When it comes to leaders ,do you like them right out of the package.Or do you prefer to tie your own.Do you think one is more beneficial then the other?
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When it comes to leaders ,do you like them right out of the package.Or do you prefer to tie your own.Do you think one is more beneficial then the other?
Yes, I think one is better. I make my own.....furled.
Gemrod
I mostly use furled leaders, attach three or four feet of tippet and cast away. Treat the leader if fishing with dries or leave it as is. I will buy monofilament leaders I find on sale and sometimes I tie my own. No sense buying mono leaders that cost four bucks when a bit of tippet or tying my own costs pennies.
Ronnie Z;
First, I must have missed your first post so "Welcome Aboard" on the best of the best.
You have just heard a couple of opinions on "Leaders", there should be several more soon. I fish Furled Leaders only but, that is my preferance.
Going on four years using thread furled leaders almost exclusively. The only time I have used mono during that time is to fish tandems of big weighted stonefly nymphs under an indicator. Lately, I've been using a beefier furled leader for that rig and doing just fine with it.
Thread furled leaders are very inexpensive - about $.35 without a tip ring, and from $.45 to a buck with, depending on what kind of ring you're using.
They turn over a dry fly beautifully, handle dries with droppers and nymphs with or without an indicator and single or in tandem with no problems. Change out the tippet on the same leader going from 2X to 6X ( probably 7X if you fish that small, which I don't ) and don't miss a beat.
Some folks treat them to make them float. I don't bother. The thread is so density neutral to the water that the leader and tippet may be submerged but an appropriate size 18 dry fly will float, and carry a dropper without sinking.
And they last almost forever - well, for a loooooonnnnng time.
Sorry that I avoided your question about mono. But maybe you have something new to consider when it comes to packages and tying pieces of mono together.
Did I mention that you can put together a furling board for practically nothing, that it takes probably less than half an hour to figure out how to make them, and less than ten minutes to make one after you get the hang of doing it ??
The ONLY PROBLEM WITH MAKING YOUR OWN - it's fun to make them but you use so few of them you hardly ever get to make any, unless you like to have a large inventory, or give them away regularly !!
Again, sorry for avoiding your question.
John
Ronnie Z, Furled leaders are the only way to go, Jack Hise and WarrenP turned me on to them, I now make my own thanks to them.
Yep, count me in with the furled leader group. I twist mine up with 4lb florocarbon. I can layover 3X - 8X tippets with no problem. For dry flys you have to grease up the leader to make it float though.
I use furled leaders when I fish only dry flies. Usually I use some sort of tandem or dropper rig when legal. If I am fishing subsurface with only one fly I use either straight mono or a one step leader.
In my opinion, tapered leaders are over rated and there only benefit is when fishing dry flies on long leaders. I also think many people fish too light of a tippet and the tapered leader helps turn that over, but again this only really matters when fishing surface flies IMO.
tie my own although eventually I will try furled leaders. heard good things about them. if I like them I will learn to tie furled leaders too.