November. Haven’t touched a trout in weeks. It will be alright. We’ll slide through the holidays and January will be here before we know it. The bobbins are threaded. New, stronger reading glasses are on the tying bench. It’s time to spin up some bugs. 

My tying usually starts based on how I plan to fish on Opening Day. Most of my fishing from January through mid-March is centered around three patterns. One of those, a simple leech, is probably fished eighty percent of the time. 

The number of leech patterns available today seems to grow with each passing season. I have no doubt that at one time or another, they all have worked. That’s the point- they all work. 

I carry three colors of leeches- black, olive brown, and gray. Black and olive brown being the heavy hitters. Not necessary, but on occasion, I’ll add a bit of flash in the tail. Red flashabou in the black, copper in the olive brown. I like the black leech on darker days, the olive brown in brighter weather, and the gray pattern when the first two don’t work. I’m not steadfast in my color selection but it’s a good place to start. 

In order to keep things simple, I tie my leeches in two sizes- #6 2XL and #10 2XL. All of my leeches have lead wrapped shanks.On half of those that I may want to fish deeper, I will add a bead (usually black). The other option is to skip the bead and add a BB split shot to the tippet just above the hook eye. Although there is a multitude of good materials to choose from, and I have tried many, I always come back to marabou and dubbing. In my opinion, nothing beats Marabou for tailing material. The bodies of my flies consist of soft dubbing (sometimes mixed with short marabou fibers), placed in a dubbing loop, palmered up the shank, and then brushed out with a piece of velcro. That’s it. Bou and dubbing. Hard to go wrong with that. 

It is my opinion, especially in colder water, that trout are opportunistic feeders. I try to cover a lot of water and present the fly to a degree that the fish simply can’t say no. Fish it deep, shallow, upstream, downstream. Fish it like a nymph, swing it through the riffles. I have my favorite method, you will find yours. In the end, I don’t think you can fish it wrong. Does it always work? No. Does it usually work? Yes. 

Carry on.