Furled Leaders Revisited (playing around with a new toy)

[wsbailey]

Depending on which way you turn the crank the result is s twist or z twist. With Maxima there might not be any difference. Thread would be a different story because most of it has an inherent twist. Most fly tying theads have a z twist but gossamer has an s twist.

[letumgo]

Bill,

Agreed. Working with thread or stranded material is likely to require special attention, to account for the existing twist of the material. However, I think it is less of a consideration when working with single strand monofilament or fluorocarbon materials. Certainly worth keeping in mind though.

Tom,

This morning I made up a 14 foot furled fluorocarbon tapered leader, using the proportions shown in the diagram posted earlier. The whole thing was made with 12# test fluorocarbon line (0.012"/0.30 mm). Once it was furled, I added a braided loop on the butt end, for attaching the line to the lillian. I made a Perfection loop on the tip end, and attached a short section of 20# test Amnesia (roughly 1 foot long with perfection loops at both ends). This is intended to serve as a high visibility tip, to help track the drift of the fly (held off the water). I then made up a short tapered leader (tapering down to 6# test).

Overall, I am pleased with how smoothly the line tapers down over the full length. This seems pretty close to the one you sent me several years ago. I was extremely pleased with the way your leader fished, and am hoping this one performs well.

At some point, I may pick up a spool of 15# test (perhaps 17# test) and create a slightly heavier version. This might be useful, on days with somewhat windy conditions. It might also handle small streamers a little better (yes, I fish streamers on a tenkara rod. ).

[hankaye]

Ray, Howdy;

When using threads or other 'twisted' fiber materials it IS important to
know which way the material lays.
Typically with your everyday rope the rope will have a Right hand twist,
Rope construction involves twisting fibers together to form yarn (Right-Hand twist).
For twisted rope, the yarn is then twisted into strands (Left-Hand twist),
and the strands twisted into rope (Right- Hand twist).
So, each next level up is twisted in the opposite direction. It's what locks the whole
thing together.
So, yea which way the thread twists IS important enough to mention it a second time.

hank

PS some extra reading with some videos too.
https://www.google.com/search?safe=acti ... 17&bih=736

[Tom Smithwick]

Hi Ray - My twister arrived from Japan and I played around a bit this afternoon. I made a 7 foot butt section for a tenkara line out of 1X Fluorocarbon. I turned the crank 150 times for the individual strands, followed by 100 turns to twist them all together. It is pretty tightly twisted, so that may be a bit much but it seems OK. Just to see what would happen, before I knotted the ends I pinched a heavy split shot on each end and hung the line to see if it would jump around and twist. It did not, much to my surprise. I cast it with just my hand when it was finished, and it turned oven nicely. I will finish the line shortly with 2X and 3X sections. I have a Tenkara USA ITO rod that extends to 14'7", so I need a long line.
Anyway, good find on the machine. It seems to have a lot of promise.

[letumgo]

Tom,

Try building three parallel tapered leaders (1X-2X-3X), with staggered blood knots. Then twist the tapered leaders together into a furled leader. The blood knots are smaller than the combined strands, and gives a somewhat smoother overall taper.

Have fun! I really enjoyed playing around with mine.