Furled leaders in Labrador
Hi, Everyone!
Back in Maine and just thought some of you might find this interesting.
Living here, Labrador is just a longish drive North, and David and I finally did that, and then hopped a float plane into a lodge for our first time fishing for those rumored really big brook trout. Dreamed of it for a long time, although I never really thought we'd go.
Once we realized it was going to happen, we made two bigger cane rods together, both of us planing both of them, wrapping the guides, etc, together, for part of the fun.
Since I just don't fish a 7-wt or 8-wt normally, the next challenge was to design the leader taper. I settled on a 20 to 10 taper, though the middle section was a curious fellow - grin, it seemed to transfer energy smoothy from the line to both 3X and 1X tippet.
We added a few lunker conehead flies to our dries and drove up the remarkably nice mining road to Labrador City, watching the black spruce and caribou moss slowly take over.
Since the week before we arrived was uncommonly warm, the water temps rose to near 70 and the brook trout sunk to the bottom, in heavy water and rapids, no less. I knew the learning curve would be steep for me (being a small stream, secret fish, kind of person). Still, the guides were VERY patient and skilled, and the rods and the leaders did their jobs nicely. I didn't break any records, but I may never bring a 5-lb brook trout to hand again in my lifetime, so I was pretty excited.
The others must have thought the leaders worked nicely, too, because, by the fourth night back at the lodge, the owner had scrounged up my short list of necessities and we had a furled leader clinic! We used a 2X4 with finish nails, borrowed a cup hook from the cook and thread from the tying bench, and the drill from the generator shed.
The whole thing made me smile and think of you.
Kat
Furled leaders in Labrador
Hi,
Such a nice welcome home, you guys!
John, we're all about collaboration here (we're even both Scotts, grin), so I certainly don't mind sharing.
I extended my board just a little, so the leader was a full six feet, maybe a little longer (the board is in Michigan and I've since forgotten). Then, I wrapped the butt loops at 10 threads each (together 20), but only 5 threads on either side of the tip (total 10). The middle was a gnarly intertwining of a 10 and a 5, but looked much worse than it cast, which was nicely, I thought.
I looped on 3X or 1X (or sometimes 2X), about 3 1/5 feet, for tippet, while I put a tippet ring on for David.
This was the best compromise I could devise for chucking a big conehead wooly bugger (although I let the tippet shorten to nil with those since presentation wasn't an issue), but my 8wt dropped a size 12 White Wulff nice enough to appease the brook trout in a little ripple, and it still floated.
There may be better formulas out there, but I didn't want anything fancy, just useful, as I only had a day or two to get it all together.
Hope this helps.
Oh - Lew - hi, and this should help, too, although I have a kit with all of the little tools and the dvd now, too... PM me?
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/prorevw/kathyscott.php
Kat
