Furled Leaders

[TexasJack]

 What do y'all think about Furled leaders? 

  I just started usin them and they seem to work pretty good. I got a furled leader made of thread from Mike Hawkins at the Lil Mo festival and liked it and just got a mono furled leader for bass today at Fly Fish Texas and can't wait to use it.

[jimr]

I have been using furled leaders from Blue Sky furled leader for about 4 years. I love them. I have them for all the different wt rods I have. You can get them from Bass Pro if you want those. I even have one for toothy critters. Titanium tipped. The guys at Blue Sky are really nice. They called me one day out of the blue and advised me of a problem they had with one of the titanium leaders. Asked me to check the one I had for the problem. It was ok but they said they would send me a new one anyway. Nice people to keep tabs on who bought the leaders. I do like the mono ones.

Jimr

[WLL]

Jack,

I use them on and off.  I really like them for dry fly fishing because you can be "a little off" with your pick up and not "rip" the surface.  Having said that, I had a guide on the San Juan tell me he didn't like them at all for nymph fishing.  He was convinced that the "ridges" created by furling create additional drag issues subsurface.  His point was river specific.  In other words, he was saying the fish on the Juan are soooo picky that any chance for additional drag makes a big difference there.  I don't know what to think other than to say I seemed to have more success when I went to a traditional leader.  For what its worth.

Lance

[jimr]

At the a fly tying meeting for the NLFF last week we were shown how to make twisted leaders. They are very interesting and I think I am going to try and make a few to see how they work. I bought some 6lb test mono for this experiment. I made one I am not sure the loop of 6lb will be strong enough to hold my tippet. I am thinking of doubling the line again to make the look 12lbs at the tippet end and 24lbs at the fly line loop. I don't know, just going to play with this until I am happy with what I have. At worst, I have invested in a 2400 yrd spool of 6 lb mono. I can use that on grandsons reels to replace the line the messes up.

jimr

[flyfish]

Just a reminder Jim, since this spool of mono is 2400 yds long and it will take a while to use it up, you need to keep it in a cool, dry and out of sunlight place for storage.  The sunlight will do it in way to quick.

[jimr]

No problem with that. I keep it in my fly tying room out of the sun and under the A/C vent. I was told it would be more difficult with small diameter line and boy were they right. That stuff loves to wrap on its self. Guess I will have to invest in that pvc pipe after all. I am not the best with math so figuring out how much line I need to make a 6' leader with double wrap on the small end and quad wraps on the top end will be fun. So far I am figuring about 21'. Trial and error is all I can say. Hope to be on the river soon to try these out.

jimr

[rowlettmike]

I was looking at old thread about furled leaders. Are there any new thoughts about them? I'm thinking about trying them out. I saw a furled leader with a loop in the end to tie on tippet. 

[jimr]

I still use them and like them a lot. Blue Sky brand it sold at Bass Pro now and that's the type I use. I buy my direct from Blue Sky. You can search for them on the net. They are nice people there and will answer any questions you might have about using their product. They make a titanium tipped leader for the toothy fish also.  Good luck with them. I know you will like them.

jimr

[mike hawkins]

I make my own furled leaders and they are all i use.  Last a very long time.

mike

[jonbo]

I just tried using a furled leader recently. That sucker casts nice! I can especially see it for dry fly use. I bought it from these guys:
http://www.allenflyfishing.com/
but it seems to have been made by these guys:
http://www.cutthroatleader.com/
Funny, though, the first web-store, the "retail" outlet, had it just a little cheaper than the manufacturer (If I'm right and they are the manufacturer). In any case, I like mine and plan to continue using it.