Furled leader question

[perchjerker 0]

There seems to be an undercurrent of belief here that all furled leaders are made of mono or fluoro. I have been making them, and fishing them, for over three years now and have yet to use either mono or fluoro in my first leader. I use Polyester thread for mine, as do many others who make them. Some use almost exclusively nylon thread. Coats & Clark quilting thread is even used successfully by several.

 

One of the most popular threads going are the UNI fly tying threads.

 

I have made polyester leaders that I would NOT hesitate to use in saltwater.

 

As I fish mostly for 'ole bucket mouth', I make some pretty heavy leaders that will handle deer hair and balsa bugs on 2/0 hooks quite nicely, and will turn the head of very stubborn fish. I also make some rather delicate ones for a 3wt that I use to fish #18 mosquito patterns for bluegill with.

 

It must be remembered that the furled leader was developed by our English brethren generations ago as a way to convert horse hair (mane & tail) into lines and leaders: and for dry flies.

[deeky 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.

 

 

That's kind of funny. I'm actually a residential realtor. Even when I was in full time church work, I realized about half of the work is sales (fundraisers, talking people into coming to an event, selling a new idea to the council or board). I guess once a pitch-man, always a pitch-man. Want to buy a bridge?

 

 

Deeky

[ThreeJsDad 0]

I guess I am the old timer on this subject. I have been fishing them for 10-15 years and have made them from just about any material I could find. I still experiment quite a bit in an effort to find the ultimate material for making them. For a long time I used poly thread used in commercial embroidery. I really like how the mono thread leaders float but I hate how they like to spin when pulled on. I believe this is because the material is solid and does not twist very nicely.

 

The multi-strand threads seem to make the nicest leaders but the trick becomes keeping them on top for lengthy periods of time. Wax type floatants seem to work very well as it fills the gaps and reduces the density of the leader. I have had limited success with products like seam-seal and other water repellents.

 

I have never had a problem with water spray with these. In reality of you are fishing over tough fish you should not false cast over them at all. Yesterday my son and I found ourselves on a trout stream and there were some Olives coming off. I had no problem fishing my 1wt with a furled leader and a 4ft tippet. Even on the smoothest pools I still had no issues fooling the fish.

 

These leaders are the only way to go in my opinion.

 

Here is a pick of my furling machine.

[deeky 0]

ThreeJ - great machine. I've never put anything that formal together becuase, as long as they last and the fact I don't produce to sell, I haven't needed to make that involved of an item. I've gotten so far as to buy a little battery powered winder that is made for winding rubberband airplanes. It's fairly quick and has a counter in it so both legs get teh same twists.

 

As far as floatant, I don't use any. But, whether it was here or other places, Mucilin paste seemed to be the favorite. Although there was a difference between the red and green tins. Maybe someone else that uses it can throw in.

 

Deeky

[ThreeJsDad 0]

Thanks Deeky, There was a time when I sold leaders but these days I build them for friends and family. Sometimes I even hand them out on the stream when I meet someone like. The machine I built does make them very quickly and accurately. It was built from shop scraps. The motor came from my first vacum pump and the rest of the parts I fabricated from birch fly wood. The board has a tension system and pegs for different lay-ups. I used O-rings for the belts. Mucilin has been mentioned in many forums and one of these days I will order some.

 

Furled leaders are the way to go !!!

 

Paul