Featured Fly - Great Lakes Angry Leech

This is a Guide Simple fly that I came up with the other day. I took one of my favorite Alaska flies, the Starlite Leech, tweaked it a bit and here is what I came up with, The Great Lakes Angry Leech. The original fly was a killer for me in Alaska, and has gotten me a few nice fish on the swing on the Salmon River. One night I was sitting around thinking about how I could make it just a leech and not an egg sucking leech, a spun rabbit head was the answer to that. Then when I sat down to tie it, the 35mm shank idea came up, so here it is.

Materials:

Hook: Fish Shank 35mm

Hook: Daiichi 2553 - Nickel 

Eyes: Lead Eyes - Small or Med.

Tail: Rabbit Zonker - Purple/Black/White

Body: Estaz - Purple 

Collar 1: UV Polar Chenille -  Black 

Collar 2: Rooster Saddle - Black 

Head: Rabbit - Dubbing Loop 

Step 1: Tie on the stinger Hook.

Step 2: Tie on the lead eyes, leaving a small gap between the eyes and eye of the hook.

Step 3: Tie in the rabbit, make the tail length equal to the hook.

Step 4: Tie in the Estaz, move thread forward, leaving room behind the eye for the collars.

Step 5: Wrap estaz forward.

Step 6: Fold the rabbit forward and tie off behind eyes.

Step 7: Tie in the UV polar chenille.

Step 8: Make 2 wraps of polar chenille.

Step 9: Tie in rooster saddle.

Step 10: Make 3 or 4 wraps.

Step 11: Make a dubbing loop with the rabbit.

Step 12: Wrap forward, forming the head. Whip Finish 

Finished Fly:

Great Lakes Angry Leech - Purple

Great Lakes Angry Leech - Black

Great Lakes Angry Leech -White