I just purchased a package of (yellow thread) furled leaders for a 4 weight rod.
They’re 7’ long so I would add approx 2’-3’ of tippet.
Question…if one is dry fly fishing in very clear water to wary trout, wouldn’t the leader spook the fish as opposed to a regular 9’-10’ mono tapered leader?
Will it spook wary trout in clear water? Maybe.
As opposed to mono? I doubt it.
If you think it’ll help, dress with mucilin to increase floatation and decrease water retention, and hence spray.
I think the soft laydown of a furled leader more than makes up for its perceived bulk in terms of putting fish down.
My favorite thread furled leader is Hot Orange. Helps me see the approximate location of my fly. Does it scare the fishies in gin clear water? Not that I’ve noticed.
REE
In calm conditions over 4’ of tippet can be used as the furled leader will carry it. As the winds increase reduce the length of the tippet.
When fishing wet fly’s I’ll use up to 6’ of tippet attached to a flurocarbon furled leader.
Gentlemen:
Thank-you for your replies.
I’m going to test the theories on Friday.
BPZ
Please let us know your results.
Chuck
SS, you can add up to 6’ of tippet and it should be good for spooky fish. I prefer 5’ furled leaders of Uni thread and then tippet to match the fishing condition.
Last week, my son and I went double digits fishing dry with an Airflo poly leader - I think those things are even thicker than furled leaders.
If fish spooked every time something hit the water, they’d starve.
Good point. I’m convinced some larger trout get to the point where the sound/light/reflection disturbance of a small object hitting the water gets interpreted more as a dinner bell than an intruder alarm.
I’ve started using an AirFlo poly leader for dries as well, and so far, I’m pleased. Not as smooth casting as a furled, not as graceful of a lay-down, but once its on the water it floats higher for easier mending, has a nicer lift-off, and almost no spray.
I fish a lot of small streams. Before I got my hands on some really short (3’) furled leaders, I routinely used 5-6 feet of leader material tied directly to the end of my bright chartreuse fly line. The fish didn’t care one bit.
At the same streams I now use 3’ furled leaders attached to the same hideous colored fly line with 2-3 feet of tippet and the fish still don’t care.
When you think about the fact that the fish that the “experts” keep telling us about that are super intelligent, super wary, super selective, impossible to catch except when wearing a ghillie suit while casting 100 feet using a 25 foot leader; are STILL being caught using something attached to fishing line with a curved hunk of metal hanging below it…
…it makes you wonder who is dumber, the fish or us for believing all of that nonsense.
Call me a heretic but all of warnings related to trout fly fishing practice like avoiding short leaders, heavy leaders, heavy line weights, line spray, bright colors, etc…
…are just an fancy way to excuse yourself from a lousy presentation or being outsmarted by a pea brained fish. 
Amen, Brother!
Bam -
I think we belong to the same heretics chapter. I would concede, however, that in some places fish do get pressured to the point that some finesse is called for. Far fewer places than most would admit to, I suspect.
As far as line color, my Rio Selective Trout ( gasp ) lines are also chartreuse. Hadn’t thought about that belore, but if selective trout don’t like bright colors why would Rio make their Selective Trout lines in that color ??!!
I have fished dry flies off a foot or so of tippet tied to a bright white furled leader on occasion. The fishies still ate the fly. Either they were hungrier, braver or dumber than the selective ones ??
John
If I catch a few village idiots, and they put up a heck of a fight, I don’t snarl and sneer at their stupidity. I release them gently, and thank them. BTW- George Anderson wrote an article for “Fly Fisherman” a number of years ago about using fluorescent Amnesia for his leader butts. He insisted that the trout didn’t seem to care one whit. Perhaps some of us are the "village idiots? Now back to furled leaders.
Chuck
Well said.
I don’t believe color has any bearing on spooking the fish. When fish look up any line will be silhouetted and appear as black to them. The color will make it easier for us to see the line. The heavier the line the larger the silhouette and I don’t know how that may impact spooking the fish. I think the softer the presentation and the ability to pick up the line without creating that ripping sound are definitely more important.
Well John, if I was a big fancy fly fishing expert who wrote a bunch of books and gets invited to TU banquets as a guest speaker, I might say something like: “the selective trout where this picture was taken are SO selective, that they will only hit a fly attached to a chartreuse Selective Trout fly line”
As for me, I selected the chartreuse fly line because it goes great with the blaze orange hat, vest and bandanna I wear when I fish on Pennsylvania Game Lands during hunting season.
BTW - The fish don’t care about the orange either and I have a lot less holes in me!
I don’t seem to find that they spook fish. I did however begin using them for the 1st time this year…and originally was tying on a 3’ tippet. Not enough. they cast great, but drag was HUGE. A 5ft tippet is the way to go in my opinion.
What are your thoughts on loop-to-loop connections? I have had more tippets breaking this season than in the past it seems? And just at the knot of my tippet loop?
I don’t see any connection between tippet length and drag.
I use leaders furled out of Danville 210 Flymaster Plus tying thread with tippet sizes 5X to 2X and tippet lengths from 1’ to 5’. Drag free is the norm, even with a leader that does not float, drifts submerged, but does not sink even a small dry fly with or without a dropper.
As far as loop to loop connections, I don’t use them since I put a tip ring in all my furled leaders and use a simple clinch knot to attach tippet. I’m wondering if you have some old or deteriorated tippet ??
John
Bamboozle, I have an orange fly patch on my vest for the same reason!
Ed
The furled leader doesn’t drift or pile up as nicely as good limp tippet. And the shorter the tippet the less time you have for the cleanest of drifts. I started using 3’ tippet, but quickly switched to 5’.
On the tippet? It’s good, newer tippet. But I am using a smaller fishermans loop for my leader/tippet connection, and more than once have had failure at the leading end of the knot. What type loop do you tie?