In my mind, November is unofficially egg sucking leech month. With various salmonids all doing their thing in the fall, eggs in the system seldom go unnoticed by finned carnivores looking for an easy meal and I often find myself favoring patterns with features that suggest an egg somewhere in the mix. So here we are with another egg sucking pattern that works well both in the fall and winter, as well as during the early spring months when a hot spot or bright splash of color on an attractor pattern seems to draw a lot of strikes.
Balanced leeches have been around for a while now and like a lot of other fly tiers I've taken to tying them with Insta Jig or Head Turner beads, teardrop-shaped tungsten beads designed to invert a fly and make the hook point ride up. Not only are they faster to tie than the original balanced flies which use a pin to extend the bead out beyond the hook eye, but I can fish them in a variety of different ways. I no longer need to think about filling my box with separate versions of the same pattern either designed to balance beneath a strike indicator or to strip back on a retrieve. One fly does it all.
If you want to balance the fly, simply attach the pattern using a clinch or improved clinch knot. It will hang vertically on the leader below an indicator. You may need to periodically adjust the angle of the leader to fly knot to get it riding level but it works really well. If I'm going to retrieve the Balanced Squirrel Leech I tend to secure it with a nonslip mono loop, which allows the fly to really jig nicely during the retrieve.
While leech patterns tend to predominate in our stillwater fisheries, this fly works equally well in rivers and streams. I'll swing it on a trout spey, toss it confidently around log piles for sea run cutthroat and even strip it through an enticing tailout for bull trout on those days they seem to prefer a smaller bite. While there are certainly leeches in moving water, the Balanced Squirrel Leech's profile may also suggest a lamprey, sculpin or smaller baitfish. Whatever the case, this fly passes for a tasty snack just about anywhere trout swim. It's equally effective for bass and panfish during the late spring and summer months too. This black and blue version with a fluorescent orange or black nickel bead is my favorite day in and day, but black and red, olive or burgundy also catch a lot of fish. Tie up a few of this proven pattern and put them to the test on your favorite lakes and rivers.
Thread: 140 Denier Black Ultra Thread
Tail: Black Pine Squirrel Zonker
Body: Black & Blue Arizona Simi Seal Dubbing
Confluence Beer Pairing: As a kid, my family did the obligatory drive up highway 2 and over Stevens Pass every year around this time to "see the fall colors. Quite often we ended up in the quaint Bavarian-style mountain town of Leavenworth. My sisters and I were always relieved to arrive as it was typically our only opportunity to get out of the car and stretch our legs for a bit, perhaps grab some ice cream or in my case, go stare at the Wenatchee River. I always remember those trips in the fall and thought it appropriate to pick a pretty good IPA out of Leavenworth. This month's beer is Icicle Brewing's Dragontail IPA. It's readily available around stores in town and definitely a solid pick if you enjoy a hoppy IPA. It's also named for the towering peak that looms above Colchuck Lake just below the Enchantments where I used to find some pretty epic trout fishing as a teenager.