furled leaders

Fishing Furling
1

I need to be brought up to date. :confused:

  1. What are the relative merits of mono versus thread leaders?
  2. How do you choose a length?
  3. What are the problems or advantages of the tiny rings used for simplifying changing tippets?
    Thanks.
2

I will give you my thoughts and they are just that and probably will not answer any of your questions, but, I am sure that someone more knowledgeable than me, will chime in soon.

  1. A Furled Leader made from, lets say 2 pound test mono, can be fished just like a thread leader. The thread leader will be more limber than the mono. A thread leader needs to be allowed to dry out before storing in a case so that it will not mildew. I have made Furled leaders from Coats & Clarke 100% Nylon Quilting thread and feel they work identical to Thread leaders and are limp like thread. Mono leaders may have more stretch then thread.

  2. I feel the length of a Furled Leader is just a personal thing. I use a 6’ Furled Leader on my 4wt, 5wt, 6wt and 3 wt. These rods are all either 8’ 6" or 9’ in length. I do have one 5wt in 8’ length that I am going to make up a 5’ Furled leader for because I usually use at least 5’ of tippet and on the 8’ rod, I have to bring the Furled leader into the tip top when landing a fish and feel a 5’ leader would allow me to keep the leader out of the rod tip. On my 7wt for smallmouth bass fishing, I intend to try a 4’ Furled leader and only about 4’ of tippet because I make my Furled Leaders from Berkley Vanish Tranistion which really sinks quickly and turns my floating fly line into a mini sink tip.

  3. Since I do not use the small round metal rings on my Furled Leaders, I cannot respond to this question with any negative or positive responses. I use a Shorb Loop on the butt end and the tippet end and do not see any problems with changing tippet. I always put a perfection loop in the end of my tippet and attach it to the tippet end of my Furled leader with a loop-to-loop connection and I have no problems with changing out my tippet.

Hopefully, some of the above helps…

Keep in mind that your questions are like a lot of questions that will draw many different opinions because each fly fisherman fishes different from the other. Some only use very small dry flies and require a different furled leader for their style and some, like me, only fish streamers, buggers, wet flies and nymphs and my choice of a furled leader will be different. I guess you will have to sort through the responses and pick out the answers that fit your style of fly fishing.

3

To add to what Warren has stated. Furled leaders have little or no memory so you don’t have that nasty slinky hanging off the end of your fly line. A furled leader can be cast just like a fly line increasing accuracy. Mono makes a more aggressive leader than thread and will turn over larger fly’s. One complaint about the loop to loop connection is the tippet loop closing up making it hard to change tippets. Furled leaders will last at least a season if not more, you only have to change tippets to match conditions. Both thread and mono leaders can be treated with floatant to keep them on the surface, the mono will just have to be treated more often. If you would like to try one pm your mailing address to me.

4

I fish exclusively with furled leaders, and in regards to the tippet changing all of mine have a tippet ring making it very easy to change.

5

I have to disagree with Warren on the thread leaders. The material that I use does not rot or mildew. Just crank it on the reel after a days fishing and no worries. Ray, if you want to try one, PM me youe address, and I will send you one to try.

Brad

6

Ray -

My take on it …

  1. Thread leaders are much more supple than mono leaders and have zero memory. More supple makes for a better drift. However, they are more effected by a breeze, and they are a bit more fussy when it comes to stretching and dealing with streamside foliage. Thread leaders are plenty accurate in favorable conditions. Mono leaders provide a bit more positive turnover and are probably more accurate overall, but won’t provide as good a drift. They aren’t as fussy as thread. Mono leaders do generally have some memory, more or less depending on the specific mono used.

  2. All the leaders I make, whether thread for dry fly fishing or fluoro for nymphing, are just about 5’8" long. That length plus appropriate size and length of tippet works all the way from fishing small dries on a 3 wt rod to fishing a couple big stonefly nymphs under an indicator with a 7 wt.

  3. I incorporate tip rings in all the leaders I make. Attaching or changing out tippet for size or length is a matter of a simple clinch knot to the tip ring. Lately, I seem to be getting some wear and fraying of the leader at the tip ring on my thread leaders, which makes for reduced leader life. Not sure what the problem is and haven’t found a satisfactory solution yet. That has not been a problem on the fluoro nymph leader I use on my 7 wt.

Regarding Warren’s comment on the need to dry thread leaders before storing - I don’t dry them and I haven’t had a problem with mildew. Maybe it is a result of a lower humidity out here than in Warren’s neck of the woods ??

Regarding Jack’s comment on using a furled leader for a full season or more - that depends on how much you use them, and perhaps the material the leader is made from. I go through a good number of thread furled leaders over the course of a single season. Maybe mono leaders would last me a full season, but I have no interest in finding out.

Regarding Jack’s comment on using a floatant - I fish my thread furled leaders submerged. Seems like a minority of us prefer submerged leaders to floating leaders, but there are some pretty experienced and competent anglers in that group.

John

7

Brad,
Are you going to set up at the Buckeye Bamboo Bash May 4th?
R

8

… on my home water, but Jack was getting kind of antsy about me trying one of his mono furled leaders so I rigged up with one today and gave it a go.

Here …

… in some fairly rough water, with an FEB Skwala, which was a quite satisfactory snack for …

… this guy and five other cutts.

The FEB Skwala, for those not familiar with it, is tied on a size 14 3X long hook and has an extended body which makes the fly more like a “size 4 or 6” fly. Fished it off 4X tippet with my TFO BVK 9’ for 5 wt with a Rio Trout LT WF4F line.

Here’s a close up of the fly …

Anyway, the mono leader does have a bit of memory. But obviously not enough to adversely effect the drift of this big fly in this particular situation with fairly heavy water. The leader was accurate and turned the fly over pretty positively, as expected, and did set the fly down very softly on the water, with a bit of casting finesse.

I did not use any floatant on the leader. I let it submerge however it wanted to in the conditions encountered. It did not sink the skwala even on a relatively long drift in the heavy water.

So it was a positive experience. Having said that, I do wonder how it will do on either softer water or with smaller flies. Guess I’ll have to do some more experiments.

John

P.S. It is my intention to leave Jack’s leader on my dry fly rod until it proves unsatisfactory from a “drift” point of view or wears out, whichever comes first.

P.P.S. The fishing / catching got much better when I went to my nymph rod fishing JARS under an indicator.