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3. furled leaders/highstick nymphing

I read some old posts on the subject of furled leaders, but they really haven't answered my questions. Has anyone had the chance to use them for highstick nymphing for any period of 1, 2 or 3 years? Do you recommend them for nymphing or just dry fly fishing? I used one for a few nymphing trips a couple of years ago, but I wasn't sold on them, although that's not really long enough for a study.
Bruce

Hate to sound incredibly ignorant, but I have to ask the ?:what is a furled leader?

Thank you for your patience,

Adirman

Adriman check out this link.

http://www.blueskyfly.com/more_ruth.html

Allegedly they improve casting and allow for rally long tippets (i.e. 5-6') I believe they were originated for fishing those silky chalk streams across the pond.
Goose
I have never tried them for nymphing just dries and specifically turning over big drake like patterns. Although I was impressed with how delicately you could present some smaller stuff on very fine tippet, or create slack line casts.
Chief gave me one to try up in Potter Co the year of the pretty blue bottle incident. He might have a little more background for you.
JW

Adirman,

Theyre pretty much a rope like tapered leader made from monofilament fishing lines, varies types of threads or a few other materials. Theyre made by being wrapped around a jig in a series of different twists and layerings. Two halves are made by doing this and then eventually combined. They are used for soft fly presentations typically with dry flies but anglers have many different techniques to fish them.

(That was the very short of the long process to make them, but you can get the idea from this ha)!

I've not used one but assume they owe their properties to suppleness, and sheer mass from absorbed water. This last brings the one complaint I have heard, and that is that they spit a lot of water when casting -a possible issue on calm water.

Thank you all for your help!!

goose, the fellow who taught me to short-line nymph, aka czech nymph, etc., told me that flourocarbon leaders were the only way to go. they sink better and are stronger for when you hang up on the bottom. the stiffer brands make better nymphing leaders since the tags stick out better. (the tags are the extra bits you tie on to hold more than one nymph on the same leader.)

the Japanese-style Tenkara rods use a long fixed like just like a furled leader, and it is super-great for that kind of dry-fly fishing. it lies gentle on the water, what little is actually on the water, and is easily dried with a few false casts.

I have just started useing a 5 foot furled leader this season and they are great for both dry and nymphing.I normally have 5 to 6 feet of leader material attached to the fuled leader.I have found that you get better presentation,less chance of wind knots,and very little spray of them when re-casting well the fish dont seem to mind.The one i use for dry flies gets a rub down with floatant [mucilin red]and that keeps it floating all day.The one i use for nymphing has 6 inches of indicator on the end and i can see every tug,stop of the nymphs.

You know, I've been using a 5' furled leader made with Berkley Vanish Gold mono recently for nymphing. I didn't buy it it was given to me by a friend. It is clear under water, but gives a bright gold hue above the water making it easy to see where it enters the water. All I do is attach about 3' of tippet and a dropper of about 16' and it has worked fine. I haven't noticed my catch rate going down. I haven't used any for fishing dry flies because I think I've been using a great leader designed by my buddy. Dry fly furled leaders tend to be made out of small diameter nylon thread. It seems that people who like furled leaders swear by them, and the people that don't, swear about them.
Bruce

I've used home-made furled leaders on and off for a few years now, read a magazine article on how to make them from regular mono line. I use 2 lb test Berkley XL, per directions, and I really like them with the exception of the 'spray-factor' when trying to plane the line to begin a backcast- maybe treating them with mucilin is the trick here.

the advantage is they're cheap, easy to modify, have minimal curl to straighten,and they're cheap- read that as 'inexpensive compared to commercially available tapered leaders'.

I won't use them for Steelhead, though; strictly Fluorocarbon for the big guys.

I Peter 5:7...'Cast your cares upon Him'

Hey Roguerat, I don't know nothing about those freakin' furled leaders. We don't have no freakin' furled leaders in PA. We have no fish in PA. I don't even live in PA.
Goose

Goose- where is freakin' PA, anyway!? is it even in the US!?

and why would I ever leave Michigan- THE Great Lakes State- to go to PA, which I'm not sure is on any map I've ever seen...

anyway, my kid went to Temple for a semester- said Philly was hot, smelly, crowded,and she high-tailed it back to good ol' MI where all the streams are cool, backcasts never snag, and the Hexes hatch right on schedule!

I thought Letort was in PA...maybe it's in Ohio, need to check a map.

Roguerat...Goose will just tell you that they either moved the Letort to a top secret location or it's now running through a storm drain covered with dirt and a parking lot above it...Maybe even a mall. ;)

It's sp freakin' secret that the people that moved it don't even know where it is.

if I'm reading you right,the Letort is a storm drain? makes me wonder what the 'crickets' bearing that moniker REALLY are...

anyway, here in MI the Grand River runs with "Brown Trout" every time it rains heavy: the ol' storm sewers overflow and 'dump' into the sanitary sewers and the whole stinkin' mess heads downstream into the Big Lake. It's a wonder anything there survives this crap..pun intended. but the Steelies seem to hang in there and head home every fall.

but, I digress. anybody remember what this started out as!?

I Peter 5:7...'Cast your cares upon Him'

Why would you want to use a specialized leader that is designed for delicate presentations of dry flies when you are high sticking with most of the line and much of the leader off the surface of the water. BTW I got all excited about the furled leaders back when they were buzzing in the magazines about 6 - 8 years ago. I bought a couple and didn't think they were anything special. I could already throw a WF#4 40' with just a couple false casts and 50' with two hauls so didn't see the sense of spending 5X the cost of a good tapered leader.

Ditto Matt's comments.

Hi Westbranch. I don't use a furled leader for dry fly fishinig, although you can. I have a dry fly formula that works well for me so I don't mess with furled leaders for pitching flies. This Vanish Berkley Gold furled leader is kind of cool because it's a built in indicator for nymphing. It glows gold in the light above the water. I attach a 3ft. piece of tippet to the furled leader and add another 1 1/2 ft. of tippet to make a dropper and point fly. It has worked well for highstick nymphing, but it gives kind of a hinging effect when its cast.

hey, I didn't invent these things...only use them from time to time. the only drawback I've seen is the 'spray factor' on the backcast. otherwise they're still useful, inexpensive (I make my own, yeah- the 'store' ones are $$$), and something to do while I'm watching reruns on the tube.

I Peter 5:7...'Cast your cares upon Him'

Goose;

Does the gold color of the leader function as your sighter for high-sticking??

Thanks,

Adirman