DIY Furled Leaders?

steveo27

steveo27

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Do any of you guys make your own furled leaders?

Ive been kickin around the idea for a while now and finally built a jig and some DIY tools yesterday to give it a go.

For flat leaders, I found a good bit of info here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeAn0o9TsRE

And I built a tapered jig based on this - http://furledleaders.co.uk/pdf/how-to-make-a-furled-leader.pdf

I spent a few hours after work last night doing some flat leaders out of sewing thread just for practice before I start wasting Uni Thread.

The few I did turned out OK, but when you go to wrap them up to store them, they want to coil up around themselves into a big ball. Im not sure if its from spinning them too much the first time before folding them in half and spinning them the other way or what.

Im not sure if Im over or underfurling them.

I havent even touched the tapered ones yet as Id like to figure out the flat ones first before moving on to something more complicated.

Does any one have any tips or advice theyd like to share?
 
steveo27 wrote:
Do any of you guys make your own furled leaders?
Click to expand...

Yes

The few I did turned out OK, but when you go to wrap them up to store them, they want to coil up around themselves into a big ball. Im not sure if its from spinning them too much the first time before folding them in half and spinning them the other way or what.

Im not sure if Im over or underfurling them.
Click to expand...

First, assuming you are not imparting significantly more or less twist during one twisting procedure than you are in during any other twisting, the reality is that you will never perfectly match the amount of twist in each "leg" of the leader and then perfectly counteract those twists in the final furling twist. But you can get close enough. If you are close, running the leader through your fingers t "run out" the extra twist will help, as will "casting" the leader with your hands.

Does any one have any tips or advice theyd like to share?
Click to expand...

You may be over thinking the whole thing.
 
Thanks for the tip.

When you do yours, how do you keep track of the furling of each
section to keep it even?

I did a few more today after work and they turned out better.

I left the ones I did yesterday hanging overnight with a weight attached to the end of them and they seemed to have stretched out pretty well. I was able to roll them up with out much issue this evening.
 
steveo27 wrote:
When you do yours, how do you keep track of the furling of each
section to keep it even?
Click to expand...

When you twist each leg, they will get shorter due to the twist. I generally twist them until they have both become shorter by the same length. I have stop points laid out on my jig to keep track of when to stop twisting. I usually shoot for at least 15% shorter than my starting length.

Alternately, some people attempt to count twists or time how long they twist them (if using a drill or some other motor to do so). The problem I have with doing it these ways is that each leg of the leader has a different taper and the leg with the longer but taper section will shorten faster than the leg with the short butt taper, resulting in different length legs for the same amount of twisting. Uneven legs will make it difficult to get a good result when you attempt the final furling twist.

One last thought on twists: Most DYI furled leaders I see (and a lot of leaders being sold) are not twisted nearly enough. The 15% target I mentioned earlier is a good starting point. Also, when you combine the two legs, reverse twist not just until the leader has extended out to maximum length, but keep going with the reverse twist until the leaders starts shortening back to the twisted length of the individual legs. Doing so will have a locking effect on the twists of the leader.

I hope that last part made sense.

At any rate, you'll need to get a feel for it.

Kev
 
I use furled leaders exclusively. I've toyed with this, but when I can buy one for $10 I just lack the motivation to do it myself. On my big stream Trout and WW reels I'm probably on year 3 or 4 on my current leaders and they show no signs of wear. On my Brookie reels, where the leader takes on much more abuse, I still usually get more than a season out of one. At most, leaders are a $10-$20/year expense for me now...not worth the time and/or aggravation to DIY IMO.

I can see the DIY aspect if you want to customize lengths/tapers etc, but out of the box the Blue Sky's and other brands are pretty versatile and customizable...just taper down tippet sections from the end of the furled section as you would normally.
 
wouldn't the initial loop from that video, where he says to tie the tippet, only have the strength of the initial pound test of the line used? What would the formula be? Use something like 4X as the line you use and then use 5x tippet to tie onto the leader so if you got hung up and had to break it off it would break on the tippet rather than the loop?
 
Thanks for the tips.

i have one of the Cutthroat leaders on my 7'6" and I really like it. Only problem is its getting pretty beat up already. I was interested trying to make my own just to see if I could
 
I tie these leaders for carp and bass in fluro and they kick butt . I also know someone on this board that can catches fish wearing tweed uses these leaders exclusively for trout and kills it .
 
Fredrick wrote:
I tie these leaders for carp and bass in fluro and they kick butt . I also know someone on this board that can catches fish wearing tweed uses these leaders exclusively for trout and kills it .
Click to expand...

Thing is, once you are set up with a jig for making them in the conventional manner, you can crank out leaders just as fast, if not faster and you avoid the knots in the leader altogether and you end with a much nicer leader IMO.

A proper jig can be old board and some wooden dowels and can be made in minutes.
 
Agreed. I used a piece of scrap 1x6 and bought 6$ worth of dowel rod and hooks to make my jig.

I spent a few hours tonight ****in with em. The results are getting much better. Now that the furls are staying even, everything seems to sit better.

I need to spend some more time, but I think I finally have it figured out to the point where I can keep making progress
 
PennKev wrote:
Fredrick wrote:
I tie these leaders for carp and bass in fluro and they kick butt . I also know someone on this board that can catches fish wearing tweed uses these leaders exclusively for trout and kills it .
Click to expand...

Thing is, once you are set up with a jig for making them in the conventional manner, you can crank out leaders just as fast, if not faster and you avoid the knots in the leader altogether and you end with a much nicer leader IMO.

A proper jig can be old board and some wooden dowels and can be made in minutes.
Click to expand...


How long of a leader can you get out of your jig ? And its only one knot I'm sure I could splice it if I tried .
 
The tapered ones Im making around about 4ft long, which I plan on using with my 7'6". The flat ones Ive been messing with have been between 4ft and 6ft.

You can adjust the tapered jig to go as big or as small as youd like very easily I have found. Simple as moving the dowel rods.

The flat jig is even easier. Ive been using 2 fixed points in my garage to make the wraps. I clamp a hook in the vice, then clamp a pair of vicegrips around a stool for the other end and measure out accordingly. The stool is heavy enough it doesnt move.
 
Fredrick wrote:

How long of a leader can you get out of your jig ?
Click to expand...

From 4 to 8'. Anything longer really isn't needed but if at some point I saw the need to make a longer leader all I'd really have to do is buck another board up against the first, end-to-end, and drill a few more holes for the dowels. in fact, my current set up is just that, I used two shorter boards so that I can store the thing easier if I need to.
 
I like the two boards idea . If you can find me specs to make 9 foot plus leaders Id be hip to the jig idea .
 
Ive used one of the leaders I made this past weekend. Super happy with how it turned out.
 
Thanks to Steveo I'm now cranking them out pretty easily and fairly quick. Really like the idea for dries.
 
I told you once you got em goin it would make sense.

I whipped up a few to use on my 9'er. I just need to make an excuse to get out sometime after work this week and put them to the test.
 
I had a tutorial on how I do mine. Can't seem to find it here. Hers a link on his I do mine.
http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=82524&hl=furling

Save yourself all the guessing and inconsistent leaders. make a simple gear box to twist both legs at the same time.
 
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