Paul's February 2021 Fly of the Month

 Landon Mayer's Mini-Leach

& Mini-Leach Jig 

Hook:  Size #8-#12 Allen MP003Bl; or Size #10-#14 Curved Nymph Hook; or Hanak H 450 BL Size #10 (or jig hook of choice).

Bead:  (Optional) Tungsten Slotted bead, Color & size of choice.

Tying thread:   Black, 70 Denier.

Body/Tag End:  Medium Brown Holo Tinsel or Root Beer Flash-a-bou.

Wing:  Zonked Black or Brown Pine Squirrel.

Colar:  Black or Brown Ostrich Herl.

I love small streamers, and I particularly love small streamers with pine squirrel.  This fly is very easy to tie, using only 3 different materials.  You can really crank these out. No worries if you loose a few, and oh by the way, it will catch you a ton of fish.   Ideal for small streams with tight quarters, but it works great on bigger waters too. 

You can tie this pattern on different types of hooks.  I’ve listed some in the recipe, but don’t be afraid to experiment with the hook you prefer.  To tie this fly, I like to use a hook on the heavy & larger side.   Start you thread behind the eye and make touching wraps.  Stop your thread at the ‘halfway’ point of your hook shank.  You are now going to tie in your Tinsel or Flash-a-bou.  Continue making touching wraps rearward to bind down your Body/Tag.  Wrap down around the bend of the hook.  Bring your thread back up the hook shank and leave it approximately 1/3 of the hook shank behind the eye.  Next, prepare your Squirrel Zonker.  The length of the leather strip should be approximately 2 ½ to 3 lengths of the hook shank (or about 1” long).  Your rabbit fur should be bending towards the back.  I usually cut a ‘v’ notch at the rear tip of the zonker.  On the forward tip (your tie in point), strip some fur off to better expose the leather.  This will ensure that it is securely tied down to the hook shank.  Bind and tie down your Zonker Wing onto the hook shank.  (I usually apply some Head Cement or UV Resin to my tie in point).  When you tie in your wing, create a smooth thread base behind your hook eye. 

Now select two bushy fibers of Ostrich Herl for your collar. Lock them in place by their ‘butt’ ends right at the tie in point of your wing.  Wrap your thread forward and leave it behind the eye.  Make touching wraps forward with your Ostrich Herl.  Cut and tie it off behind the eye.  Whip finish and apply some head cement. 

One thing I usually do when tying this fly is to apply some Solarez ‘Bone Dry’ to the Tinsel or Flash-a-bou just after I tie it in.  It improves the durability of the fly. 

Tim Camissa has some of the best instructional videos on Youtube. 

He has a great video on how to tie Langdon Meyer’s Mini-Leach below: 

For tying the Mini-Leach on a Jig Hook, here’s another video from Tim below:

Tim’s website, ‘Fur and Feather’, can be found

at http://www.troutandfeather.com/ .

If you have any questions about this fly or would like to submit a Fly of the Month I can be reached at 203 305-3850 or at pdinice@frontier.com .