Make you own furled leader without a jig

[afishinado]

I've never done it that way, I twist each strand, but it seems to work just as well and may be easier.

 

[jayL]

I made four of these tonight. Cake. Thanks afish.

 

[gfen]

I played a bit with this last night, using the video's method. It worked well enough in my simple test version, although I don't imagine they're as nice as the more indepth version of Afish.

What kind of coloured mono do you use? I was thinking of hitting Walmart over lunch and buying some of that Red Cajun stuff they sell for the top couple of sections of furled segments.

I also didn't see your suggestion of using the triple surgeon's knot for the segments. They video suggested a double, but it would put the leader at all sorts of angles. I'll have to give it another shot tonight.

But, as someone's who's been buying the Blue Sky furled jobs since last year, and has no intentions of going back to regular leaders, these are nice and just as supple. The good thing about furled leaders, for the uninitiated, is that they really last a long time so making a few of these to cover your situations will be a short investment that can last all season long. A spool of mono is like $6, but each of the 6' furled ones I bought was closer to $12 IIRC.

g

 

[Fredrick]

Gfen you could always whip finish with red thread were the sections end on the leader instead of using red line and just coat them with knot sense. Or just use strike putty on the leader .

 

[jayL]

I don't think it's possible to make the "upper" sections colored with this method, right? Unless, of course, you create separate furled pieces and knot them together.

Right?

 

[gfen]

A good formula to try for a 6’ leader, measured starting from the butt, is 24” (8 strands) – 20” (6 strands) – 16” (4 strands) – 12” (2 strands).

If the shorter segments are composed of coloured mono (ie, the 12" and 16"), then the butt section will be composed of predominantly coloured line, and only the latter sections will be clear.

 

[jayL]

Yeah, that makes sense. I was hung up on looking for a way to make the butt out of 100% colored mono.

 

[gfen]

Figure the clear stuff intertwined with the coloured stuff should take on a bit of its colour. It's not 100%, but over half should be and that should effectively look like it all is.

Or, that's my theory, and I'm sticking to it.

I'd like to get some of the Stren gold stuff, I hear it shows up best, but I'm limited to what I can pick up over lunch, and that means Walmart.

 

[afishinado]

Stren Gold works well as an indy. I've made leaders out of solid SG and also mixed it.

 

[afishinado]

I've gotten a lot of PMs about furled leaders. Here is my latest and greatest method and a diagram for making them. I created it in PP and saved it as a Jpeg. Hopefully the Jpeg will be clear enough to read it.

 

[jayL]

Tom,

Jpeg artifacts are killer. Can you make a .png?

 

[afishinado]

Png.........






Nuttin showed in png format.......

 

[jayL]

You may have to attach it. I don't think the site can imbed png.

Then again, you might not be able to attach it. Try hosting it on www.imgur.com.

 

[gfen]

Actually, .gif files are best for line drawrings.

(no dog in this fight, I can read the JPG good enough)

 

[jayL]

gfen wrote:
Actually, .gif files are best for line drawrings.

(no dog in this fight, I can read the JPG good enough)

Yeah, but the text is what I can't read.

 

[afishinado]

Jay,

png on the host site link is just as bad as the jpeg.









Here's a gif........

 

[jayL]

Yeah. Hmm. Not sure what to suggest, beyond making it larger. I think it's readable enough for anyone that is interested.

 

[Fredrick]

I would copywrite that Tom . When I make it larger I can read it fine but someone with reading glasses might have a problem

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

I furl mine outta 3/0 uni thread and they are very supple and they sink real fast. But I also us 2ilb mono too.

The butt is a 5 strand leg and then I step it down 4 times 1 strand per leg. So when you furl the 2 leags together you butt of your finished leader would be 10 strands and your the end you attach your tippet to would be 4 strands. A fiished leader is around 6ft for me.

 

[gfen]

FWIW, I just wanted to comment on this since I finally tried out a couple I'd made today.

I didn't go the Afish route as much as I went the Youtube method, and they worked like a champ. So much so, that when using my 3wt, I could clearly see the hinge point from line to leader messing everything else up from the most gentle, perfectly laid presentations I think I've ever done.

Matter of fact, I simply whipped up a short 4" piece and then used some mono to double nail knot it to the line, giving me a loop for changing leaders with an effortless transition, from 6 strands to 4 to 2 to tippet.