out of Japan (the ones I bought) were made from Flouro-carbon.  I'm not sold on that stuff anyway, so finding a cheaper yet better solution was very cool.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest

Made a few.   Loosing the fingerprints on my index and thumb....I did 12# and 20# mono.  I don’t think 30# or bigger is possible for me...put 10 mono and 12  fluro tippets respectively and wrapped then up.  Walked along on the starts to allow untwisting.  Did double line perfection loops on the tippets rather than Bimini.  Gonna try the 12s on lil stuff and the 20s on the bass bugs.   Anybody do a 3 step down?  I put tiny swivel on one....Any way to easily incorporate a popper dropper.  Maybe on long tag end left on  the loop knot on the final tippet?????

Need to try these first ones out before spending more time on’em

 

4C4E992F-F877-4680-BB5F-0C47094B1F11.jpeg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

×
×
  • Create New...