Sometimes simple is better. As much as I enjoy the artful aspects of tying a complex fly, there are days or more likely late nights when I am just concentrating on filling a box with patterns that I know will catch fish. Perhaps you've got a buddy tagging along on a fishing outing whose fly selection is notoriously spartan or maybe you're fishing a weedy or timber filled body of water where your fly doesn't always make it back for the next cast. Whatever the reason, it's good to have some patterns you can confidently crank out at warp speed and the Marabou Slight Leech is most definitely one of them.
The majority of leech patterns are inherently easy to tie. You want soft mobile materials that snake their way through the water like the blood sucking critter you're trying to imitate. Lash a rabbit or pine squirrel strip, perhaps some marabou to a hook and call it good. The Marabou Slight Leech was a pattern I learned to tie long before I knew how to spin fancy dubbing blends in a loop and it's been catching trout and all manner of bass and panfish for a long, long time.
I mostly tie these in smaller sizes like 12's, 14's and even 16's and find that the relatively lackluster, drab ones without a lot of extra bling work very consistently. In somewhat murky water, I'll sometimes add a few strands of Flashabou to the tail and even use Flashabou or Mirage Tinsel as a rib to give the fly a little extra personality to get noticed. You can also mix 2-3 different colors of marabou for the tail and body to create a mottled effect, which is very common in leeches. However you choose to tie the Marabou Slight Leech, give it a try this spring on your favorite trout lake or bluegill pond. You'll be surprised by how effective this easy-to-tie fly can be.
Finish: Solarez Bone Dry UV Resin
Confluence Beer Pairing: When thinking about leeches, blood immediately comes to mind. Along those lines, consider enjoying a Blood Orange Gose from Kulshan Brewing. This one's lightly sour with a touch of citrus sweetness and is usually the first of the wonderful seasonal sours from Kulshan.