Floating Leech ?

[Wetswinger]

OK, this is just some thinking outloud. I've realized that I catch most of my trout fishing near the bottom using the countdown technique with a weighted leech or using a floating dragonfly nymph, booby style, with weighted line on the bottom and fly floating above..I want to combine these techniques by using a floating Leech off the sunken line.
So, does anybody have any ideas on how to make a high floating leech?

 

[Matt B]

Wrap a hook with foam and tie in a bunny strip matuka style?

Or, just do a black eyed boobie with more subdued body and tail materials instead of electric chicken etc.

 

[Dave Boyle]

Someone’s previously posted in the salt or tying sections re a Danish pattern that was floating and articulated, looked pretty cool. The tier noted it was really messy to tie. Hopefully someone can better recall this more clearly.

Dave

 

[Chucker]

Someone’s previously posted in the salt or tying sections re a Danish pattern that was floating and articulated, looked pretty cool. The tier noted it was really messy to tie. Hopefully someone can better recall this more clearly.

Dave

You might be thinking of this: https://www.kystfluer.dk/Kystflue?FlueID=34

Tied with a metal bead at the head end and a polystyrene bead at the tail so that the tail floats and the head sinks. Amazing looking action in the water. Really messy in that it is based on a furled loop of braid with marabou in it like a dubbing loop. Catches fish, but not enough of them to make it worth the tying time for me.

For a floating leech pattern, just use a dark colored booby.

 

[Wetswinger]

Here's what I came up with for the next outing. They're just booby cylinders fed on from the eye. They float like a cork in my sink. Sloppy first attempts, but they'll fish.

 

[Wetswinger]

I went Tuesday morning to test the floating Leech idea, and I must say, it worked. I narrowed down the patterns to the one below. It was by far the most effective of the bunch. C&R four trout in 45 minutes with this one. Interestingly, it was the only pattern sporting some flash (gold) in the bunny strip tail. It's just a booby foam cylinder fed on from the hook eye. I ream it with my bodkin needle and slide it on. It floats like a cork.
The technique is to get the line flat on the bottom. The Fly will float up above the weeds. It's a great way to keep your lure near the bottom without using a bobber or getting fouled on the weeds using the countdown technique. Plus, for us nervous types, you get to slowly strip in and feel the tug.

 

[krusty]

Would make an excellent variant for an Olive Willy!

 

[Wetswinger]

Here's some other Floating Leeches I tied-up for this Winter.

 

[Shad]

Good idea! Boobies are certainly effective, and the buoyancy seems to be the thing that does the trick...

 

[troutpocket]

I’ve experienced good results with boobies and deer hair dragon nymphs off short leaders and fast sinking lines so I would expect your leeches to do well. Nice work!

 

[Mike Ediger]

I met a guy on Lenore one time who often fished with a foam hopper on a sinking line. He swore by it, but I never got around to tying it.

 

[Buzzy]

Here's some other Floating Leeches I tied-up for this Winter.

View attachment 127619

Dan -
A bit of thread drift. A few years ago I tied up a couple of floating crayfish (used big booby eyes and some foam on the body). I fished them on my type7 over a rocky shelf and caught some fish..........

 

[Brute]

Dan -
A bit of thread drift. A few years ago I tied up a couple of floating crayfish (used big booby eyes and some foam on the body). I fished them on my type7 over a rocky shelf and caught some fish..........

I'm going to fish a crayfish this week floating/camping the Gunnison Gorge for three days...I have a couple opst 8' floating/sinking tips (4' of each); I was thinking of reversing the tips so the floating end is on the end...I could do this with a standard leech as well

 

[Dave Boyle]

This was the pattern I was thinking of. The salt section had a post re tying these polychaete worms. Easily adapted for fresh water re a leach. I love the idea of marabou for the action. They float beautifully and would be ideal drawn over a weed bed via a type 6

Dave