Boa Yarn Leech

[Bluegill Budd]

Rick,
I'll post this here, since I am sure that there are others who are at least wondering. I read with great interest your articles and you have refered to a "boa yarn leech". I did a GOOGLE search and the only reference it shows are in the the afore mentioned articles. Could you shed a little light on the pattern and tying instructions?

Clint

[This message has been edited by Bluegill Budd (edited 24 April 2006).]

[Rick Z]

Tie on size 8 to 12 hook.

Match color of thread to the color of the yarn.

Boa Yarn is available in yarn shops and at Wal Mart.

1. wrap thread from eye to bend of hook.
2. Fold 2-3 barbs of the yarn back over the base of the yarn. Then tie the base of the yarn on perpendicuar to the shank of the hook. This makes it easier to palmer up the shank.
3. wrap thread and then the boa yarn up the hook. Do the boa yarn with touching wraps. Tie off.

This can be tied with a small bead head also.
Put one of these in the water near you and twitch your rod tip, do qick line jerks, ect and see what the material does in the water.

Hope this helps

Rick

[HideHunter]

I'm one of those guys who lives by the adage, "If it can be messed up - I'll give it a shot."

Rick has already helped me out with this fly and here's a tip I discovered.

Palmer the yarn so it is 'just' touching at the base. I thought, "a little is good - more oughta be better." It ain't.

If you get too much material on the hook you won't get the desired action.

good luck on a good fly.

thanx again Rick..g

[dixieangler]

I have three of Rick's leech patterns as he was kind enough to send me examples I can copy. An Eyelash Yarn Leech, a Boa Yarn Leech, and a Crow Body Feather Leech. I really like the looks and action of that Crow Body Feather Leech but I have no Crow body feathers . I don't know of anybody that carries them. Shooting a Crow or scavenging a road kill is out of the question. So Rick, where do you get your Crow body feathers?


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Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL

"Flip a fly"

[This message has been edited by dixieangler (edited 24 April 2006).]

[Rick Z]

They were a gift from a tyer at SowBug.

Rick

[dixieangler]

Oh, well. Coot and Moorehen feathers are another oddball material that isn't available but I'll keep looking . Wild bird feathers are hard to get unlike domestic and game birds. Thanks anyway, Rick.

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Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL

"Flip a fly"

[Bluegill Budd]

I understand about tieing in the yarn at a right angle to the hook shank, but have one more question. Does the leech have a "tail", that is a piece of yarn that extends beyond the hook? I tie a bead head leech, after being given one in a swap, that has the yarn palmered from behind the bead at the eye to the bend, and then about a hook shanks length of yarn beyond the bend.

Clint

btw, I took a 3 lb Channel Cat today on that exact fly while bothering the bluegills in a small pond in the nearby WMA. What a hoot on a 3 weight.

[Rick Z]

The few fibers that you bend back over the material form a little bit of a tail.

Rick

[Rick Z]

Talk to a hunter to see if they could get you some coot feathers, or a crow. The coot can be given but not sold. Coot feathers also make a great leech pattern.

Rick

[WarrenP]

Don't know if this will help with the search for crow feathers but....
[url=http://www.jsflyfishing.com:59575]www.jsflyfishing.com[/url:59575] has Imitation Indian Crow Feathers

They may not work, but, I enjoy looking for hard to find items.

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Warren