grhe
Alevin
Posts: 51
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Post by grhe on Jul 11, 2008 1:26:18 GMT
From trawling forums, it seems that a lot of river fishers use furled leaders with dry flies. I bought a couple to replace the poly leaders that I was previously using and I really liked them - quite good in terms of turnover, no memory etc. It was a bit of a PITA to have to grease them up to float but otherwise OK.
I then had a day with a guide, who said that I would need a longer tippet as the furled leader (in pale blue) was more of an extension to the fly line than a leader. Is he right?
The whole leader thing is really confusing me; tapered mono leaders seem difficult to handle and have memory, poly leaders seem a bit clumsy and don't always turn over with the short casts that you have make on Devon rivers and I'm not even going to consider the old school method of making up your own leaders from various lengths of mono.
All advice gratefully received.
GRHE
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Post by Pete Tyjas on Jul 11, 2008 7:38:32 GMT
Hi Jon, if it is working for you with furled leaders and you are catching fish stick with it! I can see where the guide was coming from though and having a really long tippet sort of defeats the object a bit. Good casting technique will ensure what ever you are using will get the fly to the target with minimal disturbance and I've seen yours and it looks great As long as you can do this and not spook the fish you are always in with a shout even if it is a 3ft leader! I might be wrong but I believe there are some camo versions of FL around that are a blend and are supposed to be harder for fish to detect. These might be worth a look if you want to stick with furled leaders. For me it is always a knotless tapered leader and for the small stuff we fish down here I have a 9ft one down to 3lb and if it is clear I might add on 1ft of 2.5lb. I'm sure you do already but give it a good stretch before putting it on the line. How many guys on here are using furled leaders?
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Post by tobym on Jul 11, 2008 9:10:06 GMT
I use both Furled and tapered leaders for all my river fishing.
A furled leader is great for dries and i tend to add 4-5 foot of leader to it. I kind of agree that its an extention to your fly line but as Pete says if your catching fish stick with what your happy with.
I mostly use a tapered mono leader of around 7 1/2ft then add what tippet i want to the end.
I will say that its somtimes best not to have super good turnover as this can cause drag when fishing the dry but a little crumpling of the leader can help the fly to drift with out drag.
T
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Post by catch22 on Jul 11, 2008 20:46:58 GMT
Hi GHRE The idea of the furled leader is to replace the taper that you would buy and change every time you need to change the leader (costly), or the other method of knotting different thicknesses of leader together. With the furled leader simply choose the strength of leader (make it the same length with the furled leader fixed to it as you would a normal leader) that will suit the conditions you are fishing in - knot it to the loop or ring on the end of the furled leader - fish with it until its to short / breaks simple put on another length of tippet. Dibbles furled leaders are by far the best if you need any more - I have his address somewhere if you need it. Cheers Neil
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Post by timbrewulf on Jul 23, 2008 10:19:03 GMT
I've just ordered a furled leader. Will give it a shot next week and report back. My river trout fishing experience is limited so I go with hope rather than expectation. I did once try knotting up leaders from bits of nylon. Strictly for masochists! All that mucking about with those impossible blood knots!
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grhe
Alevin
Posts: 51
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Post by grhe on Jul 27, 2008 23:35:06 GMT
Thanks for the advice, lads but the tragic fact is that I have yet to catch a river trout on a dry fly. This is the problem. I don't know whether it is the choice of leader that is spooking the fish.
I've just come back from a week's holiday in Devon and I gave up on the CCFC waters after a couple of days because there was just no surface activity and no chance of catching on a dry fly. I got into river fishing specifically to fish the dry fly and finishing each session having to drag a nymph just to remind me that fish are in the river is getting depressing.
I ended up at Fernworthy reservoir for the back end of the week, caught a nice brown and lost another but I was the only angler to catch on the two days that I was there. Is it me or is the fishing awful this year? The water feels very cold for late July and insect activity appears minimal.
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Post by Pete Tyjas on Jul 29, 2008 15:07:12 GMT
Hi Jon,
don't give up it will happen!. There is always the chance of something coming up to look at your dry despite any lack of surface activity. I always tie on something a little bigger to make it worth their while. I would doubt it has anything to do with your leader just that the fish aren't biting. What time of day were you fishing?
Judging by some of the other threads it has been hit or miss and as David has said regarding the Taw he has experienced the same as did I recently. I bumped into Mike Weaver at the CLA and he said he had a good time on the Yeo (I think it was) perhaps you were following him up the river!
I haven't got to Fernworthy this year but I love Colliford. It is one of my favourite places when the rivers are out. I am supposed to be on the Tamar on Fri and will head there if this rain continues.
Pete
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