At
the Greater Cincinnati Fly Fishing Show in February I met with Steve Rose, a
friend and fellow fly fisher who is active with the Mohican Fly Fishers.
Steve was at the show to promote the club ─ and to demonstrate making furled
leaders. I’ve long been a fan of furled leaders and I use nothing else on
my lightest fly rods; 4 weights and under. Furled leaders have an amazing
ability to float in the air and deliver a fly with an almost supernatural
delicacy.
Furled leaders have other wonderful attributes
beyond just amazing suppleness. They almost perfectly deliver the power of
the cast to the fly, turning over with a positive energy that makes casting
small dries and soft-hackles very enjoyable. Furled leaders also offer a
fine degree of stretch; they can protect the lightest of tippets. Combine
this supple protection with a nearly total lack of memory and you begin to
see the advantages this ages-old technology delivers, even in this day of
super high-tech polymers and braids.
Furled leaders date to the very beginnings of
fly fishing. Centuries ago, anglers used braided tapered lines made from
horsetail. Braided horse hair leaders were composed of sections of twisted
hairs, knotted at intervals coinciding with the length of the hair. With
each succeeding section, the number of hairs was reduced to create a tapered
leader. A tapered leader is far more efficient at transferring the momentum
of the fly line to the tippet and fly than is a level leader. Braiding or
furling (the two are different) adds controllable mass to the leader in such
a way as to optimize this energy transfer.
Most furled leaders are made from light nylon
thread. Fly tying thread is a common component. Some furled leaders are
made from light monofilament. Regardless of the material, all furled and
braided leaders require the use of a standard tippet. The tippet is
typically connected using a loop-to-loop ‘handshake’ with a perfection loop
tied in the tippet. Because the tippet is easily changed, and the leader
body is made from tough multi-strand material, furled leaders last a long
time. I’ve got one leader I use on my 2wt rod that is going on its fifth
season!
I’d been thinking that the advantages of furled
leaders would apply very well towards the heavier fishing I’ve been
experiencing on the Ohio and in the larger tributaries when I’m swinging
streamers for hybrid stripers and smallmouth bass. This fishing almost
always requires a subsurface presentation, however. I was curious how
furled leaders might perform in this regard.
I’m a huge fan of fluorocarbon lines and I use
fluorocarbon lines on my spinning reels and fluorocarbon tippet material for
most of my fishing. Fluorocarbon has a specific gravity of about 1.6 that
of water, compared with a specific density of about 1.1 for ordinary
monofilament. The heavier specific gravity ensures fluorocarbon sinks
quickly. An optical index almost identical to water means fluorocarbon is
nearly invisible; an added advantage when presenting to pressured fish in
clear water.
I commented to Steve that a furled fluorocarbon
leader and matching fluorocarbon tippet might be the perfect set-up for 6 to
8 weight rods and floating or sinking lines. It seemed to me to be a
natural to combine the strengths of furled design with the state-of-the-art
features of fluorocarbon. Imagine my surprise, then, when Steve returned a
short time later with a furled fluorocarbon leader made of Rio Fluoroflex
Plus 6X tippet for me to try!
I’ve fished Steve’s furled Fluoroflex twice
now. My first impressions are VERY positive. As I’d anticipated, the
furled fluorocarbon sinks quickly. In effect what I have is a quick sinking
leader that doesn’t hinge and casts perfectly! When combined with a
floating line, this “sink tip” leader allowed me to probe depths of three to
five feet with excellent control, even in fast currents, using just a size 6
Clouser minnow tied with small lead eyes.
When I tied on a big bead-head nymph to ‘high
stick’ a ledge-rock run, my eyes were really opened. I could easily feel
the rocks and snags on the bottom of the run as my fly tick-ticked along in
the six foot plus depth. The supple design of the furled leader allowed me
to lead the fly in the current without tension, making for a near perfect
drift. The shock-absorbing nature of the leader ensured my 4X tippet
survived even my most aggressive hook-set.
Furled fluorocarbon is just starting to come
alive in the inshore salt water arena. I’ve only found one source that
provides furled leaders specifically for the salty front, though I’m sure
there are others. A number of suppliers manufacture furled thread or
monofilament leaders for trout fishing applications. Some even feature
heavy furled leaders for bass and pike fishing. I haven’t found any mention
of furled fluorocarbon in sweet water applications, though. Maybe this
is something new…. or something old…. or something rediscovered.
Whatever you call it, you should check it out. When yesterday meets today,
magical things can happen!
To get your custom furled fluorocarbon leader,
or any furled leader you need for that matter, contact
Steve Rose at Twisted Rose Furled
Leaders.
To learn more about furled leaders you may want
to surf over to these sites:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/freaner/furling/furled.htm
http://www.peninsulaflyfishers.org/Tackle/furled_leader/furled_leader.html
http://flyfisherman.com/skills/jcfurledleaders/
http://www.flyangler.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=45&Itemid=31
