finally did it

[harleybob87]

Built my first furled leader today. BOY WAS IT UGLY! don't know how good it was but the loops in the end are not the best to say the least. I Will get that shoop loop down pat sooner or later. lots of thread to practice with.

[Lotech]

Built my first furled leader today. BOY WAS IT UGLY! don't know how good it was but the loops in the end are not the best to say the least. I Will get that shoop loop down pat sooner or later. lots of thread to practice with.

I'm with you on the lousy loops. My fingers are numb and I sometimes can't see past my glasses. I have all the right tools, but my hands can't do quite what my brain wants them to do. I still love my furled leaders though. I just nail knot them to my fly line and surgeons knot them to my tippet.

[SonOfMartin]

I gave up on the Shorb loop. I use a simple overhand knot and then a drop of superglue to hold it firm. Makes a simple loop to loop connection to the fly line and to the tippett. Works very well.

I broke down and purchased a furled leader from a well known commercial outlet to compare to my own. It has nice loops, well constructed. I literally did a blind test with my son changing the leader and then handing the rod back to me not knowing which furled leader was on at the time.

I could tell a small, very small difference in performance between my overhand-knot-superglued leader to the $15 metal ringed leader.

All of this to say: dump the shorb - you don't need it. Simply double over the end of the furled leader about 2 inches and make a very simple overhand knot. If you're stubborn - loop it through twice - I don't. Then put a drop of superglue on the knot and hang it up to dry (important step).

I've never had one of these knots let loose - never.

Your mileage may vary............

[harleybob87]

I can relate to how hard it is to do a shoops loop but I am the type of person when something stumps me I try and try again LOL. I bought Kathy's dvd and it shows it there just have to watch it again and again and again till I get it right.

[SonOfMartin]

I understand. honestly, the shorb isn't the 'end all'. Granted, it's nice and neat. I guess I'm more function than form type of personality.

Then again, it feels good when I stop slamming my head against the brick wall........

[ducksterman]

There are some good internet sites demo'ing the Shorb loop...I found them easier to follow than on Kathy's DVD...to me the secret is ...lots of magnification and use a knit picker...

As far as the over hand knot is concerned ...recently I was changing a leader and low and behold there was a simple overhand knot in it...[read that "wind knot"...but let's [k]not go there ]...anyway try as I might I could not get it out...so I guess they'll hold pretty darn well...

BTW...people who are really into this say that the tighter the twist... and the tighter the furl...the better the performance....they don't use the 10% formula for the amount of twist....just a heads up...

[SonOfMartin]

You are absolutely correct. I supply furled leaders for myself and 2 sons. We furl up a bunch because we tend to experiment with tapers, material, etc.

We TWIST until it pigtails. At that point we know (with some certainty) the maximum TWIST for that material. We then discard that leader and create another stopping "just short" of the pigtail.

This creates what we feel are the tightest furled leaders we are capable of making - and we feel they perform much better than those not TWISTED as tightly.

Furling (at least to me/us) is about experimenting. I learned not to get hung-up on knots or recipes. We make them from short 4 footers up to 10 footers for 3wts to 8wts. For us, the taper (or steps and spacing) was key. Once we found the magic formula for THAT rod and THAT line for THE PERSON casting it, we put the recipe on an index card so we can duplicate it.

It's interesting that we all seem to have settled on invisible sewing thread from wallyworld and 6/0 uni-thread for our leaders.

Ok, actually what was more fun was the field testing.......

[ducksterman]

Also...each material used...and believe me there a lot of them out there....has it's own best twisting rate...

Another BTW...the language gets confusing sometimes so when discussing it's best to be on the same page....

For example.....There is twisting...and there is furling....these are two different steps....just another heads up...

[SonOfMartin]

True - I edited my previous post and corrected my terminology. The following might help (borrowed from furledleaders.proboards26.com)

Twist(ing): Spinning one set of strands (leg) while holding an end (middle) stationary. Twisted sections are then allowed to "furl" back together. When twisting it's important to ensure that each leg of loops is twisted in the same direction. Choose either both clockwise or anti-clockwise. Never in opposite directions.

Furl: After each leg of the leader has been twisted, furling is the subsequent twisting of the two legs together.

[gonfishn]

harleybob try a piece of stiff mono kinked in half. thead it through the end of your leader then work the tag ends through your leader where you desire your loop.pull the leader tip though, loop back around to the entry point and pull tight.