Unique furling stories

[Kathy Scott]

Hi,

As you guys all know, I'm an enthusiast (but still welcome the use of any kind of leader by any angler who prefers something different... the "different strokes" idea)

BUT

I always use furled leaders, and I'm elbow deep in them even when I'm far from water, so I get to talking furling quite a bit, good fun.

Last weekend, I talked with someone in Minneapolis who had been hired by the Fish and Wildlife Service to spend the entire month of September fishing for Dolly Varden trout for their research. (That alone sounded pretty good to me.) He told me that he made up some furled leaders for the trip. He lived outdoors, fishing in all kinds of conditions, in full view of the Gates of the Arctic. He caught 250 Dolly Varden, and said that he would have caught every one of them on the same furled leader except, I believe he said that he accidentally cut his first one, so he switched to a second.

Also...

This winter, someone called me from a cruise ship. He was just back on board after catching his first tarpon on a furled leader... I know catching tarpon is no small feat, I've seen them in the Florida Gulf. But for someone who makes small leaders and mostly fishes dries, this was a great image for me!

I'm sure you all have stories as well. Just thought I'd post these

Kat

[Gnu Bee Flyer]

Kat, here's mine.

I caught not a giant Tarpon but My nieces young son. The 4 year old came into the room as I was showing his dad how I furled some mono. It was a 9 ft furled leader twisted up and just about ready to be unfurled. Of course the kid immediately walked over to the board, grabbed and yanked on the mono lines. I let go the other end because the thing was already ruined. It made one of those instant pieces of artwork that happen now and then as it furled in a kind of birdsnest around the kids hand and fingers. He let out a squeal of delight, held it up for us to see and said, More? We laughed along with him.

I suppose I could have ended it there but when opportunity knocks you should answer the door so when his dad began apologising I said no problem, if you sit at the table and work on it a bit it will unravel quite easily.
Hahahahah He believed me and tried for almost 5 minutes before I let him off the hook and told him that in 10 minutes or less we could make at least 2 more. We stuck it to a plank which He took it home to adorn his shop wall.

[Jack Hise]

I was recently invited to an outdoor expo in Huntsville to demo furled leader construction.
A gentleman came over and said "You're the only reason I'm here, I want to learn how to make these things!". I made sure he had all the handouts on board construction and furling parrerns as well as Kathy's email so he could order her DVD. If he mentioned my name she'd ship free!!
I proceeded to lay one up using a bright green mono so he could see what I was doing. I twisted up one leg and started on the second one when the cup hook pulled out of the drill chuck! I sort of had the same piece of artwork discribed by Gnu Bee, right in front of about 10 people!!
I recoverd with "Now you know what can happen if you do something wrong, so don't do that!"
I went on to complete the next leader with no problems but could tell that he was still a bit confused so I invited him behind the table to make one himself. He ended up making 2 and after I showed him how to install tippet rings he left with a smile and 2 furled leaders he had made himself!

[J Castwell]

Sometimes we all need an 'uncle'.

[Gardenfish]

two years ago I shredded several feet of a furled leader. I don't know how it happened unless there was glass or metal in the water. Two and a half feet of leader were still good so I knotted the end, applied some kind of cement, and tied on some tippet. That short furled leader still turns over flies just fine.

[DruLeeParsec]

Hi Kathy:

I bought your DVD (actually 2 of them so I'd have one as a gift) and I've ONLY used furled leaders ever since. I've gone through almost half a dozen but only because I'm still learning to cast consistently and I tangle them beyond my patience level.

The thing is, I don't mind so much because I enjoy making them. It's actually kind of fun to make your own tools.

A few months ago our local fly fishing club had a meeting where the monthly topic was on leaders. I brought in my leader board and demonstrated how to make furled leaders. I got a lot of great comments but one of the best comments was how thankful they were that a new member was getting involved with the club by helping out with the demonstrations. Your technique for making leaders is so simple that it's was easy for me to have something to share with the old pros in the club, even though I'm very new to the sport.

I do have a question Kathy. Have you done any test on the breaking strength of your leaders made with 6/0 thread? When I'm ready to try steelhead fishing should I make them from heavier thread?

[Kathy Scott]

Great stories!

Here's another: One of my senior kids who furls was just talking over the smallest, thinnist, tiny furled leader that could be made by human hands. That should be intersting

Kat

D- so glad to hear that you're having fun, and that you're working with your club. Very nice.

We once hanged weights from a 6/0 until it broke at six pounds, well after a 5X tippet would go. I haven't experiment much with steelhead, but some of these guys sure have. You might want to try posting a seperate thread!

[JohnScott]

...I do have a question Kathy. Have you done any test on the breaking strength of your leaders made with 6/0 thread? When I'm ready to try steelhead fishing should I make them from heavier thread?...

Dru -

Not to hijack the thread - I furl my leaders using Danville 210 Flymaster in a 10-8-6. On several occasions I've had to break off 2x 10# test leader - like when sticking a hook in a tree branch or other snag, not on a fish ?! No damage to the leader or the tippet ring. Not sure how that would compare to the 6/0 leaders you are furling, but it might be an indication what you can expect, or how to test your own leaders.

Kathy -

Since you started this thread, I've scratched my head a number of times trying to come up with an unusual story or event involving furled leaders. I've used them almost exclusively for about four years now, and they work so well and last so long and nothing but good things happen while using them, that I just can't think of anything else worth saying about them.

I did use a single furled leader for about eight outings last April on a local spring creek and caught something like 400 small to medium bows and small brookies while fishing it on a 3 wt. But I did use it before and after and in other places mixed in with those outings, so I really don't know how many fish it might have accounted for. Would that count ??

John

[Kathy Scott]

Its a great story, John. Not that I'm at all envious

Kat