DIY: Furled leaders

Kinder, Gentler ROFFians,

SWMBO was out of town on a business trip this weekend, so I was
looking for a new project. Did some reading on making furled leaders
and figured that might be something fun to try. I wound up following
the instructions from Mike McGuire's page:
http://www.peninsulaflyfishers.org/T...ed_leader.html

I didn't have any 2x6's laying around, but did have some 1" thick
stock that was 6" wide and 10' long. Dug around in the toolbox for a
cup hook, scrounged through my supply of wooden dowels for some 5/8"
dowel stock (didn't have any 1"), grabbed a 5/8" auger bit, my trusty
old Miller's Falls "Holdall" hand brace and set about making the jig.

My first plan was to make some leaders for my 3-wt., as the supposed
advantages of furled leaders seem more appropriate on a lightweight rig.
Took some 8/0 Unithread (light olive seemed like a good color) and
laid out the thread on the jig.

Most plans call for using a power drill for furling the thread, but
with that lightweight thread I thought a hand-drill might be better, so
I grabbed my old Stanley "eggbeater" drill and set about furling the
thread. Mike's page calls for using a nail set into the jig to hold the
first leg of the leader after you twist it up. However, for some
reason, he sets the nail *away* from the last dowel posts, and this
didn't make any sense as all the instructions say that you want to
shorten your leader material by roughly 10% as you wind it.

I simply marked the 10% point on the jig and pounded the nail in
there (between and in front of the two end dowels). That way I could
simply furl the thread until it shortened to that point and I knew I was
at the proper length.

Anyhow, Mike's page has the clearest instructions of all and his
method seems easier (he does two individual legs rather than one long
one that has to be reversed and wound). I wound up making three for my
3-wt. and two for my 5-wt. (using 6/0 thread). I broke the thread a
couple of times (it turned out I had a burr on the inside of the
hook-eye and it abraded the thread), but I found that all is not lost;
you can straighten the thread back out, tie a quick overhand loop and
keep going.

I treated them with Watershed, put an end loop in for attaching
tippets and simply overhand-knotted the butt end to keep them from
unraveling. I used a nailknot to attach one to my 3-wt., and added a 3'
piece of 4x tippet via loop-to-loop.

Yesterday I went out to the local river where they put in the
factory trout to test the rig out. From the first cast I was very
impressed. The reel was rigged up with that newish Cortland "sylk"
stuff, and the line to leader transition was basically indetectable. I
played around casting everything from tiny dries to an extended body
green drake monstrosity, and it handled all of them equally well.
Excellent turnover and it really does tighten up your loops. (Not that
I usually have a problem with that; I'm a tailing-loop kind of guy. :-)

The wind didn't pose any special problem (i.e., no more than normal
with a 3-wt. rig), I didn't get any windknots, and the thing was so
supple that drifts looked particularly good.

The only problem I noticed was that even though the leader was
pre-treated, it was sinking (some) by the end of my time on the water
(about 3 hours). Even then, it didn't seem to pull the fly under during
the normal part of the drift.

So, I know that lots of folks don't like these leaders, but as a
DIY'er, it's a fun thing to try. If you have the tools, lumber and
hardware, you can make up the jig in about a half-hour and be furling
your own leaders for nothing more than the cost of the thread. (And I
got three full leaders from one 200 yard spool with plenty left over.)


Chuck Vance