Leaders, Dry Flies

[bam]

Most of the furled leaders made commercially are made by using a jig and twisted thousands of times using a power drill or similar machine. They tend to be stiffer and curl up if you pull on them or break your tippet on a snag or fish and it whips back.

Exactly. And I don't exactly trust them on large fish either...

Afish,
Were the furled leaders tough to make? I wouldn't mind trying my hand at one if they're better than the commercially made leaders...

 

[afishinado]

Here ya go bam:

http://www.paflyfish.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=4245&forum=7&post_id=160396#forumpost160396

 

[wsender]

bam, they're super easy. If you can twist two pieces of mono together you're golden. There a youtube video I'll post in a minute.

 

[gfen]

Afish's method is better, but I'm not smart enough to do it...I should go back and re-attempt it now that I've gotten my chops down.

The Singapore Twist video that will be posted shortly is my method... I've refined it from starting with a stupid long piece of 14' mono and s-l-o-w-l-y furlign it and doubling it to get multiple thicknesses to just using shorter pieces and making loop to loop between segments.

So, I've got a piece that's like 2 to 4 strands, then an 4 to 8 strands, and there may or may not be another one up top. It was easier than going knotcrazy like Afish at the time.

But now that I type it, it seems overridingly stupid.

Triple surgeon's knots for each segment, they don't put in that tell tale kink, btw.

 

[jayL]

Afish method + triple surgeon here.

4lb test trilene, and 6lb hi vis stren for nymphing butts.

 

[bam]

yikes... and I don't like hand tying leaders. Sounds like a good winter project.

 

[afishinado]

bam wrote:
yikes... and I don't like hand tying leaders. Sounds like a good winter project.

lol....it looks complicated, but I can furl a leader faster than I can blood knot together all the segments of a knotted mono leader. Also one spool of spinning line is all that is needed, not many spools of line of different diameters and stiffness like used for conventional knotted leaders.

Most of my furled leaders have lasted for several seasons. Try the simple version first (two diameters) it works well. You can tie the multiple section ones if you feel like experimenting and messing around with them. Give it a try.

 

[wsender]

Here is the same thing afish posted but in a higher quality incase you have a hard time reading it.

 

[afishinado]

Thanks Sender. How did you save that jpg to get a better quality image?

 

[wsender]

I just took a screenshot.

 

[jayL]

I can furl a leader in under 5 minutes while drunk. It's really not a project at all. In one sitting, you can tie enough for a year.

 

[bam]

I can't even rub one off that quickly after hitting the bottle. Maybe it's not as complicated as it sounds.

I'll let you know how it turns out. The leader...

 

[wsender]

jayL wrote:
I can furl a leader in under 5 minutes while drunk. It's really not a project at all. In one sitting, you can tie enough for a year.

Once you get the hang of it, it's cake. I would recommend, on the first step when you're furling the two 'started strands', to attach the tag ends to barrel swivels and keep steady tension on the line. The swivels allow the tag ends to rotate around without becoming tangled in one another while also allowing you te keep contant pressure on the line allowing for a nice even furl.

 

[sundrunk]

I find knotted leaders depense water more readily than extruded mone tapers.

 

[Acristickid]

Hand tied w maxima. I have never tried a furled leader- just did'nt appeal to me because I do not like a loop to loop connect and nail knot my butt on the fly line. Therefore it would be a real chore to switch up leaders for nymph,dry,wet.

Now that I am in the fish the way I want to mode, maybe I will try a furled and just make the LT my defacto dry rod with no possibility of a return.

Here is a picture of a tool that took about 2 minutes to make from a piece of scrap wood and 3 nails- just makes sure the middle nail is loose so you can pull it out and turn it.

I wish someone would have showed me this tool when I first started-it makes blood knots very easy to tie. Even though I can tie blood knots on stream I still use this at home- just makes it easier.

Good luck.

 

[sundrunk]

acristickid wrote:
Hand tied w maxima. I have never tried a furled leader- just did'nt appeal to me because I do not like a loop to loop connect and nail knot my butt on the fly line. Therefore it would be a real chore to switch up leaders for nymph,dry,wet.

Now that I am in the fish the way I want to mode, maybe I will try a furled and just make the LT my defacto dry rod with no possibility of a return.

Here is a picture of a tool that took about 2 minutes to make from a piece of scrap wood and 3 nails- just makes sure the middle nail is loose so you can pull it out and turn it.

I wish someone would have showed me this tool when I first started-it makes blood knots very easy to tie. Even though I can tie blood knots on stream I still use this at home- just makes it easier.

Good luck.

I remember your knot tool from an earlier post some years before. In the past I forced myself to tie leaders by hand; just because I like doing things the hard way..Now, if I have to, I can construct a leader, stream side, by hand. Having said that I think I'll make my own knot tool for home use. I am sure the knots sit better and it's easier to get the sections right using your tool..

This year I think I'll adopt the Clouser method of looping the butt section, and just tie up mid and tippet sections.

 

[Bruno]

This year I think I'll adopt the Clouser method of looping the butt section, and just tie up mid and tippet sections.

What is this all about ?

 

[WildTigerTrout]

acristickid, buy yourself a "Dennison" Leader Vise also called a "Blood Knot Tyer". It is a portable handheld version of your Tabletop tool. It is small and handy. I keep mine in the front tray of my Richardson box which I also use as my in stream work station. They are inexpensive at less then $10. Worth every penny! Makes bloodknots childsplay LOL!

 

[sundrunk]

Bruno wrote:

This year I think I'll adopt the Clouser method of looping the butt section, and just tie up mid and tippet sections.

What is this all about ?

Intersecting loops-between the butt section of the leader and the mid/tippet sections. Bacically a universal leader butt section.

 

[jdaddy]

I can furl a leader in under 5 minutes while drunk.

It's really cool to watch drunk and even gain great confidence in ones ability to do the same . . . . just doesn't work out that way.

I can't even rub one off that quickly after hitting the bottle. Maybe it's not as complicated as it sounds.

It's a toss up . . . or off . . . or something.