Furled Leaders?

[WanderingBlues]

Usually, I ask questions out on the water, but since I can't seem to get out, I'll ask here! What is the advantage to using a furled leader? Typically, I use the Rio tapered 7-9' mono leaders, but I've seen several FFA guys using furled, and their presentations are incredibly delicate. Is that a by-product? Also, if you like furled, any suggestions on Brands, lengths, etc..... Thanks gents!

[rkfiske]

Talk to Ray, he has made his own in the past. They're nice for dries, they tend to turn over nicely. There is an argument that they disturb the water when you pick up to cast. Though this is true, I don't see it as extremely troubling and you can definitely work at making it less so.

[tomsakai]

Curtis, I'm in the process of switching over to furled. Buying them from a guy in Illinois until I have time to make my own.

http://www.streamsideleaders.com/

I think Ray posted with some details re. making and using them on this board somewhere a year or more ago.

[DubL HauL]

certainly pros and cons. I like Orvis Braided leaders and I have enjoyed using a hand tied furled leader made by Ray Found. Tapered leaders are a thing of the past for me, a luxury, a shortcut or circumstance.

For local small stream fishing I like the 9' 3-5wt Orvis braided leader. If it were available in a 7.5' I would be all over it but the 7.5ft offers higher wt ratings and braid is more like rope. I will sometimes shorten the braided section of a 9' leader but it will have a knot.

Andy

[hpskiff]

I second the Orvis braided leaders. I now use them exclusively for 5wt and under. They cast beautifully, last for a whole season, and most importantly have no memory. I hate trying to stretch the thick butt section of a tapered leader, thinking I have it only to make a few cast and see it coiling back up. They come in floating and regular, and yes the regular does spray micro droplets of water. They come with a bimini twisted furled tippet, which works great but can be replaced with a level tippet with a double surgeons loop in a pinch.

So what do I use for 5wt and over??? I took a close look as how that bimini tippet section was made and copied it in 8 to 15 lb floro and expanded the length to 6-9 feet. Works great for Calico bass and again no memory.

[flybob]

I tried them for a while, got really tired of having to grease them up to keep them floating!
I did not catch any more fish with them either.

[FlyinFish]

Tried a few I got from someone in CO. Just haven't been a big fan... Ryan sent me a link of some knotted leader formulas and my first few times using them, I love 'em! And they're much cheaper. Curtis, if you have mono from your salt fishing, the knotted leaders will be easy to tie up. I think you need 25#, 20#, 15#, 12#, 10#, 8#, 6#.

[Sasha]

I used them for a while and went back to tapered leaders. They didn't suck for dries but they do suck for other types of fly fishing IMO.

[Danny McB]

I love them for anything on top. From my 3wt dries to big bass poppers on the 7 & 8 wts. They seem very versatile because I just snip the tippet off and add more or less etc...... IF I want to nymph I sometimes just put the indicator right at the furled leader tippet connection then run strait mono for the nymphs.... seems to turn them over well on roll casts .... If I was nymphing exclusively I would take it off but it does give me the option to switch back to dries quickly... and I am always looking for a reason to put the dries back on.

I have bought tons of brands and a haven't noticed any real difference between them and have been real happy with the ones Tom suggested.


Danny

[NorcalBob]

I think they are the bee's knee's for turning over big, air resistant top water flies (think huge). Not so much love for run of the mill trout stuff, but they're OK. No love at all for subsurface stuff (don't sink as fast as straight mono).

[briansII]

I don't use them for trout, but have a couple I plan to try.

For 7wt and up, I use twisted leaders. Very simple to make, and they are the same basic principle of furled leaders. I incorporate a tiny barrel swivel to keep bigger flies from putting twists in the leader. Very happy with them.

briansII

[Pete]

Make my own out of 2 lb. mono. As stated they work great for dries, turn over really well. One problem is: You can't flip them around the back side of a rock. They are only good for straight casts, at least for me. I do like how limber they are and the fact that you don't have to straighten them prior to fishing.

As for subsurface fishing, I only use straight mono leaders anyway.

Pete

[8NoFish]

I've used Orvis braided, Feathercraft mono furled, BlueSky mono furled and nice tying thread furled leaders built by a guy named Quigley from NorCal. Mainly used them for dries. Generally, they weren't that good for dropper setups or the wind. Also, they aren't as good as regular tapered leaders for trickier casting - curves and such. But maybe that's just my weak casting! They're definitely great for delicate presentations.

Orvis braided - seemed to throw alot of spray. Wind knots were impossible to unravel.
Mono furled - generally good, durable. Wind knots also a problem. I like the tiny stainless steel rings on the tippet end of the leaders.
Thread furled leaders - seemed the most supple. Very delicate presentation. Quigley even built me a furled leader especially for throwing dropper setups.

Furled leaders don't seem to have the backbone for casting when the wind picks up. They're too supple, at least in my experience.

[fflutterffly]

Looked up a few things for you all:

http://www.midcurrent.com/articles/gear ... eader.aspx
http://www.canerod.com/rodmakers/tips/f ... urled.html
http://www.hatchesmagazine.com/page/may2006/185

[Baughb]

Like so many of you, I enjoy them for dry fly fishing. My only concern is when I have too much tippet on the end and it piles when I want it to straighten out. Of course it could be my casting....

I don't usually use them for nymphing, I'll usually take the 5 minutes to swap out to a 90 degree set-up for that but when I do use them, a thingambobber stays put on the tip of it.

Bob