Zoni leech

[TunaFvr]

A couple of people have asked what flies have I been using this fall. One of the most successful has been a leech pattern made with Arizonia Synthetics Simi Seal material. Its very easy to use as demostrated below. Sorry about the quality of the pictures.

1-Hook Tiemco 5263 #8
five or six turns of lead free wire, secured by wrapping over a few passes
with the thread
Thread is Uni-thread black 6/0


2- tie in a tail of burnt orange marabou. Note the tail is tied in right behind
the lead free wire. This will give a level body later on.


3- tie a dubbing loop and add the simi seal material. Twist up and then
pick out clumps so that you have even spacing of the simi seal. Wrap
forward to the eye of the hook.


4- go ahead and tie the dubbing loop off and whip finish. Now use a piece
of velcro(mine is glued to a popsicle stick) to comb out the simi seal
fibers.



5-What your fly should look like when done. So simple, yet so effective.

[lee sieckmann]

Bruce, You didn't say what color of dubbing material you are using. I suppose you tie them in a variety colors. The color of the fly in this thread appears to be Canadian Blood to me, but the the marking on the dubbing package indicates that it is Black/Blue. Just curious. Lee

[TunaFvr]

Lee,
That is #27 blood leech simi seal. Its a blackish, brown, rusty with some mylar(flashabou) mixed in. I had good luck with his #20 canadian black simi seal and #23 crawdad simi seal. For the scuds I was using Arizona Synthetic Dubbing in Golden Peacock or Light Peacock.

Arizona Flyfishing - Your Guide to Flyfishing in the Southwest

[lee sieckmann]

Bruce,

So all of the leeches use the same burnt orange marabou tail no matter the color of the dubbing? Whenever, I've tied blood leeches I used black or a claret tail. I'll have to give the burnt orange a try. I still have two skeens of Canadian Blood mohair yarn but I like John's saying to "try every color".

[TunaFvr]

Lee,
No I vary the tail colors, depending on how they are biting and water clarity, but most of the time I will start with the burnt orange. The colors I use the most(other than burnt orange) would be black, red, olive, rust, brown, olive brown, then sometimes I will throw a couple of strand of krystal flash in the tail.

Did you see this leech?

I sort of copied that electric black that you gave me. This one incorperates canadian brown mohair, red, green, gold, black and blue flashbou dubbing and a burnt orange or olive hackle run through the middle. It seemed that sometimes they would want brown, and this was then my choice.

[lee sieckmann]

Its a good looking fly. I have had good success with a similiar looking fly, however, the tail was brown. I am going to tie so me up with the burnt orange tail.

FYI, the recipe for scud dubbing using Wapsi mohair is: 3 parts ginger, 3 parts light olive, and one part yellow. That year I spent all the time observing scuds, it matched the majority of the scuds perfectly..at least on the west bank. I'd say 80-90 percent of the scuds were this color. The rest were gray with an odd orange and even an emerald thrown in. Of course, maybe the fish prefer something else as it never was more than moderatley successful.

[flygoddess]

Nice! I got turned onto Burnt Orange a thousand years ago (okay not that long ago, but feels like it) by good ol' Denny Rickards. The blood, olive, black semi-seal all worked with the burnt orange, so not that new to me.
As far as the spectrumize semi seal, well that was Dennis Barkke at "The Fly Desk".
This is a good looking fly Tuna. Just the right amount of Bushiness
I have been using rabbit for the tail lately. Last a lot longer than the marabou.
Thanks for the reports you and Shel are posting...it is almost like being there. I say almost....actually YOURE KILLING ME! ARRRGH!

[TunaFvr]

Rabbit strip tail. Now that is a great idea. I had a problem with the marabou not lasting very long, but only after a few fish the marabou would get chewed off or just come apart. Thanks FG.

Speaking of Dennis, can I get the Canadian series mohair dubbing(the stuff not on the string) from him? Isn't he the one who imports the Canadian series of mohair?

[atpjunkie]

that's a nice take on the mohair leech
I'm a big fan of burnt orange, claret and black. All work well in the SW.
tie some in a mix of green and olive, smaller with no weight and marabou at both ends. Fish them in streams where you have scuds stuck in the grass. fish it just under the surface like an emerger. trout will grab them looking for tasties inside thinking it is a piece of bottom grass with scuds, nymphs and snails. my guess is you could probably make an indicator version

[flygoddess]

Originally Posted by TunaFvr

Rabbit strip tail. Now that is a great idea. I had a problem with the marabou not lasting very long, but only after a few fish the marabou would get chewed off or just come apart. Thanks FG.

Speaking of Dennis, can I get the Canadian series mohair dubbing(the stuff not on the string) from him? Isn't he the one who imports the Canadian series of mohair?

What!? I would think with Henry's season over you would have time to pull the Mohair off the string.......OH WAIT! Now it's Pyramid Hour
Yes he sales it by the back destrung. Let me know if you have trouble getting him.

[Mel-S]

Bruce, now that Henrys Lake is closed how long will it be before you start climbing the walls?

[lee sieckmann]

Bruce, an option to rabbit for the tail is artic fox tail. Its longer than rabbit so you can get away from using any hide...unless your rabbit is long enough. I used a lot of it in steelhead flies. Its very durable and comes a dozen color.