Tying A Simplified Zonker Leech

Leeches are great streamers to have in your box. When fished on bass beds or near shelter they can get a ton of strikes and have incredible action. Leeches are highly effective for bass and crappie on beds or around brush but can also catch plenty of trout and even pike. This fly is about as simple as it gets when it comes to leeches. It is loosely based on the creek leech but is a pretty generic leech pattern.

Materials needed:
Olive zonker strip
Rubber legs
Tan dubbing
Streamer hook
Dumbell eyes
Olive thread

Step 1. Bring the thread a short distance back from the hook eye. You will need enough space to tie in a pair of dumbell eyes with some room to spare for the zonker strip later on.

Step 2. Tie in your dumbell eyes using x-wraps. The dumbell eyes on this pattern help it sink down in the water column more quickly and also provide a bit of jigging action on the water. Once you have a fair amount of thread on the eyes you can apply a small drop of adhesive and lay down some more thread on top of it.
Step 3. Tie in 2 rubber legs by v-tying and double them over on themselves. This helps give the fly a little extra action in the water.
Step 4. Use a dubbing loop to form the body of this fly. This establishes the color scheme of this fly and helps build the profile of the fly. Put a small amount of dubbing over the dumbell eyes to cover your tracks from when you tied them in.
Step 5. Tie in a zonker strip in front of the dumbell eyes on the bottom of the hook and whip finish. Your completed fly should look something like this.
This fly rides hook point up which keeps it out of the way of snags that could take your fly. Having the hook point up also helps with strip sets.


If you liked this post consider checking out some of the other posts on my blog.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tying A Zonker Leech On A Circle Hook

Image
Zonker strips have some of the best action of any tying material. They wave in the water and have great action while also holding a solid profile. Apart from being a solid leech pattern this fly also imitates a sculpin. This fly that I have come up with is a fairly standard zonker leech tied on a circle hook. Circle hooks can be a bit tricky due to the fact that you essentially ignore the bite to set the hook.  Materials needed: 1. Zonker strips of your color choice 2. Dumbell eyes 3. Scud dub or another similar synthetic dubbing 4. A circle hook Step 1. Tie in your dumbell eyes as close to the eye of the hook as you can while still having some room to tie on. Step 2. Tie in your zonker strip upside down. This is done so the strip rides correctly while riding upside down from the dumbell eyes. Step 3. Tie in another zonker strip and wrap it around the hook a couple of times. Step 4. Begin tying in your dubbing by v-tying. For this fly...
Read more

Tying an ep bulkhead

Image
 This is a fly I just recently came up with and it will work well during spring and summer time when minnows are schooling. This fly is best fished with long strips followed by a couple of fast strips and a pause. This will make the zonker strip tail flow to imitate a minnow’s tail. The head of this fly is tied with a technique I learned from McFlyangler and fly fish food. It is achieved by flattening stacks of ep fibers between your fingers and then spreading them around the hook evenly. Materials needed:  Thread  Rabbit zonker strip Ep fibers Sharpies or other markers(optional) Glue on 3d eyes Step 1: start your thread a little ways back on your hook to mark a point to start your ep fiber head and then bring your thread to the bend of the hook Step 2: measure out your rabbit zonker to fit your hook length and then tie it in directly on top of the hook. Once you’ve done this you can cut your tag on the zonker strip to stop right before the spot you marked to start the he...
Read more

How To Tie The Topwater Bugger Fly

Image
The topwater Bugger is about as unconventional as it gets when it comes to fly fishing. That aside it is a great pattern to have in your box if you target bass. It uses a piece of sheet foam to create something close to a popper or gurgler head and work as a topwater lure to draw bass out of cover or off of beds. This fly is essential tied like a normal bugger with some foam at the front. This is a great video on tying a standard bugger:  Video on standard wooly bugger Materials needed:  •Streamer hook of your choice.  •Thread of your color choice.  •Marabou.  •Dubbing of your choice(preferably a synthetic dub such as ice dub)  •Cape or saddle hackle.  •2 or 3 mm sheet foam.  •Ultra thin wire. Step 1: Tie in your marabou towards the back of your hook shank. Step 2: Tie in ultra thin wire. Step 3: Apply dubbing on most of the hook and tie in your hackle feather leaving plenty of room for the foam. Ste...
Read more