Silk, thread or nylon furled leaders on silk line.

[stufit1]

What do you gents prefer for the leaders on your silk lines. I have been using furled leaders almost exclusively for the last several years even on my plastic lines. I am just curious as to what you prefer on your silk lines. I have two Phoenix lines for my bamboo rods and both are double taper lines. This year I have been using a Silk Phoenix furled leader on one and a UNI thread leader on the other. Both seem to work well for drys and wet fly fishing, and they seem to turn over the flies just fine. I have a couple of nylon furled leaders but have not tried them on my silk lines.

Let me know your thoughts.
Thanks
Stuart

[GrayHackleRods]

I’ve been making and using silk furled leaders for over 20 years. Just my opinion, the reason to switch from mono or flouro leaders to furled has to to with presentation, furled leaders (thread) give a very nice soft presentation. Now go to a mono or flouro furled leader and you get all the aspects of why you switched. It’s furled thread leaders every time.

[kevinhaney1]

Maybe for those of us that are inexperienced in the ways of the furled leader, someone could list the pros and cons of the furled verses monofilament leaders? I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one that would appreciate it...

Kevin

[60InchDV8]

I totally agree...silk furled leaders match the performance of greased silk line. They’re versatile and when treated with uncoiled linseed oil for water proofing, they are a highly effective Intermediate sinking tip for greased lining for salmon and fishing for trout with wet flies, nymphs, emergers, or drowned spinners.

I use soft flexible mono tippet to match the soft tapered rear portion of the greased silk furled leader for dry fly presentations. I prefer the sinking nature of a flouro tippet for subsurface presentations.

Regards from the Restigouche....Jim

[stufit1]

The only cons that I have found is the cost (unless you build your own), that and they will twist up really bad if you pull your fly from a tree branch and it pops loose. Other than that I really like the way they fish and have them on all my rods and I can use one leader for a couple of seasons.

What does everyone prefer on the end of their furled leader for tying on the tippet? I have been using 2mm tippet rings with a shorb loop on the other to connect to the fly line.

[henkverhaar]

What do you gents prefer for the leaders on your silk lines.

[…]

Let me know your thoughts.
Thanks
Stuart

Thread (more specifically Gütermann Skala 240 undyed). Much better than mono. Haven’t made/used silk furled leaders yet so i can’t comment on those, but i have been making furled leaders for at least 30 years now and gave been using them exclusively fir 25 - thread only for probably 20 years. On plastic and bamboo rods and with both plastic and silk lines.

[Dwight]

I’ve noticed I have a harder time executing stall casts and curve casts with a furled leader than with a tapered mono leader that I tie. I suppose one could design and make a furled leader to perform curve/stall casts, but the furled leaders I’ve used seem to want to lay out straight a little too easily for my dry fly fishing. Some mono leader formulas address this issue.

[BigTJ]

These three materials all work well. But just be careful as many furled leaders, especially longer ones, can be thicker than the tip of the line. I usually use 50” furled leaders designed for lighter lines to get a good match.

The main advantage I see with furled over mono is the don’t coil up and tend to be limp. Sometimes this can be a pain the furled leaders are so limp they can wrap themselves around the tip top but most of the time they handle better than mono.

John

[henkverhaar]

I’ve noticed I have a harder time executing stall casts and curve casts with a furled leader than with a tapered mono leader that I tie. I suppose one could design and make a furled leader to perform curve/stall casts, but the furled leaders I’ve used seem to want to lay out straight a little too easily for my dry fly fishing. Some mono leader formulas address this issue.

Do you use bought or homemade furled leaders? It’s my impression that many premade furled leaders arent steep and tight enough… with not enough mass in the butt end

[flyty2]

The main advantage I see with furled over mono is the don’t coil up and tend to be limp. Sometimes this can be a pain the furled leaders are so limp they can wrap themselves around the tip top but most of the time they handle better than mono.

John

I get terrible tangles around my tip top with Zen silk furled leaders. It's pretty frustrating. I think I need to try to be more diligent about keeping the silk furled leader away from the tip top, e.g. by pulling out line and letting the line lay in the water while tying on flies.

[Dwight]

Do you use bought or homemade furled leaders? It’s my impression that many premade furled leaders arent steep and tight enough… with not enough mass in the butt end

I’ve only used Zen leaders that I bought. I think I need to branch out and make my own. I also found the beautiful German polyester you favor. It’s unbelievably supple, much more so than the bonded unithread that many prefer. I wish someone would braid double taper oiled lines with that stuff. It would make a supple line for a lifetime.

[henkverhaar]

From what I know, I would expect Zen leaders to be sufficiently tight...

UNIthread (6/0 and 8/0) basically is Guetermann Skala, slightly bonded and spooled on 200 m spools. At least it was when I was still in contact with Paul Marriner, who was a close friend of Jean-Guy Coté. I spool Skala 240 and 360 from bulk spools onto fly tying spools, both for tying and for making furled leaders. The furled leaders are 'impregnated' (dipped in hot molten formula) with a wax concoction of my own making after furling. I also always carry a small block of this wax on-stream to reapply to a heavily used leader before starting to fish - even with impregnation, these leaders will eventually (due to mechanical loss of at least superficial wax I presume) absorb enough water to no longer float ON the surface of the water.