Met up with some local fly fishers/tiers and grilled some burgers and swapped some flies. A fly swap is a great way to become exposed to new patterns that may not find their way into your box on a regular basis. These guys have some real talent and I am looking forward to wetting these flies and getting into some fish. My photos do not do the flies justice…
The evening did not contain any fly tying but focused on the building furled leaders. Jason has learned the art of building these leaders and brought over his jig and showed us the technique of spinning and wrapping thin fishing line into beautiful leaders. After several failed attempts on my part and great amounts of patience from the others, I was able to walk away with one and am hoping that over break I will be able to head over and rig up a few more. I am always looking for an alternative to the store bought mono leaders which carry so much memory and inevitably waste valuable time on the water as I grow frustrated over wind knots. Hopefully with this upcoming time off I will be able to put some time in testing these leaders on the cold frozen streams of northern Arizona.
hey Ben I hope I can find a group of fly fishermen to swap flies with in my new town. As for the bow it is an old Red Wing Hunter from the Wing Archery Co. I love this bow but haven’t shot in 3 years so I’m afraid to string it up until I get a new string.
-Bruce
Very good Bruce. Good luck with finding those guys to tie with. In my experience, most fly fishermen are fairly cordial in helping others out. I really like seeing other people shooting recurves and longbows and couldn’t help asking. I look forward to seeing you string it up and get after some Northeastern whitetails. Hope everything is well in Connecticut. The new hunting room looks great.
Ben
Hey Ben,
It’s been awhile since I visited AZwanderings, I am playing catchup. The leader is totally awesome! Let us know how it works in action will ya?
Hello Ben,I just happend to come across AZWanderings today while visiting AZflyandtie. I am new to flyfishing,it’s been a year and a half now since, but I can’t put it down and wait for any body of water I come across to fish. I would like to know more about furled leaders and their purpose vs store bought. I am adding AZWanderings to my favorites. Oh by the way..I like the tie clip.
Welcome Jesse. I am glad you found my site. The furled leaders are basically very thin line twisted in a way that creates a tapered leader. The benefit to the furled leader is that you can make them yourself, with one spool of line you can make 5-6 good leaders. Another benefit is that you can vary the length of the furled leader. Probably the greatest benefit that I have found in my limited use of them is that the furled leaders have little to no memory. With a store bought leader, you take it out of the package and it will be all coiled up and inevitably you will end up getting a knot or it won’t turn over right. These furled leaders are much nicer in that sense. At the end of the day, some guys love them and some guys hate them. I think I’m in the first category. Tight lines.
Ben