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I know that there are many here that use furled leaders. I am new to the game with them, and am still on the fence. What length leader do you typically use, before the tippet is attached? Is it possible to have too long of a leader? On Saturday I was having some problems, not just with the leader, but my casting in general. When I switched over to a tapered leader, problems dissappeared. This is why I am wondering about length.
Fishin' fool -
My ( thread ) furled leaders are finished at about 64".
Rather than the length, it may be the "bulk", if I can call it that, of the leader you used. For example, a 10-8-6 leader is fine on my 3 wt and okay on my 5 wt, but no way would I try it on my 7 wt. I've done a 14-12-10 which is fine on my 5 wt and will probably do okay on the 7 wt if I ever get around to trying it.
So far, the longest tippets I've added are about 5', but I'm not sure at what point the leaders would max out.
Looking forward to what others have to say, since I am about due to furl some more leaders, including a couple for the 7 wt. And one of these days, I'm going to do one for my spey rod, when I learn how to cast with it !!
John
To really try and discover the problem and an answer, everyone will need to know:
What weight rod are you using?
Are you dry fly fishing, nymph fishing, streamer fishing, etc?
Are you fishing with weighted flies?
What size flies are you fishing?
Are you using a thread furled leader, fluorocarbon furled leader or mono furled leader?
What length furled leaders are you using?
I make and use my own furled leaders and I make all mine from 4 pound test Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon. They are all the 10-8-6 formula and they are all 7 foot long. I use these on my 4 weight, 5 weight and 6 weight and have no problems with the turn over of the tippet or fly. I attach 5 to 6 feet of 6 pound test fluorocarbon to the end of the furled leader. I hardly ever fish with dry flies. I use this set-up for my bluegill/bass poppers, weighted nymphs, streamers and buggers and have no problems.
For 3 to 6 weight lines, mine is currently 44 inches of Uni thread furled leader in 18-16-14-12-10 format at 65% reduction.
The tip is stronger than 1x mono tippet when built with 6/0, and stronger than 5x when built with 8/0 (great on the 3wt.).
A fluoro midsection of three feet works well, followed by about three feet of tippet.
For one inch pegs, the leader board setup is:
16 27 35 40 44
And the leader calls for 22 yards of thread.
Sorry, I left that stuff out Warren.
6wt. rod
Mono furled leader, 9'
size 4 popper bug
On my 4 thru 6wt's, I use a 6ft leader (without tippet).
On my 7-8 wts I use a 5FT leader (without tippet).
I add 2-5 ft of tippet to make a 8-10ft or so leader overall depending on the circumstances.
I don't make them, (yet); I just use them.
Thread only:
7' for normal sized waters with 5-7 feet of transition & tippet
3' for dinky streams with 2-3 feet of tippet