Furled leader question

[Betty Hiner]

Yah, from me! Who'da guessed?!?!?

Thinking (always a dangerous thing) while preparing for a trip ... if the furled leaders are furled with waxed thread, and that wax wears off after so many casts, rather than varnish (phew!), or even mucillin (icky, melty in can), would it work to run it through some bees wax?????? I have a slotted container of bees wax that I use for sewing and fly tying, and if it would work, I could easily throw it into my chest pack (not much else in it)(OK ... shut up!!).

What do you think? Will it work?

[WarrenP]

Betty,

I cannot answer your question, but, I do not think it will hurt to try it. Like you, I was thinking one day while mowing, I decided to make up a thread furled leader and pre-treat the thread with bow string wax before twisting and furling. My thoughts were that treating the thread before twisting and furling would incorporate the wax throughout the leader instead of on the surface. I set up my furling board, done the required thread wraps around the pegs and then run the bow string wax up and down the threads and then took my drill and twisted them and then allowed them to furl. Since I do not use thread furled leaders and do not want my leaders to float, I sent some of these out for others to try. I even made up some along with others made from fluorocarbon and mono, and sent them in for the auction later this year for the bench for JC. If I was you, I would try the bee's wax and maybe make some up by applying the bee's wax to the thread before twisting and furling and see how it works out.

Like I said, this is not an answer to your question, but..........

[Bamboozle]

I'd take a small hunk of bees wax and a small hunk of paraffin and stick them in a glass of water...

...if they float, I figure either would work just fine. Maybe better than all of the other stuff we use.

BTW - If the wax doesn't perform as expected; try Loon Payette Paste for a non-"icky, melty in can" alternative to Mucilin.

[jw healy]

I dress my thread furled leaders with fly floatant at the same time I dress the fly. When the fly needs to have floatant added I also add floatant to the leader. Usually, the fly needs to be dressed before the leader starts to sink below the surface film.

[FISHN50]

Before I start the twist on a leader I want to float I'll rub the thread down with Alboline. They will float for hours. I'm just trying Minwax paste wax on some but I haven't used them yet so I don't Know about them My thought s are that Beeswax is too hard to work into the leader. I think either my way or the bowstring wax will probably work better ...... I carry a few spares on a long day in case one gets waterlogged I just change it over. Once they get waterlogged you can't work in any floatant so I' just change the leader & let that one dry out. That's on a thread leader on the mono ones you can dress them anytime, but I'm getting away from using them because of their inherent stretch & what happens when they snap back after a fish spits the hook or a snag comes out suddenly & you end up with a tangled mess.

[David L]

Betty & others

I have been watching the "what folatent" to use on furled leadrers real close. So as I sit here reading your post and all of the answers I am getting my Filson hat ready for the winter (rain) and slap me silly but I am putting on a water proof wax! Filson's original "oil-finish-wax" long wearing and non-tacky. Has anyone tried it? If not I will give it a workout in Lowell next week.

[Ron Eagle Elk]

Betty,

When I got some leaders from Jim Cramer, he suggested using Johnson's Paste Wax if I couldn't find Mucellin. I prefer Mucellin to dress both flies and leaders.

REE

[anglerdave]

Betty,

When I got some leaders from Jim Cramer, he suggested using Johnson's Paste Wax if I couldn't find Mucellin. I prefer Mucellin to dress both flies and leaders.

REE

REE

Have never tried the JPW. But I don't know why it wouldn't work. Especially if recommended by someone such as Jim who makes leaders.

Betty

I have to admit that I am not a big fan of furled leaders. And I really don't know why. But the ones I have used (thread mostly) I have used fly floatant, either Orvis or Dave's to dress the leader. Seems to work.

Dave

[Steven McGarthwaite]

Betty: The original silk lines were braided from silk thread, and they were coated internally with shellac, which was made from the shell back of the lac bug. Took over 3,000.000 lack bugs to make a gallon of shellac.

The shellac gave the silk fly line a a stiffness that after some casting, lessened some giving the line some backbone for casting. Cortland's Sylk line has that same stiffness, just as your PVC fly lines. Furled Leaders are no different.

The varnish bonds the interior threads of the furled leader, saturating the thread fibers so they do not soak up water, the vanish eliminate voids in the furled leader so their is no spray of water during the cast. The varnish coat also protects the thread fibers from abrasion.

The origin tapered leaders were made of silk guts and had to be stored in special wallets with a sponge pad to keep them moist. Otherwise the silk guts, would become brittle, and would have to be wet-ed before using.

Yes they would coat the surface of the silk fly line with wax, but that only worked for so long. A reason that they use Double Tapers. At noon the anglers would stop for lunch, and strip all the fly line off of the reel, and reverse the fly line to use the dry section for the afternoon fishing. At the end of the day they had to remove the whole line and dry it out, otherwise the silk line would rot.

Nylon and Polyester thread do not rot.

Use varnish, I warm my varnish is a bowl of off boil (200 degree F) water, before I coat my leaders. If I want my furled leaders to float I apply wax, otherwise for submerge presentations I do not.

Do as you wish, I am just using the same methods, with some modifications that have been used for centuries. ~ Parnelli

[Buddy Sanders]

Betty,

Is the reason for the 'wax' to make the leader 'float'?

If so, I'd go with 'unwaxed' thread and waterproof it BEFORE furling the leader.

I tried soaking the whole spool in a silicone waterproofer before furling some leaders. I just threw the whole spool into the jar of waterproofer and let it soak overnight, then let it dry for a couple of days. Floated ALL SUMMER in some pretty fast waters. Never had to retreat them.

Just another option.

Buddy