Furled leader question

[Aqueous1025 0]

OK I followed along with the hatches magazine article to make a furled leader. I used 8lb and made it just like the article. I slipped the two loops from the butt end and middle together. I tied the two knotted ends of the middle and last sectin together with a surgeons knot and painted it with puffy paint. I like the idea of doing that, it seems like a good built in strike indicator. Now I have a nice little loop at the end of my furled leader to connect a tippet to without having to cut it whenever I want to change the tippet out. And I have a good handle on tying in flies. My question though comes from the last step 14 after painting the knot. Im not sure what they were trying to say about a pre made mono loop and glue??? Is this how they are connecting the furled leader to the fly line?? I am not sure about connecting to the fly line, can someone suggest a knot or ___ to use??

 

Thank you guys for your help

 

I have a pretty good handle on knots and cards for ones I don't know. Common names should get me there...

[GreenTier 0]

OK I followed along with the hatches magazine article to make a furled leader. I used 8lb and made it just like the article. I slipped the two loops from the butt end and middle together. I tied the two knotted ends of the middle and last sectin together with a surgeons knot and painted it with puffy paint. I like the idea of doing that, it seems like a good built in strike indicator. Now I have a nice little loop at the end of my furled leader to connect a tippet to without having to cut it whenever I want to change the tippet out. And I have a good handle on tying in flies. My question though comes from the last step 14 after painting the knot. Im not sure what they were trying to say about a pre made mono loop and glue??? Is this how they are connecting the furled leader to the fly line?? I am not sure about connecting to the fly line, can someone suggest a knot or ___ to use??

 

Thank you guys for your help

 

I have a pretty good handle on knots and cards for ones I don't know. Common names should get me there...

 

There is some good info on a "shorb loop" on this page:

 

http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/forum/showthread.php?t=70194

[H.Champagne 0]

I don't mean to take away from your question, but I am honestly curious, what is the story with the furled leader? why do people use them? advantages? disadvantages? I always read about them but truly know nothing about them. Sounds interesting.

[Fly Fishing Russia 0]

I don't mean to take away from your question, but I am honestly curious, what is the story with the furled leader? why do people use them? advantages? disadvantages? I always read about them but truly know nothing about them. Sounds interesting.

 

I had started to make the tapered furled leaders 2 years ago. Now I am fishing only with these - same as my friends. I have even started to furl some commercially. If you try one, you will never shift back to the mono stuff. The furled leaders are soft, turn over easily, make vary narrow loop, and have no memory. I make them in different weights (from 0,40 grams for 3 wt to 1,45 grams for 9 wt). They have a loop to connect with the line, and a tippet ring - at the light end. Material - 0,1 mm or 0,11 mm mono line; length - about 7'.

 

 

[Aqueous1025 0]

Im curious, what material are you using on your furled leaders. I furled mono sections. I keep seeing these elaborate board set ups and complex math problems in some discussions to make a furled leader and I have to admit I am lost on them. Either I am benifiting by having time tested process handed to me (Hatches Magazine article) or that furled leader is way different than the ones I made. They definitely look different??

 

As to why, you know I cant really say what is better. I am just putting together my first fly rod and reel ever so I have no experience to talk from.

[Fly Fishing Russia 0]

Im curious, what material are you using on your furled leaders. I furled mono sections. I keep seeing these elaborate board set ups and complex math problems in some discussions to make a furled leader and I have to admit I am lost on them. Either I am benifiting by having time tested process handed to me (Hatches Magazine article) or that furled leader is way different than the ones I made. They definitely look different??

 

As to why, you know I cant really say what is better. I am just putting together my first fly rod and reel ever so I have no experience to talk from.

 

I am using the common board design found in the Net - with 6 pegs. Material - 0,1 mm mono fishing line, or clear, mono sawing thread sold on the craft stores in large spools. The number of the threads on pegs before the furling depends on the weight of the leader you want to make. 3 wt weights about 0.4 gram, and 9 wt - 1.4 g.

[deeky 0]

I'll throw in on this one with a limited response.

 

I have to admit I didn't see the Hatches article, so I can't say for sure what would be the best process for finishing the ends as it somewhat depends on the process.

 

I can answer, however, to the benefits of using them. Russia is spot on, and I'll add that I can make them to my own specifications, and compared to knotting a leader of different diameter and types of material, it provides you a much more smooth taper with no knots to collect aquatic foliage. I don't use the metal ring at the tippet end, but use a Shorb loop on both ends to loop-to-loop connect everything.

 

As for materials, I use about a 50/50 split between mono and Uni-Thread (particularly 6/0 for the 4 and 5 weights). Mono for surface and shallow flies (it floats), Uni for anything under the surface (it sinks and helps get the fly down that much faster). Other people will also use florocarbon or copolymer to provide a clear leader that sinks with higher break-strength per diameter.

 

As for jig set up, you can use as many pegs and loops as you like. The more pegs - the more steps to the taper and the more gradual you can make it. I use 2 pegs per leg with another peg for the end. Because the pegs are staggered from eachother, although there are only 2 pegs per leg, it actually gives me 4 steps in the final taper.

 

And, as stated, once you use them, I really doubt you will go back to the manufactured tapered mono leaders. It's like going from a McDonald's apple pie to Grandma's homemade recipe with real sugar and a true lard crust - it's just not the same.

 

Deeky

[H.Champagne 0]

Deeky you would make a great furled leader salesmen. I'm gonna check these things out

[feathers5 0]

No one here has mentioned the easy of use. All I do is add about 2 ft. of tippet and another 15 inches for a dropper. Easy to add or change tippet.

[Dirk II 0]

how about sliding a indicator/bobber up the leader for when you want to fish that way? What is the O.D. of the little ring for attaching the tippet? Sounds like the cats meow for dry flies, how about nymphing with a indictor/bobber? Or what about fishing in cold weather when your guides are freezing up? will this set-up ice up?

 

I may give it a try this spring for smallies and carp.

I'll wait to hear what the experts say about the icing situation before I'd try it for steelhead.

[bluegill576 0]

I thought I had posted something here, but I just noticed now that it wasn't here so here it is again.

 

I use furled leaders sometime, and make them myself. I started out with something pretty much the same as the hatches way. I used some fluorocarbon, but mostly mono. I then switched after a while to using thread. I prefer ultra 140 not waxed. With the thread it is more supple, and you can make more visible colors. I am now trying some horse hair lines. I like them because you don't have to use any mechanized thing to furl them and they are completely biodegradable which is important to me. I only use these for trout and bluegill as they are not as strong as thread. Some other advantages to furled leaders are that they don't get tangled, they last a really long time, i have used one on my 5 wt for over a year. One thing bad about the thread is that it can be heavy so I don't use them on anything below a 5 wt.

[Tom Gibbons 0]

I agree with you H.Champagne. Deeky has it covered. Lots of work tho, but very skill gratifying and you get to use 'em.

[heavynets 0]

I would not recommend them for use with a dry fly. The twisted multilayers of mono tends to really lift and spray a lot of water that could spook the fish. They also tend to be shorter (4-6 feet) than a standard leader. I prefer them for medium to large streamers. For that they are hard to beat.

[bluegill576 0]

I would not recommend them for use with a dry fly. The twisted multilayers of mono tends to really lift and spray a lot of water that could spook the fish. They also tend to be shorter (4-6 feet) than a standard leader. I prefer them for medium to large streamers. For that they are hard to beat.

I agree about not for dry flies, but by no means do they have to be from 4-6 feet. I make 9ft ones for bass and 13 ft ones for my tenkara lines.

[narcodog 0]

I fish nothing but furled leaders for all flies. I have yet seen a fish run from a furled leader. Not if you use a braided leader that's a different kettle of wax. I use different leaders made for silk, UNI thread, flouro and mono and have not used a tapered leader in ten years.

 

Leaders that are 6 ft I add 4 to 6 ft of tippet that's it. Works whether I'm fishing for brookies or on big water like the Madison or medium water like Slough Creek.