Choosing a Leader

Benefits

• Choice of materials
• Easy to attach
• Improved presentation
• Little to no memory
• Long lasting
• Strong

If you are looking for the best presentation when either dry fly or nymph fishing then a furled leader may be just what you need. A furled leader provides a smooth transition of line speed from fly line to tippet. 

This smooth transition means that your tippet will turn over smoother allowing a more delicate presentation. More delicate presentation means more chance of fooling that wily trout.

Furled leaders are incredibly supple and retain no memory. Scrunch a leader up then pull it out straight and there will be no kinks etc. Just what you need for a seamless presentation. 

Although made of fly tying thread the leaders are strong for their size and have a small amount of elasticity allowing the use of finer tippets.

Choice

I am often asked as to what leader to use for a particular rod length/weight. The tapers I use have been found to work well with rods from a 2 weight through to 12 weight rods (tested in the Seychelles - not by me sadly).

The best advice on length of leader to rod weight is as follows:

AFTM Line Weight	Furled leader length
0 to 5	1 metre
5 to 8	1.6 metre
9 and above	contact me

 

The choice of leader is also down to what conditions you are in and the fly size. For large bushy flies fishing on a reservoir then the monofilament leaders will turn a fly over better as they are stiffer. For small dries or nymphs on a lake or river then the thread leaders will turn these flies over with ease.

Thread leaders will take in more water than the monofilament leaders and this can be reduced by greasing the leader. However, the ability to degrease sections of the leader does allow them to be fished like a silk fly line giving you the ability to fish a small sink tip to help nymphs/spiders etc. to reach the depth you need.