See what actual customers are saying…
Here is just a few pictures from my recent spring season. I am very proud to say all of these trout, were caught using Zen Outfitters furled leaders. The 60″ dry fly leader. Other equipment was my new Thomas & Thomas Avantt 2, 10′ 4WT rod. Hatch Iconic 4+ reel. The fly line is SA amplitude. I am extremely pleased with the furled leader set up on all my rods. I go from nymphing to dry fly fishing, without ever having to worry about changing my leader. The 60″ dry fly furled leader turns over dry flies beautifully and delicately. They float amazing right out of the package. They are also extremely durable with no memory. Thank you, Zen Outfitters for such awesome products. Todd W.
I’ve been using Zen’s UNI furled leaders for almost fifteen years. I find them to be the ideal leader choice for use in combination with bamboo rods, silk lines, fluorocarbon tippet, and dry flies/duos/trios.
They introduce a very slight and unvaried tippet-protecting stretch into the system, compensating for the lack of stretch in the line and tippet. They allow for a hingeless transfer of casting power from line to leader. They’re quite supple, but stiff enough to turn over large flies. Yet when fishing spring creeks, even with small flies and fine tippet, a very long level tippet is all that is needed to ensure a drag-free drift. In fact, rarely is anything other than 4-7 feet of level tippet desirable.
Nothing in the system hangs or catches on rod guides, even small-diameter guides designed for use with silk lines. When using a fine-tipped bamboo rod, the line/leader combination can be fished as one long, supple fly line.
Moreover, Zen’s permanent floatant treatment is quite effective and just that: permanent. It lasts for the life of the leader.
I wouldn’t hit the stream with any other leader.
Thank you for making such a great product,
D.O.
Hi Jaime.
I set up the line on an older Orvis click-pawl reel, and paired it with a 1950’s era DeBell bamboo rod. I used a few feet of 5x tippet at the end of the furled silk leader.
This cast beautifully in my front yard, so I took it to the water this morning. I ran a nymph under a chubby chernobyl on a hopper/dropper rig, expecting the nymph to be the fly of choice. I was not disappointed. I landed 2 fish and lost one at the net in the 40 minutes or so I had on the river this morning. The silk line roll casts beautifully and smoothly on this setup, and feels great in the hand. Longer casts also went well, though I had fewer opportunities for it this morning.
Thanks for the great line, it’s really fun to use a silk line on an old bamboo rod like this.
-T
Jaime: I finally got out on the water with the DT6 line you made me. I am blown away about how different silk line acts! It is amazing line! I was using a 7′ 6″ Horrocks Ibbotson Tonka Prince bamboo rod. I am shocked at how quiet that lays out on the water! It is almost effortless to cast. I am hoping to try it on an Ogden Smith 8′ rod next. I will definitely be ordering a 7 weight down the road and then probably a 5 also. Silk is little bit of extra work, but the benefits are worth it!
Thanks for the great line! I love it!
Sincerely,
Mike
Jaime,
Well I’ve been using this line for about 6 adventures so far and I have concluded:
I spent some nominal time prepping the line on my winder as I do all my silk lines, takes a couple to a few days of stretching and greasing, not actually much time manipulating the line though.
Spooled in up and went fishing, minor stiffness the first time out then, I guess smooth as silk by the end of the first time out.
It cast and fishes as well as my Phoenix lines which is my benchmark for quality. Your lines are right up there with the best and I have a lot of silk fly lines to compare your with. I really do like your color combinations too.
Just a lovely line, I think I will order a couple more, 60 feet is just about the perfect length for 90 percent of the fishing I do.
Thanks for your efforts, you’ve got some real talent there.
Roger H
Zen Silk in Scotland…
Hi Jaime,
I do hope you’re well and that by now you’re fully recovered from your injuries. I have been meaning to write to you to let you know how I got on with the (beautiful) silk line you made for me.
Suffice to say, we had a great time in the Western Highlands of Scotland (this was in July) and the line performed impeccably.
The first day we fished we hiked to a relatively close lochan called Lochan Dubh nam Biast (Scots Gaelic for the ‘Loch of the Black Beast’ – which is always a little intriguing). First cast – a nice trout (see attached image). I hasten to add that in the incredibly nutrient-poor hill lochs of Wester Ross, most trout are small (5-8″) and a 10″ trout is regarded as a ‘good fish’. This came in at slightly under that but it was an omen of good things to come. I’ve enclosed a few more images to let you see the Wester Ross environmental context:
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- Elf’s Loch – a small, but very attractive and vegetated hill lochan (it doesn’t have an official name, we started calling it Elf’s Loch and the habit has spread – maybe, in 100 year’s time people will find that name intriguing too). The trout here are known for ‘shark-like’ (i.e. moving rapidly along the surface with dorsal fin showing) takes of dry flies.
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- Lochan Clais an Fraoich (which, I think means ‘furious loch’) – a lowland lochan right next to the sea where the wind can be pretty fierce) + an image of a trout from the same. These fish are golden (as you can see), tend to take very strongly and fight like demons; spending as much time airborne as in the water.
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- Loch Doire na ha Airigh (‘The loch next to the shieling [upland grazing area] next to the grove’) and associated lochans. Very finnicky trout – you need to cast right next to a rise and as delicately as possible – I landed the biggest trout any of us has ever seen caught from this loch (13″) using your line and leader + a size 16 Royal Wulff. I was so impressed… I forgot to photograph it (sigh).
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- The Loch an Draing (can’t remember what that means) complex – low lying lochs (of which Lochan Clais an Fraoich is the small lochan closest to the sea ‘above’ and between the two bigger lochs).
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- The Dundonnel River – a sea trout/salmon river – I was very lucky to get an afternoon fishing there – but, although salmon were seen jumping, nothing was caught that day.
Anyway – although we did spend a few days volunteering to help the local fisheries biologist (electro-fishing and seine netting surveys, etc.) we fished many locations with several friends. Can’t remember how many trout we caught – but it was a large number and some good sized brownies (my maximum was 14.5″ but one of my friends managed a 17″ trout – that’s a really outstanding fish for the area). These were all wild fish, by the way, trout stocking is not permitted in the area, the genetic variation within and between trout populations is too precious to imperil by insensitive management.
And the line? The line was a revelation. I am so pleased I bought it. It was a dream to use – easy to cast, smooth, supple and, together with one of your dry fly furled leaders, it genuinely and significantly enhanced accurate and delicate presentation. Under windy conditions it just cut through the air and enabled much improved casting precision.
Dressing the line was easy – I bought an old line drier off eBay and refurbished it. Each evening, I wound the line onto it so it could dry overnight. There’s a kind of satisfaction to that ritual and it has the added benefit of making me check the rest of my gear too, so I don’t give in to the temptation to just leave everything in the car until the next day. I’m not sure whether I acted correctly, but in the morning I’d check the line and, if it felt right, I’d use as was, but if it felt in need, I’d apply a light dressing before the day’s casting.
This is probably a trivial point but the line even sounds good as it passes through the rod rings and cuts through the air. It was this that alerted my friends to the new line (I didn’t want to brag – well, not too much!). They were intrigued by the line and I let a couple try casting – and they loved it. Another refused to try it on the grounds that, having seen me casting, he just knew he’d feel driven to buy one if he did!
Anyway – I passed on your details to all. As it’s not a minor investment, I suspect it may be a while before they give in to temptation; but I hope they will.
So – executive summary – it’s a beautiful line, it enhances the whole fly-fishing experience, it even sounds good, (plus, it excites envy in all those that try casting with it 😁) – what more could an angler desire?
Many thanks indeed Jaime, I am very much looking forward to next year’s fishing and building up more experience with what I consider a truly superlative fly line.
All best wishes,
Steve
