Furled Leaders Revisited

I tried furled leaders years ago and decided I didn't
like them. The recent FeatherCraft catalogs have featured
"Next Generation" furled leaders and Tim Holschlag at
smallmouthangler.com recommends Blue Sky furled leaders
so when I rigged up my 6wt for smallie fishing I put on
a "Next Generation", "New and Improved" furled leader
specifically designed for big bass bugs.

I used the bass leader from FeatherCraft and it is an
improvement over earlier versions in that it has a loop
for attaching to the fly line and a small ring for tying
on the tippet. I don't like loops, I much prefer a nicely
tied nail knot, but they are handy and the tiny little
ring is the neat idea that convinced me to give furled
leaders another try.

Furled leaders still suck. If you let your Sneaky Pete
sit on the water for any time at all the leader sinks
so that the only things floating are the fly and the end
of the flyline. Lifting the fly off the water creates a
huge ruckus, enough to scare off any fish for miles
around. Back to good old Orvis SuperStrong tapered leaders
for me.

--
Ken Fortenberry

On Aug 30, 9:05 am, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:

so when I rigged up my 6wt for smallie fishing....
Furled leaders still suck.......
Back to good old Orvis SuperStrong tapered leaders

I never tried a furled leader. But your post does come wrapped
in a big bugs for samllie context. And then ends up liking
tapered leaders.

So it occurred to me: tapered leaders are great, but they
seldom (never yet, that I've ever seen) have enough backbone
to toss bass bugs of any kind. So I either make my own
leaders from scratch (most of the time) or I add a thicker,
stouter leader butt to the rear end of the tapered section.

Then you can cast big bugs in the wind. And the fat butt
tends to sink quickly, which helps drag the whole leader
under with it, so you don't get that long squiggly, fish-scaring
dimple on the surface, between fly line and floating bug.

salmobytes wrote:
On Aug 30, 9:05 am, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:

so when I rigged up my 6wt for smallie fishing....
Furled leaders still suck.......
Back to good old Orvis SuperStrong tapered leaders

I never tried a furled leader. But your post does come wrapped
in a big bugs for samllie context. And then ends up liking
tapered leaders.

So it occurred to me: tapered leaders are great, but they
seldom (never yet, that I've ever seen) have enough backbone
to toss bass bugs of any kind. So I either make my own
leaders from scratch (most of the time) or I add a thicker,
stouter leader butt to the rear end of the tapered section.

The butt end of an Orvis SuperStrong 0X 6ft. tapered leader
is .023". That's enough backbone for most of the flies I
toss with my 6wt. When I need to toss something huge with
an 8 or 9wt rod I'll start the leader with 4 to 6 feet of
50 lb test Climax hard mono that measures .0295". If I can't
cast it with that butt section it ain't gonna get cast.

Then you can cast big bugs in the wind. And the fat butt
tends to sink quickly, which helps drag the whole leader
under with it, so you don't get that long squiggly, fish-scaring
dimple on the surface, between fly line and floating bug.

I've never known smallies to be leader shy.

--
Ken Fortenberry

"Ken Fortenberry" wrote in message
et...
Back to good old Orvis SuperStrong tapered leaders
for me.
Ken Fortenberry

Just curious, are the Orvis SS tapered leaders any better than the other
brand tapered leaders?
-tom

Ken Fortenberry wrote:

Furled leaders still suck. If you let your Sneaky Pete
sit on the water for any time at all the leader sinks
so that the only things floating are the fly and the end
of the flyline. Lifting the fly off the water creates a
huge ruckus, enough to scare off any fish for miles
around.

I see your problem. You're using the ones made from mono. I made
up a couple of them when I was first trying out furled leaders, and they
weren't much of an improvement over regular mono tapered leaders. (They
tended to coil up almost as much as mono, and as you noted, they don't
float well.)

I make mine up from Unithread (6/0 for most trout fishihg, and 8/0
if I want a really fine one). I then treat them with Mucilin before
using them. The result is a truly supple leader that floats just fine
and doesn't spray.

And I definitely like the tippet rings. I've been using them on
most of my leaders, furled or not.

Having said all that, I don't think furled leaders are the be-all
and end-all, but I do like the way they work for delicate presentations.
(For bass fishing I usually just use a 3X tapered leader.)

Back to good old Orvis SuperStrong tapered leaders
for me.

Personally, I like the Maxima tapered leaders. SS have too much memory.


Chuck Vance

Ken Fortenberry wrote in
et:

Furled leaders still suck. If you let your Sneaky Pete
sit on the water for any time at all the leader sinks
so that the only things floating are the fly and the end
of the flyline. Lifting the fly off the water creates a
huge ruckus, enough to scare off any fish for miles
around. Back to good old Orvis SuperStrong tapered leaders
for me.


I haven't used the furled, but I have used braided. I recall more spray on
the cast. I didn't hate them, but they were more expensive, and of less
utility as my knots improved.

--
Scott
Reverse name to reply

"Ken Fortenberry" wrote in message
et...


the tiny little
ring is the neat idea


They are called tippet rings and are oft maligned by folks that haven't
tried them G


I don't care for furled leaders but I now use tippet rings on all my leaders
except on a "bobber nymphing only rod"

Tie a ring on the slightly cut back end of a 3 or 4x leader ( use a 100%
knot -Pilsen is what I like ) and you can now attach tippet from 3X to 7X
directly to that ring and have a very nice casting leader ( takes some
experimenting to get lengths of tippet correct, of course ) for dries and
sight/film nymphing. I have all but forgotten how to tie a surgeons knot
G and I just nip the tippet off and redo when it gets short and not
performing well with the fly being cast.

I also just nip the tippet off at the end of a day. The ring makes finding
the end of the leader on the reel the next day a piece of cake and I don't
have to try and remember or mike the tippet to know what I'm fishing ...
both big pluses for us seniors :-)


FWIW, I have been using the rings about three seasons, well over 200 days.

Cost? I usually go all season on one ring/rod unless I really **** up and
snag something way out of reach. I don't lose more than a couple/ season
fishing about 100days/year and they actually save ME money because I'm not
replacing leaders gone bad by being cut back too far ( I am very picky about
leader performance and can't stand one that has gotten out of balance from
cutting back and replacing tippet ) . I don't use them on the nymphing
rod simply because that technique and I tend to tangle constantly anyway, so
why add mode tackle to muck with, or the cost of rings lost.

I haven't bothered to post here to ROFF about how much headache the rings
have removed from my fishing season for the simple reason that it was
certain to cause outrage in people that "know" how stupid the rings are,
without any need to actually try them G.

I HAVE given a few rings away to anglers I've met, along with advice on
how to use them, and in every case the recipient come back and asked where
to get more.

I fish mainly dry flies and "film flies" on "technical" waters ... and I get
better, more consistent, presentations over the course of time with the
rings than I ever did without ... mainly since the leader is consistent day
to day instead of slightly changing when a tippet change alters the last
section of the taper ... which makes me more consistent.

Tom Nakashima wrote:
"Ken Fortenberry" wrote:
Back to good old Orvis SuperStrong tapered leaders
for me.

Just curious, are the Orvis SS tapered leaders any better than the other
brand tapered leaders?

I like them better than any other I've tried. If you take
a micrometer to Orvis SuperStrong leaders they'll be more
consistently to spec than other tapered leaders.

--
Ken Fortenberry

"Conan The Librarian" wrote


I make mine up from Unithread (6/0 for most trout fishihg, and 8/0 if I
want a really fine one). I then treat them with Mucilin before using
them. The result is a truly supple leader that floats just fine and
doesn't spray.

And I definitely like the tippet rings. I've been using them on most
of my leaders, furled or not.


I have had the pleasure of trying Vancian Leaders and they are vastly better
than the Blue Sky ( whatever it is ) mono furled leaders.





Personally, I like the Maxima tapered leaders. SS have too much
memory.




I have tried every brand and style of leader I've ever heard of over the
course of years, but am very satisfied with my current rig. I am picky
about leaders far beyond my concern about, say, rods or reels.

I travel 1000s of miles intentionally seeking picky fish and they have
convinced me that line and leader are the two key items of tackle ( assuming
the angler can pick a reasonable pattern for the circumstances ). MY
(never too humble ) OPINION is that the angler is best served by picking a
line/leader combo that he likes and sticking with it, learning it's most
intimate traits, knowing exactly what to expect form it when cast a certain
way with a given fly.

But, if you are bored by catching too many fish and want to make tough
technical fish even more challenging, fish a different rod each day and
constantly try new terminal tackle G

Oh, I settled on RIO because I can find it everywhere I go and don't have to
change brands.

Larry L wrote:

"Conan The Librarian" wrote

I make mine up from Unithread (6/0 for most trout fishihg, and 8/0 if I
want a really fine one). I then treat them with Mucilin before using
them. The result is a truly supple leader that floats just fine and
doesn't spray.

I have had the pleasure of trying Vancian Leaders and they are vastly better
than the Blue Sky ( whatever it is ) mono furled leaders.

Oh, that's right ... I did send you a couple of those, didn't I? I
think I even sent you a "camo" version, no? :-)

Personally, I like the Maxima tapered leaders. SS have too much
memory.

[little snip]

MY
(never too humble ) OPINION is that the angler is best served by picking a
line/leader combo that he likes and sticking with it, learning it's most
intimate traits, knowing exactly what to expect form it when cast a certain
way with a given fly.

I definitely agree with that. I think it's a lot like fishing
knots. We can argue all day about what knot tests out as closest to
100%, but the one that ultimately works best is the one you can tie
*consistently* on the stream under any conditions.

Similarly, the line and leader you are most familiar with and are
confident in is likely to be the "best".

But, if you are bored by catching too many fish and want to make tough
technical fish even more challenging, fish a different rod each day and
constantly try new terminal tackle G

Oh, I settled on RIO because I can find it everywhere I go and don't have to
change brands.

Ah, but by using your tippet rings, you'd only have to buy a couple
a year, whatever the brand. :-)


Chuck Vance