Furled Leaders Revisited

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
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"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.

On Aug 30, 4:05 pm, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:
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

Have a look at Rod Harrisons Knotted Dogs or Twisted leaders.