Favorite furling material

[ducksterman]

What is your favorite material for most of your furled leaders....wet and dry?

And why?

For example FISHN50 has said Cortland Camo Soft...didn't say why but I can guess.

[tlerm]

I've experimented with thread (Uni 6/0) and different sizes of mono and fluorocarbon. I like the the Uni for dry fly fishing, and the mono for everything else.

For the mono, I have tried everything from Coats & Clark mono (0.005) all the way up to 10lb mono . In general, I have found that leaders made from the smaller diameter material, with more loops, perform better.

I found 4lb mono to be the heaviest that will turn out a nice leader. And leaders from 10lb mono... well if you're going after Moby Dick it migh be what you want, but not for me. They were horrible.

[WarrenP]

99% of my fly fishing is with nymphs, streamers, buggers and wet flies. I hardly ever fish dry flies. I have made furled leaders from just about every material out there to find one that "fits" my "style" of fly fishing and Berkley Vanish Transition Gold in 4# test is the best for me. I feel it is the only material that once furled, it sinks very quickly and takes my flies deeper than any other leader or material. I always attach at least 5 to 6 feet of either 6# or 4# fluorocarbon for my tippet. With this thought in mind, if I wanted to fish a dry fly for any reason, I can still fish it because by the time the furled leader sinking starts to affect the dry fly, my dry fly has already drifted through the section of water I wanted to fish due to the length of my tippet. Bare in mind that I am talking about fishing rivers where there is always a current. If I am using 6# test fluorocarbon for my tippet and decide to swing smaller wet flies, I will triple surgeon knot some 4# test on the end of the 6# test to give the wet fly more freedom of movement. I do not use tippet material for my tippet. I purchase 4# and 6# fluorocarbon in bulk and respool it onto smaller spools to carry with me on the river. I have tried Berkley Vanish and feel it does not sink as fast as the Berkley Vanish Transition Gold.

I know my style of fly fishing goes against most traditional ways of fly fishing, but, it works for me and I can usually catch my fair share of trout on each trip.

Just my way and nothing more......

[tlerm]

I have not tried the Vanish Transition, but I also use 4lb and 6lb Vanish for my tippet material for my warm water fishing 99% of the time. When trout fishing and using nymphs smaller than say a size 16, then I will switch to actual tippet material.

[SweetStreamS]

I've gone through all my catalogs and can't find a source for Berkeley Vanish Transition Gold. Anyone
know where I can get some?
Sweets

[ducksterman]

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Fishing/Fishing-Line/Fluorocarbon|/pc/104793480/c/104719680/sc/104338080/Berkley174-Vanish174-Transition-Line-Filler-Spool/738468.uts?

Wal Mart used to have it.

Realize that plain Vanish comes down to 2#....Transition only to 4#

[SweetStreamS]

Thanks Duck,
I'll Check
Sweets

[JohnScott]

... furled to about a 6' finished length in a 10-8-6 configuration and 40% butt section, 30% mid section, and 30% tip section produces a very supple, very strong, and somewhat stretchy leader that will submerge but doesn't really sink that I can fish very effectively with both dries and nymphs on my 3, 4, and 5 wt rods and does reasonably well on my 7 wt.

... furled to about a 12' 6" finished length but with an approximate 8' butt section, this leader works quite well on my Tenkara rods for fishing dries up to size 8 hoppers and golden stones. It will work with a heavily weighted stonefly nymph, but the casting is more like laughable than smooth.

I've experimented with some light mono, but the stuff I used had some memory so that was the end of that. ( I've also twisted some leaders from mono and fluoro, and they weren't bad, but they weren't nearly as good as thread furled leaders for the fishing I do. )

I've used 6/0 Uni but those leaders are a bit on the light side for what I do. They were okay for small dries on my lighter rods, but not so good for bigger flies fished off heavier lines. I furled a 12' 6" Tenkara line / leader out of 6/0 Uni using the same configuration and proportions as the Danville 210 for Chris, and he found it quite suitable for the Tenkara fishing he does.

I also experimented with kevlar tying thread. Kevlar produced a very strong leader that was less supple than the Danville and had no give at all. Not a bad leader, but kind of pricey - about three times more expensive to make than the Danville. It would probably perform noticeably better in the wind than the Danville and turn over the larger flies a bit better.

I have used leaders made by others from various materials, including fluoro. Most were very good leaders and it is easy to understand why those folks like them for the kind of fishing they do. But for what I do, none of them worked as well as the Danville 210.

Which makes the point that came up on another thread, that the leader pretty much has to be tailored to the individual's preferences and his equipment and the way he uses it. The same leader can be the absolute best for one person and pure junk for another. To write off furled leaders because you start with a piece of junk would be like writing off fly fishing because you tried it one time with a rod that you didn't like.

John

[popperfly]

I've gone through all my catalogs and can't find a source for Berkeley Vanish Transition Gold. Anyone
know where I can get some?
Sweets

Sweets,

Watch Ebay you can get some deals on there for the 4# http://cgi.ebay.com/Berkley-Vanish-T...item45f6ace3f4

[Gemrod]

Thanks Duck. Good info. Funny how things make sense when you read them...but you didn't think of it yourself.

I needed that info and thank you for it.