Bill,

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Rating: GAME CHANGER

 

Bottom line:  Pristine Product's UHMWPE furled leader changed dry fly fishing on a reservoir from a chore to a joy.  For this reason, it is a game changer.

 

Background:  

On stillwater my patience with a sinking mono leader ran out within an hour.  With your floating leader I fished a dry, hopper, or dropper under a dropper for 4 hours.  I have never fished a dry fly rig for that long on Stillwater.   With this leader, I will definitely spend more time fishing with dry flies in the future.

 

Conditions at high-desert reservoir:

Wind very light.  Clear water.  Nervous but not spooky fish.  I was using a 3-4 wt trout spey rod, which is equivalent to a 5-6 wt single handed rod.  I saw few rises and no hoppers.  I thought I would throw a hopper anyway.  A couple of pictures of the reservoir are enclosed so you can see the chop and water clarity.  

 

Performance measures.  Floating.  Casting.  Landing.

 

• Floating — the leaders was all that I could hope for.  It was as described by you and the Word document as not floating but slightly less dense than water.  It sort of sits in the film and hovers.  But that was good enough.  It helped my dry fly rig work much better.  I am very happy and will be using the leader for dry fly fishing, and I will be fishing more dry flies.  It is a game changer.

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• Casting — this was interesting.  I wondered how it performed in the wind.  But I had little wind to work with.  The loops were better, and I believe that is due to the fact the furled leader is more limber.  I also wondered how it might turn over a big hopper as I was using the fly version.  No problem.  It turned it over beautifully.  I use an assortment of casts — some traditional overhand and some mutants of spey casts.  I did find the leader was a bit stickier on the water than a tapered leader.  This caused me to adjust my spey casts a bit.  It isn’t an item of concern, but an FYI.  Also, the leader is easier for me to see than a tapered leader, which made it easier to watch the leader turn the flies over.

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• Landing — Would the fly land softer, harder, or about the same.  In my opinion, I could make a fly land with less water disturbance with the furled leader.  As you can see in the photos, the water was calm and clear.  If I bombed a fly the trout left. The pictured trout was caught on my 2nd cast with a hopper.  I saw its shadow near the reeds.  I dropped the hopper in a couple of feet short of the reeds, and it landed softly.  As soon as it landed, I saw the trout come over, circle the bottom, come on up, and sip the hopper.  That was a treat that set up my next 4 hours.   

 

Interesting:  

Limber.  Short cast in tight space.  Some spots in this small reservoir are very tight and nice trout hang in there.  I’ve come up with a cast I think of as a check swing in baseball.  My back cast is limited too.  I kind of throw it up like a tower cast, punch it to 12 O’clock and then pull the rod tip back to stop it.  The flies then drop onto the water with the line following.  With a tapered leader I had trouble keeping that cast on line, and I thought it was just me.  With the furled leader it dropped right where I wanted it to land, which was a pleasant surprise.  I assume a more limber leader tracks better.  

 

Concern: 

Hinging at loop per earlier discussions.  I saw no sign of hinging.  After the leader was wet, it was not an issue. 

 

Go Back:  

Your attention to customer care is obvious.  You listen to concerns.  Offer advise.  Make connections.  Your packaging is icing on that cake.

 

I expect to spend more time dry fly fishing because your leader sits on the top so well.  It greatly increased my fun ratio.  I can’t ask any more than that of a product.

 

Thanks,

Mike