Braided leaders

[Chris Shelton]

Guys, what are your thoughts on braided leaders?

[ShaunF]

I don't dig them. I can't really find anything they do better than a knotless mono tapered leader so I have no use for them.

[KevinE]

I don't like the braided leaders much, they certainly throw spray. I do use the sinking polyleaders on occassion to turn my floating line into a sink tip, good for fishing woolly buggers on rivers.

[fish]

Braided leaders cause spray, good turnover though. I fished with an Italian who furled his own leaders, amazing. Can't remember the exact specs, think he used 17 strands of a specific fly tying thread.

MC is currently fishing the nationals, will ask him to do a piece on the French configured leaders they used in the last World Champs when he gets back. Boiling the nylon is part of the process. Anyone who had the good fortune to speak fly fishing with MC, will agree, when he speaks, be all ears and absorb.

Fished with him on a few occasions, art and science in motion.

[smallstreams.co.za]

Chris, I think almost all of us started out using braided leaders (could be wrong), and then switched over to nylon/mono.

Never actually went and fished with a braided leader and then mono leader to "test" the pros and cons, but the one thing that gets to me is how to join your braided leader to the fly line.

You either have to
(a) use those horrible braided loops that slip over your line like a condom. It has much the same effect as a condom as well - stiffens the section of the line that it goes over, and lands hard on the water (another bad pun).
(b) cut off the loop in the leader and join it to the flyline in the same way as the braided loops - same condom effect though

[capt lucky]

every one has deferent ideas on leaders i've found after fly fishing for 55 years that for me the furled learders are the best way to go

[Chris Shelton]

every one has deferent ideas on leaders i've found after fly fishing for 55 years that for me the furled learders are the best way to go

Personally I liked them too capt, and never had a problem with them. The spray never bothered me, because that is supposed to never pass over the fish anyway, so I dont see what all the fuss is about quite honestly, but I removed mine, never to use them again when a certain Mr Biggs looked down his nose at them one day, telling me that he doesnt believe in them because of the spray. Strangely enough, I went onto catch 6 browns on the Witte that same day, my best ever.....and that was with my braided leaded!

What I like about them personally is the lovely turn over that they give, and they roll cast beautifully. They also load immediately, great for close quarter stream fishing. Having rediscovered them in my fly vest, I have revisited them again. I allowed a visiting angler to use my Sage 3 yesterday, with the old braided leader re-attached and he absolutely loved it.....and caught the biggest fish aswell!

[MaXiMuM]

I also love furled leaders, but my mate who used to make them for me moved away, so I'm back to shop bought tappered leaders...

[Chris Shelton]

I also love furled leaders, but my mate who used to make them for me moved away, so I'm back to shop bought tappered leaders...

Strange that one does not see them much anymore. Perhaps Mario is right about them being old fashioned and all.....but quite frankly, it is all the more reason for me to use them again.

[MaXiMuM]

Yeh, I really like them on the Vaal, when you are trying to turn over a team of heavy nymphs, into one of the Sep/Oct winds. I also like them in 7 or 8X as it is twice the line strength and you never have to worry about leader dynamics, they just keep turning the fly over... just change the length of your tippet...