Dean, long discussion on the English version of this Board
a short while back. (Same name as our Board, but they've added the letter 's' to the end of it)
There it also appeared to be a 'love-hate' relationship and some brands worked very well, others appeared to be a bit of a bust.
fae
Here's one of the better descriptions.Highlander Sat 12-Apr-03 10:26 AM
Charter member
#30683, "Furled Leaders,an insight (nylon or thread?)"
Edited on Sun 13-Apr-03 02:30 AM by Highlander
Furled Leaders (nylon or thread) The choice is yours.
Firstly what is a Furled Leader? For those that don’t know, it is simply a very thin tapered rope,multiple strands of nylon or thread are twisted & counter twisted to form a knotless tapered leader. A jig consisting of a board with dowels,a few hooks & a battery drill helps speed up the winding process, but in the main they are “hand made”
Advantages are numerous to let’s say conventional leaders.
For example braids being hollow, retain water,whilst the solid construction furled does not.Remember the "splat you get on the water with a braided leader,as your cast hits,not so with furled.They can alight your flies like thistledown.
1.Lack of memory reduces micro drag
2. Positive turnover helps accuracy
3.Gentle presentation eliminates leader slap(see above)
4.Good retention of paste floatants (Mucilin)
5. Excellent knot strength
6. Hi –visibility helps tracking flies in poor light conditions.
Etc.etc.
Why a nylon Furled Leader you might ask say against a tying thread made one. Firstly.
1.They are robust.More so than thread. Durability is paramount & a nylon one, looked after will last a few seasons hard use.Having said that so will thread.But todays fly fisher is basically a lazy B & maintenance is not generally in his agenda,so nylon it is.
2. User friendly, not prone to “wind knots”
Try & get a wind knot out from a thread made one without damaging, nigh on impossible
3. Because nylon furled leaders are like a spring, storing their energy & releasing it quickly, nylon does a better job. Tying thread has almost no such stretch
4.Tying thread, regardless of colour is opaque, this opacity can become a disadvantage sub surface.
5.Thread made leaders will have a tendency to mildew, especially if put away wet,not so with nylon.
6.A finally thread can be too stiff or too limber depending on the thread used.
Having said all this “all leaders” have disadvantages. Like any design compromises exist. The leader can snarl or tangle. especially if jerked hard from a snag.
Furled leaders are more expensive than conventional tapered leaders, but their useful ness & durability more than make up for this small shortfall.
A few small companies have produced Furled leaders made from tying silk. but none to my knowledge have explained the advantages over nylon in fact I would go so far as “none” & that includes dealers have given any info regarding their use.
There is plenty online info for those that are really interested & a quick Google search typing in “Furled Leaders” will give you access to much information.
I have used & sell the USA based Bluesky’s (
www.blueskyfly.com) leaders for a few years now & as far as I know I was the first UK supplier for furled leaders of any description. I can of course make my own, including fly tying threaded ones I might add, but found it far better to import “professionally made” ones rather than my home grown efforts.
Jim Hauer,Jim Cramer & Claude Freaner have a lot to answer for
There are sites that will give you an insight into making your own, but unless you have time & patience in abundance, I would not go down that road. So I hope this little snippet of info on Furled Leaders will give you a better insight before you make your choice.
Tight Lines
PS I still use my home made tying thread for dry fly on streams,where the "little stretch" can be used to my advantage & have been since the late 90s but for my “general fly fishing” it has to be nylon furled.
Tight Lines