One in a fish's mouth...View attachment 56758
What am missing?
With all those empty slots, you are apparently missing a lot of ties............ nicely done!View attachment 56758
What am missing?
Can’t imagine you’re missing anything for chironomids but I do hope you have a mini leech/jig leech/balance leech box. Or two.What am missing?
Bottom row are leeches on jig hooks. I have stuff to tie more. Never saw the point of balance leeches though. Do leeches sit horizontal at all times? Maybe I'm missing out.Can’t imagine you’re missing anything for chironomids but I do hope you have a mini leech/jig leech/balance leech box. Or two.
Bottom row are leeches on jig hooks. I have stuff to tie more. Never saw the point of balance leeches though. Do leeches sit horizontal at all times? Maybe I'm missing out.
Hot head leechesView attachment 56758
What am missing?
You could do some white ones, and some ones with different mixes of dubbings. You’ve got the basics but there are all kinds of blacks, and olives, etc. I like bi-color ones too, like a black body and brown tail. And add some hot beadhead ones like Billy said. Also look up Troutpocket’s Rickards stillwater nymph. Great indicator bug.Bottom row are leeches on jig hooks. I have stuff to tie more. Never saw the point of balance leeches though. Do leeches sit horizontal at all times? Maybe I'm missing out.
Balanced leeches work well for me, particularly with a little chop on the water. I’m not sure if it really matters to the fish that the fly is horizontal or not. I do think that the fly has a lot of action perhaps due to the weight being forward of the hook eye and creating a pivot point, kind like a seesaw.Bottom row are leeches on jig hooks. I have stuff to tie more. Never saw the point of balance leeches though. Do leeches sit horizontal at all times? Maybe I'm missing out.
How do you get the balanced leech to 'balance' with the weight of a bottom fly?I like a balanced leech in black & blue (bruised) or dark red as the top fly and then a bloodworm, snow cone or a grey boy (pictured) as the bottom fly.
They work well in a blizzard hatch. Can confirm they work.A few years ago (few? 20+) DK from Desert Fly Angler concocted the "double midge" so I tied up a few. I don't know that I'd list this particular tie as "most productive" but they have produced............
View attachment 56989
Laughing not allowed
There's a few ways to do it. Let the debate begin.How do you get the balanced leech to 'balance' with the weight of a bottom fly?
Even though it makes the most sense to have the chironomid on the bottom I fish them the opposite way so the balanced leech can move freely on a non-slip knot.
I hope you have a good answer as I would much prefer to fish them the opposite way.
yep, tungsten bead balanced leech on the bottom, chrom on the tag end of the splice. Weight of the leech keeps the leader straighter in the water column, easier to detect takes.How do you get the balanced leech to 'balance' with the weight of a bottom fly?
Even though it makes the most sense to have the chironomid on the bottom I fish them the opposite way so the balanced leech can move freely on a non-slip knot.
I hope you have a good answer as I would much prefer to fish them the opposite way.
I'm not trying to put you in the hot seat but am always eager to learn.There's a few ways to do it. Let the debate begin.
I've seen guys tie the bottom leader to the eye of the balanced leech using a clinch knot. This would also usually mean main leader to leech is a clinch knot. Pretty straight-forward.
I've also seen guys do loop knot to leech and then use that loop to go loop to loop with bottom leader. I've actually done that a fair amount and it works better than expected, but I think you get too much wear on the loops that result in breakoffs. I did it with 6lb fluoro and didn't experience any breakoffs, but I did break off when using 4x for bottom leader on fish that weren't even monsters. So I don't do this any longer.
I usually tie the main leader (6lb fluoro or 3x), using a loop or clinch to the eye of the leech and then, using 4x (or 6lb fluoro if not worried about hangups), I'll just tie the bottom leader to the eye with a clinch knot or, when fishing is hot and I just need to get it back out there quick, I'll literally tie a clinch knot around the main body of the leech usually right in front of the eye post. Blasphemy, I know!!
I've never had the bottom leader "slip off" or anything and it actually rides very balanced. And it doesn't seem to get as twisted as it does when tying to the eye. Which makes sense, actually, since the bottom leader is exiting the bottom of the leech down to the bottom fly. It's never on top of the leech unless tangled. So never pulling on the eye, never somehow rolling the leech over during casting or retrieving. Just a straight line.
My decision on loop or clinch to the leech is determined by the waves. If there is a decent bobbing going on then I'll just do clinch. If it's really still and I want more movement I'll use a loop knot.
Now, if there's a hatch on then I usually put the leech on bottom and mid on top. And if the mid starts out-producing the leech then I'll replace the leech with a 2nd hot mid or a bloodworm as the bottom fly. It's hard for me to go completely away from the leech since I would say the larger fish I've caught were about 70/30 in favor of the leech. Less numbers, but bigger fish on the leech. That's just me.
Not sure how Phil Rowley or Brian Chan do it, but that's how I do it. Sorry, that got longer than you probably needed. Haha!