I've always had a penchant for egg sucking patterns in the fall and winter for salmon and steelhead. Perhaps it's the millions of dislodged salmon eggs loosely drifting in the current that trigger a latent feeding response from the early days of chowing on this protein conveyer belt. Perhaps it's the sharp color contrast or "hot spot" theory that so often elicits a grab from a fish. Whatever the case may be, this family of fly patterns has always served me well, so on some levels, I don't worry too terribly much about the why.
Essentially the Egg Sucking Diva is derived from the Starlight Leech, but with a bit of added bling. Hareline Dubbin is notorious for introducing hundreds if not thousands of new products and materials each year and it's a constant invitation to assimilate new stuff into old standbys to somehow make them better. Blue, purple and pink are some of my favorite colors for big, aggressive wild coho and the Diva provided a perfect excuse to integrate them into one fly. On a recent trip to Southeast Alaska at the end of September, this proved to be the fly. Sure, other stuff caught fish too, but this one outshined just about everything else for me. Perhaps these omnivorous coho were drawn to the delightful Mixed Berries Aquaveil used in the body or maybe like the real-life North Sound Trout Unlimited Chapter board member who served as inspiration for this fly's moniker, they were just drawn to a little extra flash and wouldn't have it any other way.
Egg Sucking Diva Leech Recipe:
Thread: 140 Denier Purple Ultra Thread
Hook: #4 Gamakatsu L11S-3H
Eyes: Medium Plated Lead Eyes
Tail: Purple Zonker Strip
Flash: Grape Flashabou #6919
Body: Senyo's Aquaveil Mixed Berries
Hackle: Purple Saddle Hackle
Head: Pearl/Fl. Red Speckled Chenille
Confluence Beer Pairing: Jeff "The Diva" recommends drinking Kulshan Brewing's Kitten Mittens when you tie the Egg Sucking Diva. Although he would probably not tie this pattern because he strives to be so different from everyone else, he would certainly endorse Kitten Mittens as a highly drinkable fly tying beverage on a blustery autumn day no matter what weird fly you endeavor to construct. In that regard, so would we.