The Collared Leech

Posted on October 29, 2009, 3:13 pm, by Gary Borger, under Fall Browns in the Lake States, Fly Tying.

I know there are those that want to see the collared leech, so here are the tying instructions. One thing that I love about this fly is that it has nearly endless variations. One can vary the material–fur, hair, marabou, synthetics like FoxxFurr, and on and on–mix and match if you want. Make ’em big, make ’em small–use any hook you like. Make ’em any color(s) you need. Add flash, leave flash out. make the body of anything you like–I often use chenille or crystal chenille. Make ’em fat, make ’em thin. Fish them for everything. The variations, like I said are nearly endless.

In the variation shown here, the tail, body and collar are black FoxxFurr (one of my favorites) I’ve added purple LiquiFlash (another favorite) to the collar’ The descriptions of the steps are under each photo.

ready_to_wrap_body

1. Tie in the tail, make a spinning look, add chopped FoxxFurr dubbing, spin the loop tight.

collar_ready_to_spin

2. Wrap the body, leaving sufficient room for the collar. Make another spinning loop and insert black FoxxFurr with purple LiquiFlash into the loop at right angles to the thread. To get the FoxxFurr and LiquiFlash together in the loop at the same time, lay the FoxxFurr on the bench and then lay the Liquiflash piece on top of it. Pick the whole thing up and insert into the loop at one time. Keep the thread close to the butt ends of the FoxxFurr.

collar-spun

3. Spin the loop very tight to form a FoxxFurr/LiquiFlash, 3-D hackle.The Liquiflash is evident in the photo.

finished-leech

4. Wind the collar–stroke the fibers rearward after each wrap–and finish the head. Fast to tie, endlessly variable, and catches fish like gang-busters.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Kyle Kamp says:
    February 16, 2010 at 12:03 am

    Thank you for the lesson I am just beginning to tie flies and this looks like a good one to make a few of. I just found your blog as I am joining TU due to your chapter in IL. A friend got me into fishing for the big Kings and now I am totally hooked.

    Thanks for educating so many people including myself!

    Kyle

  2. Gary Borger says:
    February 16, 2010 at 9:14 am

    Thanks Kyle. Stay tuned. I will post another fly this week that is so simple you won’t believe it. It’s superb for the kings, cohos,big fall browns, and the steelhead.
    My best,
    Gary

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