Egg Sucking Leech

 


The Egg Sucking Leech is a woolly bugger type pattern that is a old standby for fall run steelhead and salmon.  The Egg Sucking Leech is supposed to imitate a leech eating an egg. The  purple/orange combination works particularly well in dirty water. Purple is the last color to be filtered out of water so it is the easiest for the fish to see when visibility is poor (the fish see the outline of the fly). 

Hook: MFC no. 9007 size 6-10
Thread: black 3/0
Weight: leadwire (optional)
Tail: marabou
Body: chenille
Hackle: schlappen
Egg: orange chenille
Colors: black, purple

STEP 1: With your streamer hook of choice in the vise attach your thread mid shank and wrap back to the tie in point.  You may want to add a few wraps of leadwire for weight.

STEP 2: Take a plum of marabou, and remove the stiff tip of the feather.  Measure the marabou against the hook shank, the tail should be the same length as the hook shank.  Tie in the marabou feather at the tie in point.

STEP 3: With your tail tied in, take a length of chenille and a schlappen feather.  Tie the schlappen feather in at the tie in point by the tip.  Strip approx. 1/4 of a inch of the fuzzy part of the chenille off to expose the thread core inside.  Tie in the chenille.  Advance your thread to 1/3in behind the hook eye, leaving enough room for the egg.

STEP 4: Wrap the chenille up to the thread with even wraps.  Tie off with several wraps.

STEP 5:  Wind the schlappen hackle over the chenille to the thread.  The hackle should be evenly spaced up to the thread, then you should make 3 wraps on top of each other.  Tie off and trim of the excess hackle stem.

STEP 6: Now its time to make the egg.  Take a length of orange chenille and prepare it the same way you did for the body.  Tie in the chenille directly in front of were the black body ends.  Advance your thread to behind the hook eye.

STEP 7:  Make a ball of chenille to form the egg. 



The Finished Fly