Furled Fluoro ...

... and really cold weather don't go together very well.

There was slush ice in the river and air temps were in the mid to upper 20's. The furled fluoro leader I was using to nymph fish collected a fair amount ice, which really didn't want to come off.

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...071_edited.jpg

Had to bend the leader and scrape along it with a fingernail, pressing pretty hard, to get the ice off.

Have never had a problem like this before fishing in freezing weather - but this is the first time I've used fluoro instead of a thread leader in these conditions.

John

P.S. Didn't stop the fish from eating the fly, but it was a bit annoying. Talk about loading the rod close in. :shock:

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...070_edited.jpg

Nice fish there John... Happy New Year....

Be safe..

Steve

Had and have the same prob up here in SWAB, just changed back to the thread, until the weather warmed up abit, then went back to the fluoro, loop to loop helped with the change on the water..

I'm toying with the idea of a furled mono/fluro leader for dries. Either Stren 2lb test (if I can find it) or Vanish. Taper it down to four threads threads for attaching to my tippet (which is usually 2lb test). Any experiences out there? What do we think?

It'll be stiffer than thread. What does that mean for presentation? Durability? Thoughts?

I think iso's comment "It'll be stiffer than thread" may be the key to the icing problem, something to think about. Also the waxed threads may not pick up as much water.

Iso I use 2# test Berkley Vanish for fluorocarbon leaders and Berkley 2# test XL for mono leaders. They are a bit less delicate in presentation than thread but can turn over larger flys.

Thanks jack. How many strands get furled at the tippet end of your leader? What size rod do you typically fish? Most of my time is spent with a 9 ft 5 wt, although the 9 ft 4 wt comes in a close second.

Iso
My leaders are a 12/10/8/6 taper. When you divide the 6 strands at the tippet end for the Shorb Loop or ring you end up with a leader that is 3X the single strand strength.
Most of my fishing is with 9' 4 or 5 wt. rods and I prefer a 7' leader made from Berkley 4# "Transition Gold" fluorocarbon as it seems to sink faster than even Berkley "Vanish". If they made the "Transiton Gold" in 2# I'd be using that.

iso
That is exactly what I use. Strand mono for drys and Vanish fluro streamers, it works great for me. All my attempts with thread were unsatisfactory to me. They all sank and pulled the dry under.

It gets pretty nipply here as well. I switch to a "special Mono" I have because, thread leaders were freezing to rocks while I switched out flies. The special mono is very supple and performs as delicate as thread though. It doesn't seem to ice up.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...o/IMG_2345.jpg

But did make some fluorocarbon leaders as well and used them a couple of weeks ago on stillwater (yes I said stillwater, but freezing) I too noticed bad icing with the fluoro, but I assumed it was because of haveing the rod half submerged in my pontoon. I wish I had taken pictures of that. The guides had HUGE ice cubes.

Oh, John, no fair posting the same fish...LOL http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/s...tymology/page3