I'm heading to Argentina this fall and looking for some skilled tier to tie up some balanced leeches. I have a recipe as follows:

Matsuo 3x jig hooks size 8
Arizona Simi Seal dubbing, or Cohens Carp dub
Marabou tail, color to match dubbing, length of hook shank
4.6 mm tungsten bead, color to compliment the fly
#18 x 5/8� stainless steel wire brad to hold the bead. A pin bends to easy�use a brad. You can get a box of 100 for $2.

I would need at least two dozen possibly more depending on price. Please let me know if you are interested.

Thanks.

Shoot me a PM. I've tied flies similar to that.

JR

http://pyramidlakeflyfishing.com/product-category/balanced-leech/

I purchased a dozen or so from him a year or so ago. Caught some crappie,

That's it...but I don't see how to order. No checkout on my screen. I'll shoot them an e-mail.

Thanks Glitchmo.

An excellent pod cast on balanced leeches from Phil Rowley.

https://secure-hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/5/9/d/...dcd4366218f63e9

That is an excellent pod cast...more so on theory and application of the balanced fly and not much on how to tie them. Thanks for posting it.

http://stillwaterflyfishingstorenew.ibcn...;products_id=27

I see that Phil Rowley sells the Balanced Leech on the above site.

Seems like a good concept for crappie in a deceiver or clouser. I think I'll try tying some.

We use this style in Oregon! Most think its a Stillwater pattern, but river trout like them!

https://youtu.be/S_6sn7ooL80

That is one fantastic video...answered every one of my questions. Thank you so much for posting it. Hopefully it will result in a double digit rainbow.

Did some balanced Leeches on size 4 90 degree jig hooks. Used mainly 5/32" tungsten beads. Didn't have simi seal so I used some ice dub. I enjoyed tying them. Going to test them on the LMB.

Tested a white one.This one tended to nose down a little on the fall and rise to horizontal on the strip, but way less up and down that a jig might do.

Caught 3 bass pretty quickly off the little dock on a 45 degree cloudy and breezy afternoon. Fish were right up against the bank. The balanced Leech definitely moves differently on the strip and pause than a woolly bugger.

With the bead sticking out in front it looks like a weed collector. Is it more an open water fly? Must admit it is unique.

This was my first in the water test. No weed in the lake (that may change with the tilapia getting wiped out by cold water). I try to hug the bottom on the strip and pause, that�s been the most productive way to fish since it�s been cold. I hung up on a submerged log once and at about the same rate of a bugger weighting the same. My dock tests are casts in either direction and more or less parallel to the shoreline. I can�t overhead cast out very far with the tree cover.

At 12-15 feet off the bank the water is 4-5 feet. Most of the fish I catch off when casting off the dock are 15� on in to the shoreline.

The jig hook bent open before the 16# tippet snapped which is what I want to happen. If I�m in the boat, I can electric motor over to get the hung up fly. Occasionally getting hung up isn�t a bad thing to me. Means I�m fishing where I want to be. I�ve done weed guards, but those cost me fish. The Balanced Leech does ride point up tied on a jig hook which helps it not snag the bottom. The bead out front might help keep the hook point a little higher than a unbalanced pattern.

Meadowlark�s post about them got me interested. I guess the balanced leech is big out on western Stillwaters for big trout. But the more I looked into them, the more I saw things that said they work well on a variety of fish and work not only under an indicator but also stripped in.

The lake I live on gets real good for bass in March if a jig is suspended under a cork and tossed near the shoreline. That�s really why I tied these, just to exploit the March jig bite.

I'm really liking the balanced Leech. It looks a bit like a long woolly bugger but swims very different. It doesn't bob up and down, but stays or tries to stay in a horizontal plane.

Anyhow, it's working for me on the bass and today it was some bonus crappie. 1/8" tungsten bead on this olive body and black tail.


Tends to be more weedless than a bugger. I thought this would be just a long bugger, but it doesn't swim like one.