Are furled leaders for real or are they just a fad that will pass?
All the writeups and video clips site their advantages yet supplier's catalogs still show only a few. :confused:
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Are furled leaders for real or are they just a fad that will pass?
All the writeups and video clips site their advantages yet supplier's catalogs still show only a few. :confused:
I find that I like shorter furled leaders. I got some that are 5 ft 9 inches long.
Work great for me.
Rick
My furled leaders are 5' long and I love them. I think the reason you don't see too many advertised is that they are so inexpensive to make. I love the way they lay out a fly and that they don't have any memory at all when using tying thread. The fact that they are less than 10? each is a BIG plus. I use light colored tying thread for dry flies, and dark thread for wet flies. Actually, I gave two away the day before yesterday, and replaced them with two more today.
Ray;
Furled leaders have been around for hundreds of years. Walton's Complete Angler talks about Furled Leaders. Back then they were made from horse hair. We had a Booth at Trout Fest in Townsend, TN this past weekend demonstrating and selling furled leader. The flyfishers were very knowledgeable about Furled Leaders and liked what we had to offer. Old world material meeting the material of the new world! Excelent Marriage!!
I spent 2 days answering your questions while kaboom1 showed how they were made. We had many visitors that only use furled leaders and liked ours.
We even had one visitor that still makes them from Horse Hair and fish's them from a bamboo pole!!
It was an awsome weekend!!
I've been using furled leaders for 5 years now and absolutely love them. They aren't a commercial hit because it takes just minutes to make one and are incredibly inexpensive to make - so you can experiment to find just what you want. I have some that are now 4 years old and are fishing just fine. I just add tippet as needed and keep fishing them - and I fish 100+ days a year. I've never broken one but did have to replace one after I got it caught up in a bush and it frayed out on me (operator error).
There are lots of folks here that can help you to build a furling board to make your own, just ask! Also - just make them out of 6/0 uni thread and you're good to go.
I've settled on 5' length for everything from 3 - 5 wt. In 6 - 8wt I do like them about 6.5 feet long - but that's just my preference. There are no hard and fast rules for furled leaders.
Fad? No. Great idea that's been rediscovered - absolutely!
FAD? Only time will tell.
So if I am using a 6'6" 3wt, the furled leader is 5' how long is the tippet and what size? Just asking because I have a couple and want to make sure they will work with that rod
NewTyer1
Not knowing what the leaders are made of I say start with at least 5' of tippet, you can always cut it back. A furled leader will turn over a lot more tippet than the momo slinky"s
Thanks. I have one in mono and one in thread
This is for Ray also
Last weekend I was using a 6' 6" mono leader made from 4# test line and 6' of fluorocarbon 5X tippet. startedwith a Adams parachute size 14, no problem casting but the creek chubs loved it!! I simply switched to a BHPT and a strike indicator without changing anything else and went on to catch ever bigger Creek Chubs!!;-)