Making Your Own Twined Leader
I decided to try and make the twined leader, and gave it a shot over the weekend. A few test runs (knots) and I was pumping out these beauties.
Sunday I was out in the schoolyard testing my new leader in the snow, man do they roll beautifully!
I built the leader board out of ½” ply and framed it with 1 x 2 pine, a 1 x 6 foot and 1 x 3 top cap. Gave it a quick once over with the router and was ready to drill some holes.
With minimum materials needed it’s cheap and after a few tries it’s very easy to master.
First lets go over the board setup. The one I made is 95” tall and 6” wide plus the frame.
I cut the length in half and hinged it in the middle for ease of storage. I marked two lines all the way down the length of the board. (each line 2” off either side of the frame) With the lines drawn I measured the hole locations. I used ¾” doweling for my pegs and cut 6, 3” pieces. I added 3 cup hooks, 2 in-line with my rows and one in the middle. I measured up from the bottom of the board 8” and drew a vertical line across the board (more on that later).
At just over 8’ tall, including frame, it’s a bit of a pain trying to loop the line over the hooks, so lay it against a wall on a 45ish degree angle. You will only need it upright for the last stage.
I’m using string here for your viewing pleasure, here we go.
1. Tie a small loop at the end of your line. Spool of 6X mono is perfect for light line leaders.
Starting with the left side, loop it over the hook. Now, bring the line down and around the first peg. Bring the line back up and over the hook. Wrap this first section five times and bring the line down past the first peg, making a total of 5 ½ wraps.
You should now have a total of 11 strands of line from the hook to the first peg.
Remember to always keep slight tension on the line.
2. With that ½ rap, continue it down and around to the second peg.
Bring it back up and past the first peg. Bring the spool behind and through the middle of the first section but not around the peg. This will link the sections together.
Repeat for a total of 2 ½ times, or 5 strands.
Continue the line to the third (final) peg and make 1 ½ raps.
Tie an overhand loop and attach it to the last peg.
Now you should have 3 interconnected loop sections down the left side of your board.
Break out the drill and another cup hook.
Put the hook in the drill and hook the line from the bottom peg.
Start spinning clockwise. My drill took about 20 seconds to get the line where I wanted it. And where you want it is 8” above the bottom (line shrinks after twisting), or the horizontal line you made earlier.
Use a darning needle or similar to remove from the hook and fasten the end down. I used a tack to hold it in place.
Now this line is really twisted tight, one wrong move and you will find a bird’s nest up around the hook. So be careful.
Ok, you have one section made, now make the second section the same way using the right peg row. Again, both lines should be twisted clockwise.
If all went well, you should have two tightly twisted sections.
Very carefully transfer one section to the middle hook, then the other.
I used a heavy steel decorative wine cap and a paper clip for the weight.
Slip the weight through both tightly twisted line ends.
Stand the board up and the weight will start spinning, twining the two lines together. You may need to feather the weight with your fingers to slow it down.
Let it spin until it stops.
Add a drop of crazy glue at the top and bottom loops to help keep the loop hole open when you remove the line from the hook.
That’s it! You should have a finely crafted twined leader butt.
And the real deal,
Now you can tie a 1-3 foot leader onto your twined leader butt and then a 1-2 foot tippet section. This set up should last all season. The only thing you will need to replace from time to time is the tippet.
You can also customize your leader by changing hole locations and lengths.
I have also read that using 0/6 UNI thread makes for a very supple twined leader.
Have fun!
