[Darren Kitney]

A friend of mine was wondering if anyone has made a furled leader using braided backing? It seems like a good idea to me.

[Iain Cameron]

No thoughts or experience with making FLs.

I have bought them.  I tried them. They did sound like a great idea. But I hated them - they didn't work for me, and quickly reverted back to simple tapered mono leaders.

Why did I hate them?
- if you ever got in a snag (tree/rock/passing dog walker) and pulled free, the furled leader would tangle itself horrifically.
- they typically came in at 5 feet or 9 feet. Too short for me, I like a long leader (12 feet, then ~2-3 feet tippet) for dries.
- got a bit too soggy/soaked up water.
- just didn't really see the benefit over a simple, reliable mono leader.


just my 2pence worth!

[Euan Innes]

Iain is correct. In the type of fishing Iain uses them for (long leader dry fly) they are not the best IMHO.
However, from a drifting boat with a team of two or three I find them excellent. The 7' one that I use tapers nicely with three feet of mono to the bob fly and then 4' sections after that. They turn over a team nicely and sit in the water and not on it.
Probably not what they were invented for but I do love them for Loch style
 

[Iain Cameron]

hi Euan - interesting that you find that they sit IN the water... certainly useful for loch styling

[Bob Mitchell]

Have read of furled leaders else where but what is a furled leader. Not being funny just do not know and what advantages they may have.
Thanks.
Bob.

[Hamish Young]

Essentially a furled leader is a different type of knotless tapered leader which is made in a way similar to some cord and rope.
All sorts of material have been used, most commonly thread and monofilament.
The art of furling the material together looks quite involved, but I'm told it's simple once you've got the basics nailed.  Have a look here:
Characteristics
Good and bad, but the good is turnover tends to be gentle encouraging good presentation. The bad They're a bloody pain if they so much as get a whiff ob being tangled.
I stopped using them some years ago, but I would probably choose to use one again if I were fishing rivers for trout more often than I do.

[Bob Mitchell]

Thank you for that. Will look at it later.
Bob.

[Andy Finlay]

Must admit I tend to use them all the time, take a bit of work to keep floating etc and are an absolute pain if they get tangled but they work for me at least. I buy them off eBay, seller called loopyleaders I think.

[Bob Mitchell]

Watched the video with great interest. Seams a lot of work to me but do others consider it worth while. The only time I use tapered leaders is for the silver tourist but always looking for new ideas.
Thanks for sharing.
Bob.

[Euan Innes]

Strange thing happened today at Glen Tanar.
Both my furled leaders cork screwed and ended up with a serious twist and I went back to 9' tapered nylon. I have no idea how this happened but I suspect that coiling them in a wallet over the winter might be the cause. Right now I need to work out how to fix it!
The nylon leaders, loop to Roman Moser loop performed perfectly and may see me going back to using them.
For Loch style I also have an intermediate polyleader that the GT90 can chuck if the waves require something that "digs in".
More to come when I attempt a fix but that will be after my holiday in Spain 

Euan

[Derek Roxborough]

I made some from the You-tube video , but I couldn't get away with them, I made them with Mono and with terylene thread  but I gave up and went back to Poly leaders, Derek Roxborough

[Dave Medlyn]

I use these all the time. I like them, great for fishing spiders upstream in wee mountain streams. Muslin rubbed in keeps them afloat all day, but when they tangle, they feckin tangle!!
Using one with dries I find easier as well with the whole drag thing. I use a 6' one with about 8 or 10' of tippet. Turn over a fly ok but a twat into a breeze. Fishing lough style from a boat I use mono, I make my own tapered leader up with 15,10 and 8lb with a 6lb tippet.

Cheers
Dave