A furled leader (also known as twined leader) is a type of knotless tapered

fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly diffe ...

leader. It is known for high performance, low memory, and soft

artificial fly An artificial fly or fly lure is a type of fishing lure, usually used in the sport of fly fishing (although they may also be used in other forms of angling). In general, artificial flies are an imitation of aquatic insects that are natural food ...

presentation when casting. These attributes are due to the way these leaders are constructed which is similar to creating

rope A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similarly ...

. The big difference is that furled leaders are created with a taper. The twisted style of construction and being made from many filaments leads to a flexible leader with low to no memory like a section of rope.

Construction

Furled leaders are created from braided line,

monofilament A monofilament may refer to: * Monofilament fishing line, a type of thread * A monofilament as used in a monofilament test in a neurological examination * Monomolecular wire Monomolecular wire is a type of wire consisting of a single strand of s ...

, fluorocarbon fishing line,

fly tying Fly tying (also historically referred to in England as dressing flies) is the process of producing an artificial fly used by fly fishing anglers to catch fish. Fly tying is a manual process done by a single individual using hand tools and a var ...

thread or other thread, or silk. This material is laid out on a jig in a series of interlocking loops, thereby creating the taper of the leader. It is made in two, sometimes three or even more, legs; more legs will result in a smoother, rounder finished leader.,
Steven and James Publishers
, 2010. Depending on whether they are constructed separately or as a set of interconnected legs from a continuous thread, legs are then twisted while under tension independently, or simultaneously, in the same spinning direction. The legs are combined and allowed to untwist under weight or tension. As the legs untwist, they furl together to create the final structure. Furled leaders can also be constructed using an approach resembling rope laying, in which the legs are twisted simultaneously, under tension, while separated by a 'top', attached to a runner that can rotate. In this approach, the twisted legs 'below' the top will start furling under tension, moving the top up to the furling end. This creates a full furled leader in one continuous process. The ends of the leader are then finished to hold the leader's furl - the butt end is most often finished with a so-called Shorb loop. The tippet end can be finished with a Shorb loop, a knotted loop, or a micro tippet ring. The leader is attached to the end of the

fly line Fly line is a fishing line used by fly anglers to cast artificial flies using a fly rod. Fly lines evolved from horsehair lines described by Izaak Walton in The Compleat Angler (1653) through the use of silk, braided synthetics to the modern-day ...

, usually with a loop-to-loop connection, and a simple or stepped-down tippet is attached to the thin end before use.

References

* {{Fly fishing Fly fishing