Leeches... help

[D-Bone]

I am tired of tying skimpy looking leeches. The leech dubbing I am using isn't giving me the bushy look that I want. Does anyone have a recommendation on what to use for leeches? Also, what colors seem to be most effective for y'all. I normally use the canadian brown and black.

D-Bone

[nightfish]

What is the material that you're using and how are you applying it to the hook? Do you make a dubbing loop? Are you using Mohair leech yarn? Are you tying clumps of hair straight to the shank? Are you dubbing material onto your thread?

Try pulling the fibers toward the bend with each wrap, and then combing/picking them out with a brush or a bit of velcro(the coarse side). I use an old toothbrush with the bristles trimmed to 1/2 length, and velcro stuck to a popsicle stick.

I've been making my own dubbing brushes with a fine wire core, sparse ones for leeches, and much fuller/bushier ones and trimming the wrapped material into minnow shapes.

[Trout4x]

Have you tried rabbit strips?

[nightfish]

especially cooked on a stick over an open fire, wrapped in bacon. MMMMmmmmmmmmmm!

[D-Bone]

I am using Mohair leech yarn. I use a metal bristle (like the kind to clean a gun) to pull the fibers out. The material is just real sparse.

So what are Rabbit strips (non-meat)? How do you use them?

[nightfish]

...also known as Zonker strips. Rabbit has lots of action in water. Use them as a wing or tail, or get the cross-cut ones, and wrap them up the shank(making sure to tie them in so the hair lays back toward the bend as you wrap). To attach the strip over the whole body, dub an underbody forward,(or use chenille, or a bugger-type body) then pierce a strip on the point of the hook(fur laying back to the bend), leaving a bit for a tail. Pull the strip toward the eye, tie it off, make a head & finish.

BTW, sparse isn't always bad for leeches. And a real simple leech pattern is a wooley bugger, dubbed body, standard palmered hackle, reinforced with a wire counterwrap, then brush out the dubbed body to double the hackled effect.

With the yarn you're using, try brushing it in several steps as you wrap to avoid trapping fibers.

[nhancock]

I use mohair leach yarn almost exclusively on my leach patterns. I use velcro to pull some of the fibers out. I use either buck tail or maribou for the tail.

Sometimes I tie in a matching piece of maribou just behind the eye for added body.

[Trout4x]

If you buy the strips look at both cuts and see which cut will work better for your pattern you will be tying.

[Ouzel]

One of the best imitations around is a single piece of rabbit skin 3 - 5 inches long. A single hook is threaded through two small cuts down from the head. A hole is made in the front tip and the tippet is threaded in from the top and the tie is made underneath.

If you have ever seen a leech swimming in the water you might notice how thin and flat it really is; that is afterall how they swim.

Think skinny and flat.

[Splat]

I use Canadian Mohair leech yarn. Pull out the thread before you wrap. Multiple layer wraps untill you get the thickness you desire. Using heavy wire Nymph hooks will also help. Wrapping with heavy lead wire will also help. I've also had the best luck with longer marabou tails to give better motion and movement to imitate the natural leeches. You can also add maribou feathers to the top of the leech, ie Hal Jensen's Mohair leech. You can't go wrong with burgandy red and black colors.

[flyty]

I use some stuff I got at SW called Leech Yarn($.89), and by just pulling back the fibers when I wrap, I get very bushy leeches.

Ouzel,

Can you describe your leech in more detail. I didn't understand your directions.

[flyfshr8]

The secret is a dubbing loop. Buy the materials loose, and you can really pack it on! Then comb it out with the "velcro popsicle" Nightfish talks about. It beats yarn or chenille all to heck sometimes.

[Ouzel]

Long, long ago in a land far, far away and I was first envolved in fly tying we reinvented leeach patterns in a couple of different ways.

First we cut chamois leather (thin stuff) into long thin strips to imitate a swimming leech. We dyed them various natural colors and would soak them in various commercial scents (no law or ethic against them at that time).

There are various ways to attach the hook and the method I've found 'works for me' was to use Mustads 7X & 8X hooks, I forget the part number, and generally you need you fly shop to order them. There are two or three series of Mustad hooks that are 8X but this series has the smaller size hooks. I would leave a tiny thin strip at the nose, then use the hook to guage where to cut the two cross slits. Thread the hook through the slits so the front part of the shank and eye are under the front section of the leather strip. I then secured the stip to the shank with a few wraps of thread just behind the eye.

For weighted patterns just add lead wire. These imitations work well and are not a novalty, but have been in use since the fifties. The one draw back is they need to be kept separate from your other flies as they stay wet. When they dry out they harden but can be limbered up by rewetting.

Rabbit strips can be also be used but you need to cut the strip so the hair faces towards the rear.

[flyty]

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Like this? Is the hole on the very end for the tippet to thread through? What is the purpose of that?

[nightfish]

You can also use chamois for a tail, w/o having to pierce it with the hook. Cut a piece into the shape of a snowshoe, and tie in the thin strip along the shank. Ends up looking kind of like a beaver tail, but looks great moving through the water. You can dye the leather with pantone markers, or go nuts & stink up the house with RIT.

[D-Bone]

Thanks for all the good ideas. I'm going to snag the rabbit strips and start tying.

What colors seem to be most effective?

[nhancock]

A few years ago we were getting our gear ready for an evening on Strawberry. An old timer was getting out as we were putting in. He had caught several so I asked him what they were taking. He said leaches and buggers. I asked him what color. He told me, "Henry Ford was once asked in what colors his cars would be available. His reply was, 'You can have one in any color you want, as long as it's black.'" His theory was that was the only color you need. I never go anywhere without olive, black, brown, red, and violet.

[Ouzel]

Almost, the front end of a leech is tapered. Kind of a longish taper when they swim; they flatten out and stretch forward.

Think of a long arrow head.