Anyone Tried These Furled Leaders At Bennett

[NoLuck]

I have been using furled leader for about 3 years now. I think they are fantastic... except for when you have to bring the leader into the eyes on your fly rod in order to land a fish. I have notice that this is causing a lot more wear on the eye at the rod tip. Currently I have a 5' furled leader on a 7½' rod.

So are there any suggestion how to save th rod tip besides using a shorter Furled leader?

later,

FFM

Yeah....Get a net with a handle about 4 ft long. LOL

[ksbass]

ffm,

Are you using a mono fl? I have no firm data but the thread type should be easier on the rod tip. I fish almost all the time with a 7' 4wt and went to the 4' fl leader with 3' of tippet so 7' total length. Works well for me and my kids. When landing a fish I stop reeling when the leader butt hits the top guide, raise the rod and bring the fish to hand. I rarely if ever have to bring the loop in the tip top guide. Let me know if you think this would work for you. I'll send you one to try out. I could make you a 4 or 4 1\2' to try out. Thread or mono your choice.

Troy

[FlyFishinFool]

FFM,

I have been using 6' and 7' furled leaders on 9' rods with 3'-4' tippets, and I pretty much handle it like Troy stated. I stop reeling when the furled leader butt hits the tip of the fly rod, and just lift the rod (and my arm) vertically to get the fish close enough to slip the hook or net it if that is desired. If you are using a 7.5' rod with a 5' furled leader, try to keep your tippet no longer than 3' if that is possible. If the tippet needs to be longer for proper presentation, then you might consider using a shorter leader as recommended by Troy. Good luck.

[flyfishmaster]

KSBass,

I might have to take you up on the offer. Also, I already lift the rod tip up high.

So to better clarify, my setup is probably a bit different than how you may setup yours up.

I use a Thingamabobber like a few other folk, but I do not put the bobber on the furled leader. So i have a longer section of tippet (usually 5+') than what you all use.

I get into a routine and it is hard to break habits.

Later,

FFM

[rcguy]

Got my leaders yesterday when I got home. Very nice looking for sure! I put one on my new 5 wt. Sharkskin line so I'll git it a try. While I was out of town last week I stopped by Bass Pro in Cincinnati and picked up a Sage Vantage 5 wt and some WF Sharkskin. So far some testing in the backyard pond only. The Vantage is sweet and very light for a 5 weight. Weighs only 4 grams more than my Loomis 4 wt. The Sharkskin is some shooting Stuff!! I would guess it easily shoots out 10 more feet than my Rio line. Maybe more. So far I'm very impressed with the Vantage. Very nice caster. I hope to get to Bennett in the next couple of weeks try try the new rod and leaders. Thanks Troy and Emma!

[FlyFishinFool]

I tried out the Spider-Wire furled leaders made by Troy & Emma Simonton this week at Bennett Spring; put a 6' Spider Wire leader on a TFO Jim Teeny 9' 4wt and a 7' Spider Wire leader on a TFO Jim Teeny 9' 5wt, both rods with Rio Grand fly line, and used about 4' of 6x Seaguar fluro tippet. Both Spider Wire furled leaders performed excellently, readily turning over #16 beadhead nymphs with a very small strike indicator just as easily as they did with large weighted wooleys and small cracklebacks for stripping through the deep holes. Just for fun I even tried the leaders out with some 6X mono tippet and some dry flies of various sizes, including a couple of #20 dry flies (Renegade & PED) and not only did the Spider Wire furled leaders turn them over, but it also allowed them to land gently enough to catch fish on both little flies. According to the Simonton's website the Spider wire furled leaders are impregnated with teflon and I did not treat them with any floatant, and they were both still floating well after a solid week of fishing - I used each leader more than 20 hours each over the last 5 days.

I noticed that after they have been used a while, the Spider Wire leaders tend to look a little lighter (a white-ish green) when they are dried out, and I was concerned that they were wearing too quickly. However, as soon as I threw them back into the water they re-assumed the normal green color. I agree that the Spider Wire furled leaders are a bit softer than the Feather-Craft mono furled leaders I have been using. The extra limpness allowed much easier curled casts into small pockets along the shore line. However, with a softer leader comes a small price - I did have a few more wind knots in the leader when using a strike indicator than I normally get when using a mono furled leader. With the softer leader I found getting the occasional wind knot out was a little harder than when the leader is made out of mono or fluoro. I assume the softer leader allows the knots to form when my casting stroke is not "perfect" (LOL) - perhaps we should say when my casting stroke is not up to my usual standards!

Overall, I have to give the Spider Wire furled leaders at least an A-, and if my casting stroke was better they would probably get an A+. Unfortunately, I was having such a good time catching fish with the leaders working well, a good choice of flies and the fish being so cooperative; I never changed out the leaders and tried out the Simonton's Mono or "Bennett Tinge" Thread furled leaders. Oh well, I guess I will just have to get back down to Bennett real soon to try out the other leaders.

I am sold on the benefits of using furled leaders, and the Simonton's Spider Wire leaders are really a great product, and about 40% cheaper than Feather-Craft leaders. I don't know if the Spider-Wire furled leaders will outlast the flyline as someone commented in this thread, but it sure will be fun trying to see how much I have to fish to wear out one of these Spider Wire leaders - I know...it is a tough job, but someone has to do it. I will take the hit for everyone else and really throw myself into the effort! I will keep you posted of the results!

[rcguy]

Thanks for the report. So far I am liking the thread leaders I bought. Gonna have to order some spiderwire ones I guess.

[drath]

Until I bought leaders from Troy and Emma I had never used a furled leader so I don’t have anything to compare them to. However, I must say that I am impressed with these leaders. I bought some fluorocarbon “Sinkers” and some thread “Floaters” and both have performed well. When fishing moving water the sinkers help get those small nymphs and midges down to where the action is, letting you fish your cast longer before the “swing.” I was fishing a drowned cricket for blue gills the other day off a pontoon boat and the sinking characteristics really helped get the fly into the “strike zone” faster then as well.

The “floaters” are really nice too. They cast like a dream. They’re perfect for dry flies, dry/dropper rigs, or shallow water presentations. I did notice that they seem to cast better after they get wet. The first few casts seemed to kind of flutter out on me but after they got “primed” they were great. They float great too, with just a little floatant on them.

The loop to loop connection makes them easy to swap out and the tippet rings makes it easy to cut off the old tippet and tie on fresh.

Service was fantastic too. Troy emailed me a few times, while he was on a fishing trip nonetheless, to answer questions and confirm my order. They knew I was under a bit of a time crunch and my leaders were shipped before they received my check. I guess they trusted me 

Troy and Em get 2 thumbs up from me!

[flyfishmaster]

Thumbs up to Troy and Emma. What a fantastic job they did on the furlered leaders I got to finally use this past week. I was very pleased with the performance even through I was fishing one of the smallest trout streams in the state. I cannot say enough about them.

Troy, FYI: I was not able to test your new pro-type furled leader out on this past weekend, the stream was way too small to utilize it to its full capacity.

Later,

FFM

[ksbass]

Hey guys glad to hear you all like our leaders. With RCguy's recent order, Emma has now saved up $100 which she plans to donate to the Friends of the Norfork Hatchery to help support the awesome improvements at Dry Run Creek. Thanks so much for your business and support!

Troy and Em.