Google "micro leech"

For you guys who don't know about this fly/ method for stillwater applications, do yourself a favor....A "micro leech" under an indicator may well become your favorite combo this year.......
A Google search will yield a mountain of information....

Pond Monkey

iagree

Great searching pattern. Trout candy.

Especially tyed with acetate floss!

Have tied and fished a variant called a "Arizona Simi Seal Leech" for several years. Probably caught more fish on this pattern than anything else. The AZ Simi Seal dubbing is very easy to use and cheap!! Comes in everything from black to silver. Tails can be marabou or simi seal.

http://www.azflycasters.org/AFC%20FLIES/AZ%20Simi%20Seal%20Leech.pdf

Kevin

A shoreline go-to for browns. No indicator though...throw it in tight and pull it back hard.

That is my number one fly for BC still water when tied in black with red rib, or burgandy.

As important as that fly is, the vertical method ( hanging the b.h.m.l. off an indicator) is often even more so.... There is often just no substitute for "hang time", that is maximizing time in the zone where the trout are cruising and feeding...
As effective as a vertical chrironomid is, the b.h.m.l. will out 'em about half the time...
The bigger profile of a b.h.m.l. is easier to see and the marabou is just so lively looking...also the soft materials are not so quickly rejected...
I have brought up this subject just to spread 'the good news" a bit because I have found that very, very few down here stateside use that fly along with the vertical presentation....but that in B.C. it is hugely popular...and for good reason.

Merry Christmas Pond Monkey

I never knew they had their own name, I just called them little buggers. I have never indicator fished with them before though. I'll have to try that. Here is a forum to our north that has posted some good pics of "micro leaches"

http://www.flybc.ca/forum/lofiversion/index.php?t2594.html

I have fished olive micros on a sinking line just letting them sink and more often than not get the take as it is just sinking to the bottom. many times in the first 5 feet of it sinking.

Of all the styles of b.h.m.l. patterns pictured on that BC site..... the one's tied by "Manta Ray" are probably the most commonly seen..... Personally, I prefer the more webby "woolly bugger style marabou" for tails and the longer and spikier "blood quill' feathers for bodies along with red wire rib and a gold bead.....To me black is all that's needed....."if it ain't, then take it back"....
Another excellent body material is Metz's "crystal chenille" in size medium.... it is smaller than Estatz even in size petite, for a slim body....
I think that it's fair to say that in B.C. that the b.h.m.l.nearly always goes hand and hand with indicator fishing....... but that does assume that you are anchored up, casting and watching a bobber. Certainly one can troll or drift too but when fishing shallow, rich, eutrophic lakes the fish are usually in a zone near the bottom and the vertical presentation suspended a couple of feet off the bottom targets that zone.

Tight lines......P.M.

PM, great info, thanks. I'm going to have to mix it up a bit and try some of those tecniques next time i'm on the lake.

Hey folks,

I'm one of those guys from the "forum to [your] north", and yep - Micro-leeches are pretty popular up here, especially definitely under an indicator. I find I have the best success with them if there is a bit of a small chop to the water, which imparts some extra action on the indicator, and hence on the fly.

I'm not a huge fan of bobber fishing, though I do use the method frequently enough. I just prefer to be casting or moving... and the gold-bead olive-body micro leech is my FAVOURITE pattern for searching while kicking around in my float tube watching the eagles and keeping an eye out for wildlife on the shore.

Cheers!

Tex

Well I was feeling inspired so I tied some up. Size 12

You'd be better off if you trimmed down the tails somewhat. Long tails result in missed strikes.

Jim

I agree Jim, those fly would create short strikes. However those look great and will surely trick plenty of fish! One one my favorite search patterns.

Thanks! I will, I can't afford to miss to many fish.

I tie my "Micro Leech" on a small jig hooks size 8 and size 10. That gives them a jig action on the retrieve, very effective. I weight the bend with non lead wire and just tie the body material over the weight. I've used them successfully in lakes and streams. Been very effective on Rocky Ford. Pictured one is a size #8.

Keith

Micro leeches hung under an indicator are a total waste of time. Last time I tried one at Henrys Lake I only caught one fish.

Well with results like that, I'm giving up on that technique:clown: Nice job :thumb:

Micro leeches under an indicator. Never tried that but I might now. I like "jigging" my micro leeches.

Keith