I have been reading articles about furled leaders everywhere! Are these a good idea for use in the salt? Any specific advantages?

[globalflyfisher.com]

I have used a braided butt on my leader for a few years.

I mainly fish for stripers off of the south shore of LI. Leader formula: 24" of 35# Gudebrod braid looped to tippet (length depends on situation. I always fish with at least two flies, so the leader would be 24" of mono to first fly, then 18" to the end or next fly.) Braid makes for an even unfolding of the leader with a large streamer on and into strong wind. If the wind really gets going and/or the fly is large (10" to 15") then I will use 30# hard mono for the tippet. I feed the ends of the braid into one another and put a drop of super glue to hold it. The combination of super glue and the chinese finger closour doesn't give. I have had fish up to 25 pounds in strong current and have never had failure in the braid loops. I personaly know fishermen who have taken stripers into the 40# range with this same set up and have not had any failure. Just remember to inspect for any fraying in the braid after fishing in rocks or after catching a large.

Peter, I can't remember for the life of me where I read about it, but I do remember reading about using furled leaders for Redfish and more Tropical species like bonefish and permit. If I recall correctly the leader materials used to make these leaders were stiffer than those typically used for freswater trout. The use of a flourocarbon material or something like a Maxima Chameleon would result in a stiffer leader capable of turning over the larger wind resistant flies. I have used flourocarbon furled leaders (built with 4x tippet material) for casting pike flies in my Colorado reservoirs with good success. They are strong, abrasion risistant, and turn over large wind resistant flies very easily. I'm sure they would be just as at home in a saltwater environment.

Tight Lines.

Torin.

Furled leaders are strong and you can construct them out of thread, line or a combination of materials that give you what you want to turn over your fly. There are some instructional pieces on the web. Use your search engine and type in furled leaders. The fixture to make them can be done with a long board and some nails. Our fly fishing club had a demonstration and some of us were able to make one on the first try! No more difficult than building your own rod! Nice part about them is you can configure them for the salt - any length and made from heavier line for jigging with clousers.
Kenneth Prager