Furling

[Paul Arden]

Furling leaders/lines as per my research had a bit of a revival around 2003 with Kathy Scott making a DVD on it in the US. It is no longer available and she dealt in a 2 strand system.

Kathy wrote to me today Keith; the video is now available on YouTube. Excellent. Now I finally understand all the parts to the process



Cheers, Paul

[Chess]

Great. I tried for quite sometime to get that video, but it was not available. So glad to finally see it. I worked it out by just doing it over and over with trail & error, but once you do it, the apparent complexities all fall into place and the process is basically very simple, no harder than learning fly tying imo, probably easier. It's all based on fundamental rope/string making technology as old as the pharaohs, except by introducing pegs at varying lengths and different amounts of thread loops employed between the pegs a taper is developed. The loop knot at the ends is known as a "shorb loop," if you want to do follow up research and understand it a little easier. But once again it's one of those things that once understood and done a few times it's simple.
When you get into 3 stranded, maintaining correct tension becomes more of an issue but it gives a rounder profile, beefs up the breaking strain and you can fine tune the tapers to remarkable degrees. What thread material that can be used is a wonderful area of experimentation if you're so inclined, but good quality polyester fly tying thread is hard to beat. They dress well too.
I personally don't think there's a better leader to turn over dries than a well made furled leader. They have no memory and last much, much longer than conventional leaders. I make some 9-12' leaders from 2lb braid material and coupled with 6/7x tippet are wonderful to use, especially for tiny midge type patterns - soft, delicate & accurate.
Also, furling machines are available or are easy enough to make yourself, but a simple drill with a hook will do the job.

[whinging pom]

After seeing the video ive got the bug to try it, is there any info out there on different tapers, peg positioning etc
thanks in advance
pom

[Chess]

After seeing the video ive got the bug to try it, is there any info out there on different tapers, peg positioning etc
thanks in advance
pom

A net search will provide an avalanche of data. Some good, some not so good. It's just a fact of life that not that many people are good educators and the internet imo, lacks a personal approach with some practical procedures, which, I believe helps a lot with some things, & in particular furling.
However, if I was running a course room instructing on furling I would definitely begin with basic rope/string making technology. It is fundamentally simple and once the concept of how fibres are twisted one way and then allowed or assisted to twist the opposite way. It locks them together by their own internal twisted tension, ie the internal tension bonds them together. In other words, when you cut a piece of string it unravels right? Another way of saying that, is that it "unfurls." Do a little utube hunting and build a simple rope machine - actually make a piece of string. They use to get little kids to do it at school to make their own skipping ropes.
Then build a simple & I mean simple board with a few holes & dowels and follow what Kathy does - her technique is truly basic and uses gravity with a weight to get the furl - that's the important concept to understand - the furl and how it works to lock fibres together. You just need to actually, "get your hands dirty" and fool around with it. The basic tools most people have anyway or are incredibly cheap.
If you do that, the rest will fall in place rather rapidly. Go back over this thread and look again at Brad from Hog Creek Furling with his mechanical device made from a sewing machine motor - his peg positions are typical for a general purpose leader which works exceptionally well.
You just have to want to do it. But be warned - don't get mired down in theory, start twisting and look at what happens! Good luck

[George C]

For those of us interested in trying a furled leader before launching into building our own this site offers a good selection of tapered leaders built with mono or fluoro. I've no experience using them, however. https://www.feather-craft.com/index.php ... %5D=furled

With regards to braid I have a lot of experience (fishing it/not furling it). The Diawa Samurai is very high quality stuff available as thin as 15lb (0.18mm).
https://daiwa.us/products/samurai-braided-line-green

[Chess]

For those of us interested in trying a furled leader before launching into building our own this site offers a good selection of tapered leaders built with mono or fluoro. I've no experience using them, however. https://www.feather-craft.com/index.php ... %5D=furled

With regards to braid I have a lot of experience (fishing it/not furling it). The Diawa Samurai is very high quality stuff available as thin as 15lb (0.18mm).
https://daiwa.us/products/samurai-braided-line-green

Those furled leaders look the real deal alright, nice slick promo too. I reckon it's a great idea to try out a couple of different types before taking the plunge into making them. There's a fair amount of trail & error, sort of like learning fly tying to understanding furling. However, for general dry fly, but also streamer and bushier bug leaders now I would not go back to knotted or commercial tapered leaders. You get very accustomed to no memory and the accuracy with the correct furled leader for the application. That's just my opinion, each to their own as confidence in your leader's performance would have to rate as one of the more important aspects in fly fishing.
Also, I have now swapped over to 8 stranded braid in all my other estuary fishing pursuits, it's simply smoother and lasts a lot longer with the constant casting. Chopping off a rod's length and replacing the fluro leader often is also a habit now after a couple of intense sessions & saves on losing expensive lures and missing good sized fish in snaggy, abrasive conditions.

[whinging pom]

chess
thanks for the encouragement to kick my procrastination into a cloud of sawdust and shavings and a puddle of PVA, as I've dug out some rough old mahogany plank to make a board up and some mahogany pegs.
Your extra description of how simple and straightforward the process is was the clincher and getting the concept of the reverse furl dangling under weights made perfect sense.
Its a month till open season here, I've got a bit of sanding and gluing to do , then I'm good to go.
thanks again
pom

[Chess]

chess
thanks for the encouragement to kick my procrastination into a cloud of sawdust and shavings and a puddle of PVA, as I've dug out some rough old mahogany plank to make a board up and some mahogany pegs.
Your extra description of how simple and straightforward the process is was the clincher and getting the concept of the reverse furl dangling under weights made perfect sense.
Its a month till open season here, I've got a bit of sanding and gluing to do , then I'm good to go.
thanks again
pom

It truly is just a matter of doing it.
Of all the handicrafts I've ever been involved with, and I've rebuilt a couple of houses in my time, was into stained glass professionally for awhile and built my own fly rods etc I've never experienced something so complex to explain to another but is the most simplest thing in the world once you actually do it a couple of times. Of course, like anything - attention to detail, take your time and go for quality always pays dividends.
I truly encourage any fly fisher to build their own furled leaders, or at least give quality ones a go. Be warned, some of those cheap nylon furled leaders are crap though. However, a whole new vista, especially dry fly presentation is available I reckon with furled leaders compared to anything else.
As I've said and have tried to get across per my experience, don't get too involved with tapers and peg position theory. I did & it turned out to be a waste of time to think too seriously that way. Build some, and then go cast them. You'll soon realise just how just how responsive furled leaders are to your casting stroke and how little effort they require to turn over. I don't know about anyone else, but my accuracy and confidence out to 50-60' with 9' furled leaders surprised the hell out of me. My favorite base material for 4-6wt leaders is almost any braid fishing line/thread in 2-4lbs. That makes it approx 12lb B/Strain but ultra thin at the tippet ring, add a couple of feet of tippet and you're away. Plus they'll last you a season, maybe 2 if you look after them.