March 2005 Fly of the Month

Ostrich Leech by Rich Mlodzik This is an early season fly that has worked well for me. Fish it like you would any streamer. Easy to tie. Kind of a throw-away fly. You can fish this in heavy cover and if you lose a few, it's no big deal. I usually weight a couple of dozen hooks ahead of time. This speeds up the tying process. I tie these in black, olive, yellow, and white. Black is always good. Olive works if there are small crayfish present. Yellow makes a suitable Hex nymph. White is very good in dirty water.
	Hook: #6-#12 Mustad 9672 or equivalent Underbody: Lead wire - .015-.030 (optional) Tail: Marabou feather, Pearl Krystal Flash-4 strands Rib: Fine Copper Wire Body: Ostrich Herl-3 or 4 strands
	1) Tie in thread and wrap back to bend. Wrap lead wire onto hook. Cover lead wire with thread. Wrap back to bend.
	2) Tie in Marabou feather tail - length of hook shank. Tie in 4 strands of Krystal Flash on near side of hook. Double back Krystal Flash on far side of hook and tie down. Tie in Copper wire.
	3) Separate excess Marabou feather and pull forward over length of hook. Spiral wrap thread through feather to eye of hook.
	4) Clip excess feather.
	5) Tie in Ostrich herl.
	6) Palmer wrap herl back to tail. Make 1 wrap with copper wire to secure herl, then spiral wrap wire forward to eye. Clip excess wire and finish thread head. Clip excess herl.